An Exploration of the Past and Present State of the East River Waterfront

Join CIVITAS for an in-depth, illustrated discussion of the East River waterfront with John Kriskiewicz, architectural historian, and Signe Nielsen, principal of Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects. The lecture will explore the history of our waterfront and the current state of the East River Esplanade in the historic library of the former Fabbri Mansion, now House of the Redeemer. Thursday, April 24 at 6:30 pm House of the Redeemer 7 East 95th Street (between Fifth and Madison Avenues) A reception and refreshments will follow the lecture. Suggested donation: $10 Registration is requested. RSVP to House of the Redeemer at (212) 289-0399 or email info@houseoftheredeemer.org. A NYC landmark, House of the Redeemer was designed by acclaimed architect Grosvenor Atterbury and constructed for the Fabbri family between 1914-1916. Read more about House of the Redeemer historic landmark.

Save the Dates: Upcoming East River Esplanade Community Meetings

You are invited to lend your voice at a series of community meetings to discuss improvements to the East River Esplanade (60th – 125th Streets) hosted by CIVITAS and Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects.

The series of meetings is kicked off with a listening session, and then will focus on opportunities and constraints that embrace issues such as Esplanade dimensions, land use, environmental concerns, regulatory parameters and recreational considerations.

Building on the visionary designs in CIVITAS’s Reimagining the Waterfront exhibition, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects will develop a study analyzing existing conditions of the Esplanade in order to frame the strategic opportunities for a better park. These visioning meetings will establish specific long and short-term goals that will be incorporated into their recommendations.

These meetings are very important, especially if you are an Esplanade park user! Please join us – and spread the word - if you want to share your thoughts for the future of our community’s waterfront.

All meetings will be held in the evening. Specific times and locations will are TBD. Please save the following dates:

Tuesday, May 6 (I. listening session) 

Tuesday, June 24 (II. visioning & goal-setting)
Monday, September 22 (III. a way forward)

Please RSVP to info@civitasnyc.org or by calling 212-996-0745 if you are able to participate in this series of meetings.

For more information and ongoing updates, please visit CIVITAS's Reimagining the Waterfront website: www.reimaginethewaterfront-civitas.com

Reimagining the Waterfront: An Improved East River Esplanade

Join CIVITAS for an in-depth, illustrated discussion in the historic library of the former Fabbri Mansion, now House of the Redeemer.

Since 2011, CIVITAS has organized an international ideas competition and museum exhibition as well as design workshops, lectures, and community service projects focused on visions for an improved East River Esplanade from 60th-125th Street. CIVITAS feels strongly that the East River waterfront could serve a major recreational and environmental need for East Harlem, the Upper East Side and, indeed, this whole city. In order to understand the potential of the East River Esplanade, a comparison of this unique land resource with successfully realized linear park precedents leads to a more thorough understanding of the potential for a redeveloped Esplanade. In order to maximize this potential, urban planners, politicians and community constituents must also understand both the feasibility and challenges faced when solving this design problem. It is within this context that the needs of the community can be analyzed and addressed.

Thursday, April 24 at 6:30 pm
House of the Redeemer
7 East 95th Street (between Fifth and Madison Avenues)

A reception and refreshments will follow the lecture.

Suggested donation: $10
Registration is requested. 
RSVP to CIVITAS at (212) 996-0745 or info@civitasnyc.org.

A NYC landmark, House of the Redeemer was designed by acclaimed architect Grosvenor Atterbury and constructed for the Fabbri family between 1914-1916. Read more about House of the Redeemer historic landmark.

Join CIVITAS on March 6 to Honor Stephen S. Lash and Charles S. Warren

Join William Bernhard & Catherine Cahill and Paul Selver, Honorary Chairs,
and the CIVITAS Benefit Committee for a cocktail reception, celebrating 33 years of achievement by CIVITAS and honoring this year’s recipients of

The August Heckscher Award for Community Service:

STEPHEN S. LASH & CHARLES S. WARREN

In Recognition of their Major Contributions to Quality of Life on the Upper East Side and in East Harlem.

Thursday, March 6
Six to Eight Thirty PM
Americas Society, 680 Park Avenue

Benefit Co-Chairs: Genie Rice, Sava Thomas, Felipe Ventegeat

Benefit Vice Chairs: Margit S. Bluestein, Elisabeth Clark, Joanna Delson, Janis Eltz, Christienne Ferreira, Judy Fresco, Katie Grishman, Matt Jupin, Jeanne McAnaney, Michael Morgenfruh, Steve Narker, John S. Winkleman

Invitation Illustrations by John S. Winkleman For more information, email info@civitasnyc.org or call 212.996.0745.

