East Midtown Greenway Opens To Huge Crowd And Rave Reviews

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — For Chevalier, a French Bulldog who just turned 1-year-old, the opening of the East Midtown Greenway on Tuesday seemed to be a personal doggie birthday present.

The gift was also claimed by Mela, a 2-year-old golden poodle who also recently had a birthday.

"The dogs love it," said Rachel Zickert, 31.

"We all love it," shouted a person walking past Mela and Zickert.

And she might be right.

Over 150 people joined city officials and local leaders in unveiling the highly-anticipated new greenway for the park-deprived Upper East Side and East Midtown.

The new amphitheater at Andrew Haswell Green Park was filled with people as dozens of others — many with bikes, strollers and dogs in tow — eagerly awaiting the official opening to enjoy their inaugural journey along the new waterfront park.

Some, unable to sit through the pomp, pushed aside a folding chair or two and walked off into the background of the podium, where many remarked at the complex accomplishment.

"What an amazing turnout here for the opening of our brand new park," said Upper East Side City Council Member Julie Menin, who said she has to constantly deal with constituents quipping about how their waterfront looks nothing like the developed and accessible west side waterfront.

"And now today," Menin told the crowd, "we can say no longer is that true and the east side of Manhattan finally has the connectivity and access to the waterfront it deserves."

The fate of eight babies

The $217 million project, held up by piles driven up to 180 feet deep into the seabed — many installed during a 2002 detour of the FDR drive — extends the East River Esplanade to fill in a 1.1 mile gap of waterfront access by several blocks, from Andrew Haswell Green on East 60th Street to Clara Coffey Park on East 54th Street. It was a collaborative project designed by Stantec and headed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the city's Parks department.

The project broke ground in 2019, but the design phase started in 2017.

Since that time, EDC president and CEO Andrew Kimball said, eight babies were born to people working on the project.

The city says their eventual goal is to connect the entire East River waterfront in one long greenway — similar to what those on the western edge of Manhattan currently enjoy — and join the two in a 40-mile-long ring park surrounding the island, said transportation commissioner Ydanis Rodríguez at the ribbon cutting.

"I'm sure that one of those eight babies will be responsible to connect the whole island of Manhattan," quipped Rodríguez.

Council Member Keith Powers, who represents parts of the Upper East Side and East Midtown, said that Tuesday's ribbon cutting marked "major progress in expanding waterfront access and filling in a critical gap."

"This project has truly produced an iconic public space that I think all the members of the east side can be proud of," Powers said.

Those next gaps include from the East Midtown Greenway to behind the United Nations headquarters and connecting the current esplanade at East 41st Street.

While Kimball said that there was some funding in place for this stage — expected to be finished by 2030 — he said that more was still needed.

Additionally, the East River Esplanade is currently closed between East 71st and 75th streets due to the construction of a new tower over the FDR Drive by the Hospital for Special Surgery.

Further up in Harlem, the Esplanade is in dire need of repairs and also partially closed off.

A heliport taken over by laughter

As many locals know, the real roots of the project stretch back to a working group dating back to 2002 initiated by an Upper East Side power couple, Judy and Barry Schneider.

Judy, who spoke at the ribbon cutting, cited the site's origins as a heliport — known as the East 60th Street Metroport and abandoned after a helicopter crash in 1997 killed a Colgate-Palmolive executive.

In 1995, there were 22,833 takeoffs and landings at the heliport, according to the New York Times.

Working with the EDC who pointed them to an obscure section of the city charter called 197-A, the Schneiders got to work convincing the city to adapt the now-unused city land.

"And now the sounds emanating from the waterfront are the joyous laughter of children, no longer the incessant, deafening sound of helicopter blades," said Judy.

Thanks to those efforts by the Schneiders, and many others, Tuesday felt like a gift to the neighborhood.

"It's like Christmas," said Tricia Shimamura, a longtime esplanade advocate, former City Council candidate and current director of community affairs for Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.

"It's not just the Upper East Side — it connects Midtown and East Harlem. It's very, very special and important," Shimamura said.

