Finally: East Midtown Greenway Set To Open Dec. 19

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Under promise and over deliver.

While a classic maxim for guaranteeing customer satisfaction, it could have been also been the motivation behind a decision to tell a Community Board 8 Parks Committee last month that the wait for the much anticipated opening of the $100 million East Midtown Greenway would be suddenly extend until early next year.

Now, an official from the New York City Economic Development Corporation tells Patch that the opening is back on its long-held December opening date, with a confirmed grand opening on Dec. 19.

While there is no officially announced plans for the big day, it is anticipated that a ribbon-cutting will take place for the much-awaited opening of new parkspace for the park-starved Upper East Side and Sutton Place.

New Yorkers eager to venture out on the new southward extension of the East River Esplanade were already making plans for a jaunt when the date, then unconfirmed, was discovered by an enterprising StreetsblogNYC reporter last week who reportedly spoke with a site security guard.

In November at a Community Board 8 Parks Committee meeting,members were thrilled to learn more about the project's progress and how their feedback had been integrated into design decisions.

"We're getting a really beautiful park and greenway and I think the community is going to love it," said Community Board 8 Park Committee co-chair Judith Schneider at the meeting.

But when pressed by committee members about an opening date, EDC officials were reluctant to commit to one, except to say that they would most likely blow past their December estimated opening, a deadline long listed on the project's timeline, and anticipate the opening to be sometime after the new year.

"It could be earlier," said NYC Parks project administrator Michael Bradley at the meeting, "but we can't promise it today."

Work on the $100 million project began in 2019 and it extends the East River Esplanade 1.1 miles from Andrew Haswell Green to Clara Coffey Park on East 54th Street in Sutton Place began in 2019.

In 2020, the pandemic put the project on pause for several months, and in 2022, NYCEDC first announced their December 2023 opening date, a delay from a previously announce fall 2023 opening.

And after Dec. 19, more work will be on the way — once the project can find about $38 million.

That's how much it's going to cost to enact any of the ideas Community Board 8 had for the space under Andrew Haswell Green Park, according to Bradley.

Those ideas pitched in 2018 included a bathroom or a cafe as well as a new ADA compliant ramp.

Previous coverage from Patch:

• 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