East River ‘Blueway’ aims to revitalize waterfront, in harmony with post-Sandy reality

The East River waterfront
The East River waterfront

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer will announce what his office is calling the East River Blueway Plan today, a vision for a long-neglected waterfront section of Manhattan along the East River from the Brooklyn Bridge to East 38th Street, the New York Times reported. The plan, which won’t be revealed for weeks, calls for a new public beach, a kayak launch under the Brooklyn Bridge, two boat launches at Stuyvesant Cove and the development of marshlands in waterfront areas that are prone to flooding, said the Times, which obtained copies of the proposal.

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“We want very much to open the waterfront from a recreation perspective, but we also want to protect our fragile waterfront from Mother Nature by recognizing the reality of storm surges,” Stringer told the Times. “What’s novel here is that we actually remedy some of the issues with storm surges through amenity enhancements for the public,” by planting trees and setting certain areas aside as marshland. [NYT] –Guelda Voien