Reserve your tickets online today. Click here to pay by credit card or visit www.civitasnyc.org/get-involved CIVITAS 1457 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10128 p: 212-996-0745 f: 212-289-4291 info@civitasnyc.org www.civitasnyc.org

PANEL UPDATE: December 4 and EXHIBITION OPENING: December 10

Urban Revitalization and East Harlem Rezoning Panel Discussion

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:
-Peter Gluck - Principal, GLUCK+
-Matthew Washington - Chair, Community Board 11 and Advisory Member of CIVITAS
-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

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

SAVE THE DATE: Esplanade Exhibition Opening at City Swiggers on December 10th

Join CIVITAS for a opening reception celebrating the new Reimagining the Waterfront exhibition location at City Swiggers.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013
City Swiggers
320 East 86th Street
(between First and Second Avenues)
In the evening, exact time TBD

Reimagining the Waterfront is a CIVITAS-sponsored initiative to improve the East River Esplanade between East 63rd and 125th Streets. The exhibition features the eight winning proposals from the 2012 design-ideas competition, as well as historic images of the East River Esplanade and photographs of the site today.

Reimagining the Waterfront: Manhattan’s East River Esplanade was organized by the Museum of the City of New York. It was curated by Andrea Renner, the Museum’s Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow, and was on view at the Museum from June 6 through October 28, 2012.

For more information on the project, please visit:www.reimaginethewaterfront-civitas.com or call CIVITAS at (212) 996-0745.

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.

CIVITAS Launches Discussion Series with East River Waterfront Panel

Michael Storm 

The East River Esplanade looking south from East 71st Street. Courtesy of Anton Brookes. 

This fall marks the inaugural series of CIVITAS’s panel and lecture programs entitled Art, Design, and the Urban Environment. It will address issues important to the quality of life on the Upper East Side and in East Harlem. The series, co-sponsored by CIVITAS and the National Academy, is an inter-disciplinary exploration of neighborhood issues that intertwines CIVITAS’s mission to improve the quality of urban life with the mission of the National Academy to sustain the visual arts. 

Pier 15 along the East River, Courtesy of SHoP.

The first panel, held on October 2nd, brought together panelists from a variety of backgrounds to explore how art and design could transform the East River Waterfront. The panelists were Cecilia Alemani, Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Curator and Director of High Line Art; Al Appleton, former Commissioner of New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection; Michael Marrella, Director of Waterfront and Open Space for the New York City Department of City Planning; and Charles Birnbaum, Founder and President of The Cultural Landscape Foundation. Subsequent panels this winter will address Urban Revitalization and East Harlem Rezoning as well as Transportation and the Second Avenue Subway. 

In advance of the first event, CIVITAS spoke with the panel’s moderator, architect Gregg Pasquarelli, to learn about his work designing the southern section of the East River Waterfront. His firm, SHoP, redesigned the waterfront underneath the FDR overpass, connecting the Battery Maritime Center to East River Park, just south of the Williamsburg Bridge, bringing the prospect of a continuous waterfront along the East Side one step closer to reality. Pasquarelli’s important role in this process has given him a unique vision for how and why the waterfront should serve our community. 

In August, CIVITAS spoke to Gregg Pasquarelli about his work on the East River waterfront. 

Gregg Pasquarelli. 

Courtesy of SHoP 

CIVITAS: In your work along the southern portion of the East River waterfront, what options did you explore in redeveloping the area? 

Gregg: When we first did the original masterplan we looked at literally dozens of different strategies from burying the FDR Drive, leaving it as a bridge, floating it as an island, building an actual barrier to raise the FDR for storm protection, putting in muscle reefs, putting in barrier islands. We looked at dozens and dozens of things that could be done:

C: The FDR Drive replaced what used to be heavy industry, so you are dealing with New York City’s post-industrial waterfront with the city contained by a freeway. 

G: Exactly. It was a kind of park or esplanade that was nestled among the infrastructure of the city. By bringing cultural, community, and recreation uses into a series of pavilions, you brought the city out onto the waterfront. And by opening up these view corridors, you brought the waterfront into the city, and you allow these cross-grain connections to bring you there. 

C: What potential do you see waterfronts bringing to the East Side? How did you see your work fulfilling this potential? 

