Ten years after initially drafting a plan to fill the gap on the East River greenway near the United Nations, New York City officials are moving forward with the project, which is part of a grand vision to “close the loop” of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, providing New Yorkers with continuous waterfront open space around Manhattan.
The city’s Economic Development Commission’s plans to build an esplanade near the United Nations goes back to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s time in office. After filling the gap, the project aims to create a 32-mile cycling and pedestrian path along Manhattan’s waterfront.
On Thursday, the EDC put out a call for contractors to oversee the construction of the esplanade, which will be built on pillars above the waterway between East 41st and East 53rd streets, Gothamist reported.
In 2021, former Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city would invest $723 million to close the remaining gaps in the Manhattan greenway network, which included the nearly one-mile segment in Midtown, around two miles in two sections along the Harlem River, 1.7 miles in Inwood, and 0.1 miles on the Lower East Side.
Last year, the city opened another section of the esplanade between East 53rd and East 61st streets, however, the path currently becomes a dead-end before it reaches the UN, forcing cyclists to reroute along First and Second Avenue where there is often heavy traffic. While there has been significant investment put into the Hudson River Greenway in recent years, some areas of the greenway along Manhattan’s East Side remain in less than optimal condition.
In addition to expanding the greenway alongside a stretch of the Harlem River, the EDC is also working with the parks department to reconstruct a disjointed area of the path between East 94th and East 124th streets. Other improvements for cyclists in the area are expected to come before the greenway gap is filled, including a protected bicycle lane along the First Avenue tunnel between East 40th and 49th Streets, which city transportation officials said they plan to finish installing before the start of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 10.
“These remarkable capital projects will not only improve quality of life for New Yorkers but expand opportunities to commute by bike or foot while enjoying spectacular views on the East River,” commission spokesperson Adrien Lesser said in a statement to Gothamist.
The greenway gap project between East 41st and East 53rd streets will span less than a mile, and preliminary contract documents estimate it will open by the end of 2028 at a cost of $120 million.
