RSVP Now: Urban Revitalization and East Harlem Rezoning

New Panelist: CIVITAS Advisory Committee Member Matthew Washington

Wednesday, December 4
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Admission is FREE for CIVITAS members. Find out how to become a member.

CIVITAS's discussion series continues this December with an investigation of urban revitalization through the lens of East Harlem rezoning and updated land use policies. This panel of neighborhood leaders and experts will look specifically at projects currently under way in East Harlem, including the renovation of the former P.S. 109 into affordable live-work space for artists, and the transformation of La Marqueta, a marketplace under the Metro North railway tracks between East 111th and East 116th Streets that was once the economic and social center of the neighborhood.

Moderator:
-Karrie Jacobs - Contributing Editor, Metropolis; founding editor-in-chief, Dwell

Panelists:
-Matthew Washington - Chair, Community Board 11, Advisory Member of CIVITAS
-Peggy Shepard - Co-founder and Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
-Gus Rosado - Executive Director, El Barrio's Operation Fightback

All discussions in the series will take place at the National Academy
1083 Fifth Avenue at East 89th Street. map

Admission:
CIVITAS members: FREE
General Admission: $15
Seniors and Students: $10

For tickets, visit the National Academy online or call (212) 369-4880 x 201.
CIVITAS members can RSVP by calling the museum at the above number.

RSVP Now: Upcoming Lectures Sponsored by CIVITAS

Guide To NYC Urban Landscapes: A Book Talk

The Arsenal, Third Floor Gallery 
830 Fifth Avenue, 
In Central Park at 64th Street

$15 for CIVITAS members, $20 non-members. Find out how to become a member. Tickets may be purchased here.

Join us for an illustrated lecture on places and landscape design, from 19th century cemeteries to the Upper East Side's Conservatory Garden, with stops in-between.

New York City is easily recognized worldwide by its skyscrapers and densely-populated urban environment. Robin Lynnand Francis Morrone, in their newly-published Guide to New York City Urban Landscapes, point to the less obvious but equally beautiful aspects to our city's fabric - the city's low-scale open spaces, as inspiring as those found in nature.

Morrone provides an exciting insider's look at New York City's outstanding and surprising urban oases. Take a look at Morrone's blog on New York City parks to learn more about our city's valuable green spaces! http://bit.ly/UrbanLandscapes

This event is co-sponsored by Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, and the Historic House Trust.

Urban Revitalization and East Harlem Rezoning Discussion

RSVP Now

Wednesday, December 4, 2013
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Admission is FREE for CIVITAS members. Find out how to become a member.

CIVITAS's discussion series continues this December with an investigation of urban revitalization through the lens of East Harlem rezoning and updated land use policies. This panel of neighborhood leaders and experts will look specifically at projects currently under way in East Harlem, including the renovation of the former P.S. 109 into affordable live-work space for artists, and the transformation of La Marqueta, a marketplace under the Metro North railway tracks between East 111th and East 116th Streets that was once the economic and social center of the neighborhood.

Moderator:
-Karrie Jacobs - Contributing Editor, Metropolis; founding editor-in-chief, Dwell

Panelists:
-Peggy Shepard - Co-founder and Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
-Gus Rosado - Executive Director, El Barrio's Operation Fightback
- A representative from Community Board 11

All discussions in the series will take place at the National Academy
1083 Fifth Avenue at East 89th Street. map

Admission:
CIVITAS members: FREE
General Admission: $15
Seniors and Students: $10

For tickets, visit the National Academy online or call (212) 369-4880 x 201.
CIVITAS members can RSVP by calling the museum at the above number.

Save The Date: Transportation and the Second Avenue Subway Discussion

Wednesday, January 8, 2013
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

CIVITAS's discussion series concludes with a panel on the construction of the Second Avenue Subway and transportation infrastructure. How can urban design and public art transform street-level spaces to be more functional and beautify below-ground levels on a grand scale?

Moderator:
-James S. Russell - Architecture columnist,Bloomberg News

Panelists:
-Sandra Bloodworth - Director, MTA Arts for Transit
-Mitchell Joachim - Ph.D., Co-founder and Director of Research, Terreform ONE
-Cesar Pelli - NA, architect

All discussions in the series will take place at the National Academy
1083 Fifth Avenue at East 89th Street. map

Admission:
CIVITAS members: FREE
General Admission: $15
Seniors and Students: $10

For tickets, visit the National Academy online or call (212) 369-4880 x 201.
CIVITAS members can RSVP by calling the museum at the above number.