G: In a city that’s desperate for open space, here’s a place where you can get out, you can look a mile or two up and down the river and get sunlight. Just opening it up where people feel safe and can walk there and ride their bikes there—it’s huge—the value that that brings to the quality of life of everyone that lives down in that very dense part of town. 

C: What has been the process with the city in developing the waterfront? Who is your client? 

G: Our client is the Economic Development Corporation and the NYC Department of Design and Construction. We worked quite a bit on the logistics of getting it built with the EDC but really on a lot of the design issues with the DDC. They were great clients. I think I did 114 meetings with the city over only the first two years. 

C: How did your meetings with the community affect the design and construction process when you were developing the East River waterfront? 

G: We really talked about how things were working, what was working in the area and what wasn’t working in the area. What were things that could be improved? What were things that community desired? Then we put up this whole overall idea we had and made it work so that it solved some of the community issues. 

C: The panel that you are moderating at the National Academy brings together a very diverse group of professionals to speak about the uptown stretch of the East River waterfront. How do you believe this kind of conversation can improve the area? 

G: If designers aren’t engaged in explaining that to people who do not know enough about design, I think we get horrible spaces and a waste of money. I think architects tend to be a little insular in general so the more broadly you can learn about things, the richer your designs become. It’s always inspiring to look at other kinds of professions. I’m always interested in looking at other professions, their models, how they solve problems. 

C: This panel is a part of CIVITAS’s initiative called Reimagining the Waterfront that has been leading discussions with community members about their experiences with the waterfront. How do you see community-based initiatives affecting the quality of life for these areas? 

G: Getting buy-in [from the community,] getting people to understand what design is and what it does, and how it’s performative, and what it can accomplish, is important for making any space successful. If we’re going to live in dense cities, we have got to have great public space and making great public space requires people to come together and invest in that space and invest in the understandings of how it works and what its effects are. These are extremely important things. 

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

City Atlas Writes about the 10/2 Esplanade Panel Discussion

The original article by Jason Diaz covering the CIVITAS and National Academy panel discussion "Water and the East River Esplanade" is available online at 
http://newyork.thecityatlas.org/lifestyle/reimagining-waterfront-dialogue-comprehensive-plan-east-river-esplanade/

Designing a new water’s edge for the Upper East Side and Harlem

“Reimag­in­ing the Water­front” com­pe­ti­tion, First Prize: Joseph Wood, designer. Click to expand (via CIVITAS)

The East River Esplanade, a 2-mile-long city-owned pub­lic park that runs from 63rd to 125th Street, was already being crit­i­cized by res­i­dents as being a bleak and poorly main­tained pub­lic space when Hur­ri­cane Sandy hit, expos­ing the vul­ner­a­bil­ity of the entire water­front. Swollen har­bor waters swamped the upper sec­tion of the park and washed into East Harlem; now, atten­tion turns to a com­plete reimag­in­ing of the shore­line along this neglected stretch of Manhattan.

Pre­lim­i­nary plans for ren­o­vat­ing the Esplanade were actu­ally in the works before the storm; the Depart­ment of City Plan­ning drew up a pro­posal for rede­vel­op­ment of the East River Esplanade as a part of Vision 2020, which aims to improve access, enhance pedes­trian con­nec­tiv­ity, and cre­ate water­front ameni­ties for pub­lic enjoy­ment and recre­ation, while bol­ster­ing the city’s resilience in the face of extreme weather events.

CIVITAS pan­elists, from left to right: Gregg Pas­querelli, Charles Birn­baum, Michael Mar­rella, Cecilia Ale­mani, and Al Apple­ton; (Photo: Jason Diaz)

To add momen­tum to the pub­lic drive for a new park, CIVITAS, a community-led orga­ni­za­tion focused on neigh­bor­hood qual­ity of life in the Upper East Side and East Harlem, recently held an exten­sive panel dis­cus­sion on the future of the East River Esplanade; the talk was pre­sented at the National Acad­emy on Fifth Avenue.

CIVITAS has long been an advo­cate for a bet­ter water­front park, host­ing sev­eral com­mu­nity vision­ing events and, dur­ing 2012, a notable design com­pe­ti­tion, for which the win­ning entries were exhib­ited at the Museum of the City of New York. (Detail from the first place con­cept, by Joseph Wood, is shown at top of this page.)

The group on stage at the Octo­ber panel included archi­tects, plan­ners, design­ers, artists, and envi­ron­men­tal­ists, who shared some­times com­pet­ing ideas for ways a new pub­lic space can serve the city and the nat­ural environment.

