NEW YORK CITY-Local officials kicked off the rehabilitation of Waterside Pier Tuesday. The project, funded by a $13-million lease fulfillment payment from Con Edison, is the first step in what is ultimately expected to be the construction of a public park at the site, located between 38th and 41st streets on the East River.
A New York City Economic Development Corp. spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that his group expects “the $13 million will result in the complete structural rehabilitation of the pier.”
New York City Council Member Dan Garodnick, who represents District 4, spoke yesterday about the importance of access to the pier. “Rehabilitating the unused Con Ed pier will get us a step closer to turning prime, underused, waterfront real estate into a public amenity for the East Side and all New Yorkers,” Garodnick said in a prepared statement. “The pier is a critical piece in creating a continuous East River esplanade, so we are glad that the City and Con Ed have made this important progress.”
Con Ed’s lease at the site expired in June of last year. A Con Ed spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that the site “hadn’t been used for years.”
Its renovation will provide 34,000 square feet of park space, in line with the city’s Waterfront Vision and Enhancement Strategy, or WAVES. That initiative, unveiled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in March, includes both short term and long term projects to develop and enhance the New York City waterfront. These include significant projects along the East River, including the East River Waterfront Esplanade.
Proponents of the pier improvements also see it as crucial to closing the gap in the Manhattan Greenway that currently exists along the East River, from 38th street to 60th street.
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