CIVITAS I Three Upcoming Events Examine Our Urban Communities

Guide To NYC Urban Landscapes: A Book Talk

Wednesday, November 20th at 6:30 pm
The Arsenal, Third Floor Gallery
830 Fifth Avenue, in Central Park at 64th Street 

$15 for CIVITAS members, $20 non-members

New York City is easily-recognized worldwide by its skyscrapers and densely-populated urban environment. Robin Lynn and Francis Morrone in their newly-published Guide to New York City Urban Landscapes point to the less obvious-the city's low-scale open spaces, as inspiring as those found in nature. Join us for an illustrated lecture on places and landscape design, from 19th century cemeteries to the Upper East Side's Conservatory Garden, with stops in-between. Morrone provides an exciting insider's look at New York City's outstanding and surprising urban oases.

Tickets may be purchased here.

This event is co-sponsored by Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, and the Historic House Trust.

Urban Revitalization and East Harlem Rezoning Discussion

Wednesday, December 4, 6:30 - 8:00 pm

Admission is FREE for CIVITAS members.  Find out how to become a member.

CIVITAS's discussion series continues this December with an investigation of Urban revitalization through the lens of East Harlem rezoning and updated land use policies. This panel of neighborhood leaders and experts will look specifically at projects currently under way in East Harlem, including the renovation of the former P.S. 109 into affordable live-work space for artists, and the transformation of La Marqueta, a marketplace under the Metro North railway tracks between East 111th and East 116th Streets that was once the economic and social center of the neighborhood.

Moderator:
-Karrie Jacobs - Contributing Editor, Metropolis; founding editor-in-chief, Dwell

Panelists:
-A representative from Community Board 11
-Peggy Shepard - Co-founder and Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
-Gus Rosado - Executive Director, El Barrio's Operation Fightback

All discussions in the series will take place at the National Academy
1083 Fifth Avenue at East 89th Street. map

Admission:
CIVITAS members: FREE
General Admission: $15
Seniors and Students: $10

For tickets, visit the National Academy online or call (212) 369-4880 x 201.
CIVITAS members can RSVP by calling the museum at the above number.

Save The Date: Transportation and the Second Avenue Subway Panel Discussion

Wednesday, January 8, 2013
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

CIVITAS's discussion series concludes with a panel on the construction of the Second Avenue Subway and transportation infrastructure. How can urban design and public art transform street-level spaces to be more functional and beautify below-ground levels on a grand scale?

Moderator: 

-James S. Russell - Architecture columnist,Bloomberg News

Panelists:
-Sandra Bloodworth - Director, MTA Arts for Transit
-Mitchell Joachim - Ph.D., Co-founder and Director of Research, Terreform ONE
-Cesar Pelli - NA, architect

All discussions in the series will take place at the National Academy 

1083 Fifth Avenue at East 89th Street. map

Admission:
CIVITAS members: FREE
General Admission: $15
Seniors and Students: $10

For tickets, visit the National Academy online or call (212) 369-4880 x 201.
CIVITAS members can RSVP by calling the museum at the above number.

New Board Member Sharon Pope

Gorman T. Reilly

CIVITAS welcomes new board member, Sharon Pope. Sharon is a long time resident of Roosevelt Island who served for 12 years as a full board member of Community Board 8 where she chaired its Housing Committee and represented the Community Board on the Advisory Council of Metropolitan Hospital Center. She now serves as a public member of Community Board 8. 

A graduate of Morgan State University, Sharon aptly describes herself as a committed urbanist. She is a former environmental planner with the Department of City Planning. She is also a former President of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association, representing the interests of some 10,000 residents and 20 different building councils. Her passion is community-based planning. For CIVITAS members she has led several informative tours of Roosevelt Island and the newly opened Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. 

What attracted Sharon to CIVITAS? Her quick response – “CIVITAS is an effective organization.” She values its commitment and tenacity in promoting lively and liveable neighborhoods. Among many compelling issues now engaging CIVITAS, she plans to devote her considerable talents as an urban planner to continuing to draw attention to the waterfront. The East River Esplanade, she explains, “can be made into a jewel of a park where residents of the Upper East Side and of East Harlem can relax and enjoy themselves.” 