Con­tem­po­rary bar-stool seat­ing look­ing out over the East River at Pier 15 (SHoP Architects)

The CIVITAS panel dis­cus­sion began with a pre­sen­ta­tion by SHoP Archi­tects found­ing part­ner, Gregg Pas­querelli. SHoP has water­front projects in two loca­tions—Mitchell Park and its Cam­era Obscura sculp­tural instal­la­tion (in Green­port, NY), and the East River Esplanade South and East River Waterfront/Pier 15 (South Street Sea­port in Man­hat­tan)— which were shown as exam­ples of how a water­front site can pro­vide social and recre­ational space and be adven­tur­ous at the same time.

Pier 15 double-decker green space. (SHoP Architects)

SHoP’s work shows clever space uti­liza­tion in the double-decker green-roof piers at Pier 15, as well as attrac­tive light­ing strate­gies and seat­ing arrangements—red ceil­ing light­ing which help to cre­ate a more roman­tic space at night, and water­front bar-stools that appeal to patrons who may wish to read, eat and drink, or sim­ply con­verse with friends over a stun­ning view of Brook­lyn and down­town Manhattan.

In Green­port, NY, a new town park encour­aged com­mu­nity inter­ac­tion and par­tic­i­pa­tion, added res­i­den­tial appeal, and fos­tered a real-estate boom. SHoP’s work relies on mixed-use design strate­gies to help attract a wider audi­ence, fit­ting the recre­ational needs of a more diverse pop­u­la­tion. The exam­ples also showed smart fund­ing strate­gies, specif­i­cally in the East River Esplanade South project, where air rights located under the FDR Drive are being sold in order to help pay for project development.

Pan­elists praised exper­i­men­ta­tion, and cul­tural awareness

Charles Birn­baum, Founder and Pres­i­dent of The Cul­tural Land­scape Foun­da­tion, fol­lowed SHoP’s pre­sen­ta­tion by ask­ing: how do we mea­sure suc­cess in a post-Sandy sit­u­a­tion? There is always an empha­sis on envi­ron­men­tal­ism and aes­thet­ics, but Birn­baum argued that cul­ture should have an equally impor­tant place in the con­ver­sa­tion; that peo­ple should be look­ing at devel­op­ment with the goal of turn­ing a project into a “new ‘World Her­itage site”; and that atten­tion to cul­ture in devel­op­ment is the dif­fer­ence between a suc­cess­ful project and just an aver­age project.

Homoge­nous design becomes dull; shown on the East River

Birn­baum warns us of the homo­gene­ity of land­scapes and devel­op­ment, but also praises the level of exper­i­men­ta­tion that seems to be occur­ring in the last decade where devel­op­ers, design­ers, and archi­tects are increas­ingly mov­ing away from homo­ge­neous designs and con­cepts. He asks design­ers, archi­tects and plan­ners to incor­po­rate cul­ture and his­tory into their projects, as to teach peo­ple “how to see and value land­scape and land­scape archi­tec­ture in a way that they are hard­wired to look at archi­tec­ture in the built environment.”

Birn­baum ended his com­ments with the “Four – C’s”—Collections, or the liv­ing and non-living in a given area; Com­mu­nity, or the con­text in which these col­lec­tions work and play with each other; Con­tain­ers, the build­ings in these spaces; and Con­text, the phys­i­cal and his­tor­i­cal setting—the ele­ments he believes are impor­tant for suc­cess­ful land­scape developments.

Com­mu­nity involve­ment and par­tic­i­pa­tion became the next area of focus as the Direc­tor of Water­front and Open Space of New York City’s Depart­ment of City Plan­ning, Michael Mar­rella, took the floor.

“Do we have the water­front that we want going for­ward?”  In order to get the right answer to this ques­tion, accord­ing to Mar­rella, com­mu­nity par­tic­i­pa­tion is com­pletely nec­es­sary. And as a result, the Depart­ment of City Planning’s Vision 2020: New York City Com­pre­hen­sive Water­front Plan was cre­ated from a year-long pub­lic plan­ning process that entailed going out to each com­mu­nity in prox­im­ity to a NYC water­front and invit­ing them to par­tic­i­pate in orga­nized work­shops, where the com­mu­ni­ties were not only asked what they want out of the water­front, but also what it would take to get there.

Why does it take so long to build a park inNYC? Mul­ti­ple agen­cies, but also pub­lic review.