Her boss told Patch that he couldn't think of a more anticipated parks project. Now, he hopes it will define how the city approaches developing greenways in the future.

"A lot of people said this section was impossible," said Levine. "And here it is, and this is spectacular. It's better than I could have hoped."

"We're one step closer to the ultimate dream of connecting all of Manhattan," Levine said.

"Beyond expectations"

Once the ribbon was cut, throngs of people ambulated forward to explore the new space that seemingly rose from the East River depths.

Jennifer Ratner, board chair of the Friends of the East River Esplanade, a nonprofit group that helps upkeep and advocate for the river park, said that she "can't get over how amazing the new waterfront is," and said the group is planning a big celebration at the end of the spring, described as an "esplanade extravaganza."

Joined by her father, the pair walked just past the Queensboro Bridge to recreate a photo of them taken when Ratner was just a wee baby in 1965.

"Beyond expectations," she told Patch.

A group of some of the first bicyclists stopped to chat before their first pedal down to East 54th Street.

Chauncy Young, a coordinator with the Harlem River working group — part of a greenway coalition — said he was excited to celebrate the new section of the esplanade, and what could come next.

"If we could do something this beautiful here in Manhattan, can we do it in The Bronx and in other boroughs?" Young said.

One of the other cyclers, Emily Jacobi, an organizer with the group Transportation Alternatives, said that it was exciting how the Manhattan waterfront suddenly got a whole lot more accessible, especially in how it helps "create deeper connections" across the city for "people getting around without cars."

Beautiful, but maybe not perfect

Neighbor Sam Sasson, 34, lives in a building that overlooks Andrew Haswell Green Park and the Alice Aycock Pavilion and watched as the project took shape.

"I didn't even know this was happening today — I just came down when I saw all the people from my apartment," he said. "I thought it was a fire at first."

When asked about what it was like living through the construction, he described it as "hectic," but noted that when projects like this are completed, it's easy to enjoy the "beautiful" and "revitalized" result.

But Sasson noted some concerns — echoed by a few other people on Tuesday — that the new space could find itself inundated with people living in tents, a couple of which persist further up the Esplanade.

"You wouldn't be a New Yorker if you didn't complain," he said.

Another neighbor, Robin, who said the new greenway was "beautiful," voiced concerns about e-bikes and access by emergency vehicles.

Near Clara Coffee Park, another resident who lives in a building overlooking the new park told Patch that everyone in her building was concerned about people from "other neighborhoods" partying all night just a few yards from their apartment windows.

"We love it, it's beautiful," she said. "But I live here. What will it be like at night? Will it be a party place? The whole building is upset over it."

A treat to walk without cars

Nearly all others on the East Midtown Greenway on Tuesday, like Chevalier's owner, Shelley Clark, had a more positive outlook for what the future holds for the park.

Looking at a bench made from articulated boulders, she wondered if the warm stone might be a good place to sunbathe in the summer months, and said she couldn't wait to see how the new gardens fill out.

Jamie, a 25-year-old tech worker who lives on East 48th Street, said she had been "anticipating this for a long time."

"Now there's more places to walk in the city that aren't walking through traffic," she said.

Rachel Zickert, Mela the golden poodle's owner, emphasized that point.

"It's such a treat and it offers our dogs — and us — just a safer place to walk without cars and without a bunch of UberEATS bikes zooming by," she said.

"This is just such a wonderful addition to the whole neighborhood and the east side in general," Zickert said.

Previous coverage from Patch:

• Finally: East Midtown Greenway Set To Open Dec. 19
  
• East Midtown Greenway Set To Open In '2-3 Months,' Officials Say
• Esplanade Extension Might Look Ready, But Don't Expect A Walk Soon
• Work Set To Resume On East River Esplanade Extension
• City Breaks Ground To Fill 8-Block East River Esplanade Gap
• Sutton Place Preservationists Sue To Block Esplanade Expansion
• City Commits $250M To Close Manhattan Greenway Gaps