To read the complete fall 2013 issue of CIVITAS News, visit http://civitasnyc.org/civitas-newsletters/

CIVITAS in action: The East River Esplanade

Hunter F. Armstrong 

With the anniversary of Superstorm Sandy approaching on October 29, the Upper East Side and East Harlem waterfront is in regular political discussion. CIVITAS is helping plan for the East River Esplanade’s future, and is responding to citywide policies and institutional plans. We are pushing for a larger plan for this natural and recreational resource. Otherwise, the community will be stuck with a patchwork of different proposals for the park. With so much energy and attention being focused on the East River, with the East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station and other proposals, now is the time to plan smartly for the long term, and to prepare for future storms. Below is an overview of factors currently at play in our communities’ waterfront. 

Engineering Study 
In June, the NYC Parks Department and consultants presented their engineering evaluation of the wooden piles that support the Esplanade between 60th and 125th Streets. Marine borers have gradually chewed away the piles and destabilized the platform. Most potholes that resulted and pocked the Esplanade have been filled, but the overall study was critical to determine where future holes may occur. The Parks Department study stated the piles will need to be replaced by concrete piers and determined this will cost approximately $110 million over a 10-year period to maintain the Esplanade in its current, narrow footprint. If the city defers maintenance and piles are not replaced this decade, the Parks Department consultants estimated costs will balloon to exceed $400 million. 

Mayor Bloomberg’s Special Initiative for Resiliency and Rebuilding 
The Mayor created this initiative after the devastation Sandy reaped on New York. Released in June, much of the 400-page report understandably focused on neighborhoods devastated by the storm. That said, it does have major implications for our community. The plan proposes a “deployable floodwall” between 90th and 125th Street, where the storm surge gushed as far upland as Second Avenue. CIVITAS has met with the Mayor’s staff to discuss the proposal’s feasibility in a future administration, and how the community can help shape the plan. 

A rendering of the “deployable floodwall” system proposed for the waterfront between East 90th Street and East 125th Street. Rendering from the Mayor’s Resiliency Plan.

Rockefeller University 
Farther south, Rockefeller University is planning to expand with a four-block platform over the FDR Drive between 64th and 68th Streets. CIVITAS, the community board and neighbors have met with university officials and their designers to determine implications of this major expansion, which will fill in the only remaining gap over the FDR between 61st and 71st Streets. The two-story building will be over 150,000 square feet. As part of the plan, which went into the official city land use review process in September, the university proposes upgrading four Esplanade blocks with new plantings and trees, irrigation, new seating and separate areas for cyclists, walkers and benches. The redesign will keep the 1930s-era metal railing and asphalt pavers that are used throughout our city’s waterfront. CIVITAS and neighbors raised concerns about the impact on Esplanade users due to increased traffic noise and exhaust fumes that will result from capping over the highway. We also asked for better access to the waterfront via the gated campus and for additional information about the platform’s impact on the Esplanade’s underlying infrastructure. 

The proposed Rockefeller University expansion. Rendering by Rafael Vinoly Architects. 

Other Projects 
With no comprehensive community waterfront plan, smaller projects continue to occur in a piecemeal way. To mitigate impacts of their 1 million square foot facility between East 73rd and East 74th Streets, Memorial Sloan Kettering and Hunter College-CUNY will invest the funds needed to replace the deteriorated piles at Andrew Haswell Green Park, over a half-mile away. CIVITAS and other groups objected to the distance between the park improvements and the 450-foot building’s 8,500 daily visitors. CIVITAS also recently learned that sections of the Con Ed property near 73rd Street will be partially opened and returned to park land. Unfortunately, the building will remain in place mere feet from the FDR and maintain a narrow, dangerous pinchpoint for Esplanade users. 


Next Steps for Reimagining the Waterfront 
In addition to work cited in this article and keeping the community informed, CIVITAS is also keeping our award-winning 2012 exhibition from the Museum of the City of New York on public view. In September, CIVITAS installed the exhibition at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and is working with their staff and the museum to create programming for Lenox Hill’s many daily visitors. We are also developing more programs to educate park users and neighbors. The Esplanade was the first topic in our public panel series with the National Academy, which is discussed on Page 1. We feel strongly that more funding and attention is needed to address our densely built neighborhood’s park-space deficits, and we will continue to work toward improving the Esplanade. Threats like future storm surges have focused more attention on preparing for the catastrophic while planning for day to day enjoyment. 

To read the complete fall 2013 issue of CIVITAS News, visit http://civitasnyc.org/civitas-newsletters/