Mar­rella empha­sized that pub­lic out­reach works to chal­lenge the plan­ning process to serve the com­mu­nity best, rather than assem­bling the pub­lic for the pur­pose of cre­at­ing lengthy, impos­si­ble wish lists. Mar­rella also brought up the thicket of envi­ron­men­tal and water­front reg­u­la­tions and the “hor­ror sto­ries” that come with them, where 6-month projects on paper turn into 8-year projects in real­ity due to per­mit wait times and other delays, and how there needs to be a more pre­dictable, reli­able, and effi­cient process that avoids these unwanted set­backs while mak­ing sure not to lower our envi­ron­men­tal standards.

An exam­ple of the Vision 2020′s plan for the NYC water­front; (NYC Depart­ment of City Planning)

As in all well-rounded panel dis­cus­sions, Al Apple­ton, for­mer Com­mis­sioner of the New York City Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion and Direc­tor of New York City Water and Sewer sys­tem, pre­sented con­trast­ing view­points on how to man­age the East River Esplanade. Instead of focus­ing on build­ing and devel­op­ment, land­scape archi­tec­ture and hous­ing (part of the City’s mas­ter plan for the water­fronts also includes water­front hous­ing), Apple­ton urges that we reclaim the water­front; but that we reclaim it not to serve real-estate pur­poses or improved apart­ment views, but rather to rein­tro­duce nature to the waterfront.

A call for rein­tro­duc­ing nature to the water­front along the Upper East Side.

Apple­ton believes that, if resiliency is a pri­or­ity, plan­ners will rec­og­nize that reestab­lish­ing nature at the water’s edge is the most effec­tive method avail­able. Apple­ton sub­mits three man­dates on how to deal with the East River Esplanade (and the rest of the city’s water­front, for that mat­ter): 1) there should be absolutely no new high-rise devel­op­ment on the water­front, 2) nat­ural areas on the water­front should be repro­duced and restored, such as Jamaica Bay and the Rock­aways, and 3) the FDR Drive should be trans­formed and retro­fit­ted in order to make way for a more nat­ural coastline—he even sug­gests get­ting rid of it all together, which is a remark­able sug­ges­tion as most plans take the Robert Moses-era road­way as a given.

Apple­ton also cri­tiques Marrella’s ref­er­ence to the “hor­ror sto­ries” of the reg­u­la­tory process, where 6-month projects turn into 8-year projects. Apple­ton argues that the polit­i­cal process is nec­es­sary; added wait times usu­ally include more com­mu­nity par­tic­i­pa­tion and involve­ment, and that com­mu­ni­ties should be wary and skep­ti­cal of fast, steam-rolled devel­op­ment projects, as they tend to ignore civic consensus.

As the last pre­sen­ter, Cecilia Ale­mani, Cura­tor at High Line Art, spoke of the impor­tance of art in pub­lic spaces. She updated the audi­ence on the mul­ti­ple types of media that are cur­rently cir­cu­lat­ing in the High Line Park, as well as how the High Line is cre­at­ing new con­cepts for parks and rein­vent­ing the art space. Along with com­mis­sioned work, the High Line has intro­duced a num­ber of per­for­mance works, as well as inter­ac­tive and engag­ing video pro­jec­tions — all of which, Ale­mani sug­gests, should be taken into con­sid­er­a­tion in the new East River Esplanade. And with the incor­po­ra­tion of art into the park, the esplanade can bet­ter address the cul­tural needs that Birn­baum men­tioned ear­lier in what truly makes a suc­cess­ful water­front space.

To wrap up the entire panel dis­cus­sion into one coher­ent mes­sage, it might sound some­thing like this: In order for the East River Esplanade that runs from 63rd to 125th Street to become a truly suc­cess­ful pub­lic space that serves the needs of the com­mu­nity, it must have a dar­ing yet smart design that inte­grates art and cul­ture, and meets the con­cerns of the com­mu­nity and the envi­ron­ment. Given the new real­i­ties of cli­mate change, this space must play a role in coastal pro­tec­tion, but also should simul­ta­ne­ously attract and appeal to all peo­ple in a social and recre­ational context.

The vital­ity of the dis­cus­sion and the depth of the ideas on the table show how New York con­tin­ues to enjoy a renais­sance in the con­fi­dent and inven­tive design of pub­lic space.

If these weights and mea­sures are taken dur­ing the rede­vel­op­ment of the East River Esplanade, it seems that the Upper East Side and East Harlem will have a new, vision­ary way to get to the water’s edge in their neigh­bor­hoods, with a pub­lic amenity that will stretch for miles up the East Side, per­haps even restor­ing a glimpse of the nat­ural land­scape, and habi­tat, that graced the island once upon a time.