By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced that the City has completed the first section of East Side Coastal Resiliency ahead of schedule and under budget, a major flood-protection milestone in the effort to protect area residents, businesses and billions of dollars worth of infrastructure from future storms and high tides.
ESCR employs raised parkland, floodwalls, berms, and 18 swinging or sliding flood gates to create a continuous line of protection against sea level rise and the growing threat of stronger, more severe coastal storms worsened by climate change. The $1.45 billion project is being built in two sections, with the northern section having begun work in November 2020. Work in that area was completed last week at a cost of $163 million, which is $10 million under its original projected budget, and two months ahead of schedule. Construction on the second section, which is underway and anticipated to be completed by the end of 2026, includes a complete reconstruction of East River Park.
“As one of the world’s great coastal cities, we know that stronger storms and rising seas are a threat, because no one knows when the next Superstorm Sandy will arrive at our doorstep; but New York City plans to be ready,” Adams said. “Today, we are marking the completion of Phase One of East Side Coastal Resiliency – two months ahead of schedule and $10 million under budget. Once the entire project is completed, the protective gates can be deployed when a hurricane or storm surge is headed our way – protecting lives and New Yorkers’ wallets as we safeguard property. Protecting New Yorkers from climate change is a massive undertaking, with millions of lives and billions of dollars on the line – and we’re more than up to the task.”
ESCR – a $1.45 billion project which is creating a flexible, 2.4-mile-long flood barrier on the Lower East Side from Montgomery Street up to Asser Levy Playground between East 23rd Street and East 25th Street – is designed to protect New Yorkers from the region’s anticipated 100-year storm in the year 2050 (a storm that starting in 2050 has a 1 percent annual chance of hitting New York City), based on climate change projections produced by the City Panel on Climate Change. The project uses an adaptive design that can accommodate the addition of two more feet of elevation should sea levels in the coming decades rise faster than projections anticipate.
Photo Courtesy of Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
Rolling flood gates are a critical piece of the ESCR plan.
“With this milestone, achieved ahead of time and under budget, New York City takes a huge step toward protecting one of its most vulnerable communities from coastal storms and future high tides,” said Department of Design and Construction Commissioner Thomas Foley. “We are pioneering shoreline protection and climate change management for major North American cities, and doing it in a way that enhance recreation and enhances neighborhoods instead of just walling them in.”
The project has been designed to improve waterfront access through reconstructed bridges and entry points and will also upgrade existing sewer systems to capture and manage precipitation during storms. The first floodgate – which is 42 feet long, 10 feet high, and 32,000 pounds – was installed in February 2022. Flood protection will become effective at the end of the project, which is currently projected for the end of 2026. ESCR also has a companion project to its south called Brooklyn Bridge-Montgomery Coastal Resilience, which is also due to be completed at the end of 2026. Together, the two projects will protect 3.22 miles of coastline from the Brooklyn Bridge north to Asser Levy Playground at a construction cost of close to $2 billion.
ESCR is making improvements to five recreation areas in total. Stuyvesant Cove Park has been rebuilt with new amenities and a combination of floodwalls and floodgates along its western edge. Murphy Brothers Playground, which reopened this week, has new flood protection, a basketball court, a new dog run, two new ballfields, new lighting, a new playground area and swing set, new trees, and new grading and landscaping. The 2.44-acre Asser Levy Playground – which is now intersected by a new floodwall and sliding floodgate – was partially rebuilt with extensive landscaping and new playground and basketball areas using resilient materials. Corlears Hook Park, which is still in construction, will also see improvements such as new landscaping, plantings, lighting, and playground equipment. The first ballfields in the new East River Park opened in September 2024 along with the new larger and more accessible Delancey Street Bridge spanning the FDR Drive.
“With the completion of this first portion of East Side Coastal Resiliency we are making concrete progress on our critical work to protect New Yorkers from rising sea levels and coastal storm surges like we experienced during Hurricane Sandy,” said City Chief Climate Officer and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala. “These complex and massive projects take many years to design and build, but with more than a dozen similar projects now underway, from Staten Island to the Rockaways to Red Hook, DEP’s Bureau of Coastal Resiliency is eager to be able to operate and maintain these flood defense systems to protect the city from coastal storms.”
Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar (D-Woodhaven) added, “Today marks a new milestone in our path to a resilient future. We have completed the first half of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, which will protect over 110,000 of our Lower East Side neighbors from the rising threats of climate change. Best of all, we completed ESCR ahead of schedule and under budget, demonstrating our commitment to the time and cost efficient project delivery that New Yorkers deserve. This arsenal of raised parkland, berms, floodwalls, and flood gates combine into an impenetrable wall of defense against floodwaters and high tides. Together, we will make sure all New Yorkers remain high and dry for decades to come.”
