The local paper for the Upper East Side
WEEK OF JULY STUDIO ART ◄ P.12
5-11 2018
PERIL IN THE PARKS CITYSCAPE Amid the magnificence of Manhattan’s green spaces, there is also decay, dilapidation and deterioration, a new report finds BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
Legislation recently passed by the state Assembly would call for air qualitiy testing around marine transfer stations, such as the one being built near Asphalt Green in Yorkville, where hundreds of children take part in activities both indoors and out. Photo: Christina Cardona
AIR QUALITY BILL PASSES ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT Seawright legislation would compel state to monitor near waste transfer stations, including East 91st St. facility BY CHRISTINA CARDONA
State health authorities will be obliged to track air quality near waste transfer stations, such as the one on East 91st Street slated to open next year, according to legislation passed by the Assembly earlier this month. Assembly Member Rebecca Seaw-
right, who sponsored the bill, said air quality in the Yorkville neighborhood will be a critical concern when the transfer station, on the East River between 91st and 92nd Streets near the Isaacs-Holmes houses and the Asphalt Green sports facility, becomes operational. “Increased emissions through idling garbage trucks, boat discharge and the operation of a waste transfer station will negatively aggravate the already poor air quality on the Upper East Side,” Seawright said in a statement. “By requiring constant air monitoring and consultation with local elected officials and
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Riverside Park can be a paradise for West Side joggers — except for its uneven pathways, degraded trails, displaced treads on stone stairways and pavements ruptured by cracks and potholes. Corlears Hook Park can be a downtown oasis fanned by balmy breezes off the East River — until you need a comfort station. The facilities have been closed or non-functioning for two decades. DeWitt Clinton Park in Hell’s Kitchen can be a child’s fantasyland with a dog run, frog fountain and trio of concrete play mules, Pal, Gal and Sal — but forget about getting in from 12th Avenue. Its two dilapidated entry staircases have been shuttered and inaccessible for years. The East River Esplanade near Gracie Mansion can be a glorious place to watch the tugs, barges and pleasure boats – but you have to watch your feet, too. Sinkholes are common, and a chunk of the seawall last year collapsed into the water at 88th Street. Those were among the findings of an exhaustive new report released last week by the Center for an Urban Future documenting hundreds of examples of crumbling conditions, infrastructure failures and urgent, unmet needs at the city’s 1,485 parks, including the 282 in Manhattan. The think tank’s researchers cited inadequate or overdue maintenance, chronic and long-term underfunding and a cumbersome capital process for parks projects — all leading to sky-high costs and multi-year delays
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A stretch of the East River Esplanade behind Gracie Mansion is cordoned off after last year’s collapse of a chunk of the seawall along the waterfront pathway near 88th Street. Photo: Douglas Feiden
If we don’t catch up now, it will metastasize into an even bigger problem.” Eli Dvorkin of the Center for an Urban Future
in making the fixes, which in turns exacerbates a collapsing infrastructure. Bottom line: Horticulture dies, retaining walls disintegrate, drainage systems decay, recreation centers leak, bathrooms go without water, stairs vanish, benches are overturned, pathways are pockmarked, flooding is prevalent and puddles are deep, the report found. To be sure, Eli Dvorkin, managing editor of the research institute and one of the authors of “A New Leaf: Revitalizing New York City’s Aging Parks Infrastructure,” credits the de Blasio administration with upping investment, enlarging the central budget for repairs, adding staff for maintenance and taking a planning-oriented approach to grapple with future problems. “We give the administration full credit for finally investing in chroni-
cally underfunded parks after decades of underinvestment,” he said. But more can be done: “We’re going to have to double down on this commitment to parks, go beyond what we’ve already committed to — and make new efforts to tackle unsexy, unglamorous and often invisible infrastructure needs,” Dvorkin added.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, July 6 – 8:12 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com
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