Judge Denies Challenge To Planned Sutton Place Bike Bridge

SUTTON PLACE, NY — A legal challenge to the city's plan to construct a new $100 million portion of the East River Esplanade in Sutton Place was dealt a blow this month when a state Supreme Court appeals judge sided with the city, according to court records.

A panel appeals judges ruled Thursday that state judges correctly dismissed a lawsuit brought by a group of Sutton Place preservationists called the Cannon Point Preservation Corporation claiming that the city's new esplanade would deprive the quaint east side neighborhood of park space.

The Cannon Point Preservation Corporation's case claimed that a new bicycle bridge that will run over the FDR Drive and connect to the new portion of the East River Esplanade would occupy about 25 percent of 25 percent of the current Clara Coffey Park and limit the green space's access to sunlight, the group says. The pocket park, located along the East River at East 54rd Street, is one of the few green spaces that is ADA-accessible in Sutton Place, which is located in the community district with the least amount of parkland in Manhattan, the preservation group claimed. Residents are also unhappy with the bridge because it will bring an influx of people using the East River Esplanade into the quiet neighborhood.

Appeals court judges ruled Thursday that Clara Coffey Park is not "impliedly designated parkland" and therefore the city has not violated the public's trust by planning to build at the site. Even if Clara Coffey Park was implied parkland, the city project would not require legislative approval because "parkland would not be alienated by the proposed placement of a pedestrian and bicycle bridge terminating in the site at issue," the ruling reads.

Streetsblog New York was first to report on the ruling.

The city Public Design Commission — named in Cannon Point's initial lawsuit as a defendant — ruled during the project's approval process that the planned bridge and esplanade expansion would have "no adverse effects" on the neighborhood. Other defendants named in the lawsuit included: Mayor Bill de Blasio, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the city Department of Transportation and Parks Department and several leaders from those agencies.

New York City has a goal of constructing a 32.5-mile greenway that will span the entirety of the Manhattan waterfront. Many sections of greenway on the East and Hudson rivers already exist, but the city committed $250 million in 2018 to close gaps on the East River. Part of that commitment includes $100 million to fill in a gap known as the East Midtown Greenway that stretches from East 53rd to 61st streets.