Urban Design for the East Side

Claire Weisz

Founding principal – WXY architecture + urban design

Lead consultant for the East River Blueway Plan

WXY architecture + urban design is a multi-disciplinary practice specializing in the realization of innovative planning, urban design, and architectural solutions in challenging urban contexts. WXY’s work is about social and environmental transformation that responds to the opportunities and limitations of the specific context. Deeply rooted in community engagement, the firm’s commissions are in collaboration with community-based, public authority, and private clients.

Future Evolution of the East River

Changed Impressions of the East River

First Impressions of the East River

Waterfront Environment

The East River Blueway consists of a narrow strip of walled coastline that is alternately paved and unpaved. With some notable exceptions, the boundary of the Blueway site with
the East River consists of a shear seawall that rises approximately five to eight feet above the water’s surface. A pathway closely follows the seawall except at three locations:
the Basketball City and parking complex at Montgomery Street, the Con Ed outfall structure at 14th Street, and Waterside Plaza at 25th Street. Within a one-mile portion of the Blueway site, between Jackson Street and 12th Street, there are numerous recreational areas concentrated along the waterfront within a strip varying between 300 and 450 feet in width. Playing fields, walk/bike paths, playgrounds, and seating areas within this zone are well utilized by nearby residents and tourists. Further north, Stuyvesant Cove Park is a quarter-mile long and 70-foot wide section between 18th and 23rd Streets which possesses trees, seating areas, and pathways also frequently used by residents. The remaining areas along the waterfront are far narrower and principally possess pathways for bikes and pedestrians. CSO outfalls are found along the entire stretch of the Blueway, each releasing untreated sanitary sewage and stormwater to the East River during rain events.

Water Quality

The water quality of the East River is affected by both natural and man-made forces. The natural forces driving water quality include the mixing of sea water with fresh water from the Hudson River, and the seasonal fluctuations in temperature that affect plant growth and the presence of marine animals.

Human activity adversely affects the River water quality to a much greater degree than natural processes, through both historical and present behaviors. The Manhattan and Brooklyn shores of the East River have seen a great reduction in industrial activity since the mid-1900s, but industry still has an impact on water quality through sediment diffusion and residual contaminants in soils. Current activity affects the River, as well. The River is used as
a shipping route, and is at risk of petroleum or other chemical spills from vessels traversing its waters. Stormwater runoff also carries contaminants left on surfaces by automobiles, fertilization practices, aerial deposition, and general human consumption waste (trash).

Most important to human health is the discharge of CSOs into the River during storm events. When precipitation occurs, runoff is combined with untreated sewage within City sewers. In events over a certain threshold, the wastewater system becomes overburdened and excess is discharged directly into waterways, resulting in short-term spikes in fecal coliform (such as E. coli) concentrations which can cause a variety of infections in humans.

Currently, the NYCDEP classifies the East River as Use Classification I, indicating that it is suitable for secondary contact recreation, such as boating, and fishing.

Historical Context

Over the course of the last 200 years, East River waterfront and the adjacent neighborhoods have undergone four major phases. From the early 19th century to the end of the 19th century, the East River was a focal point for work and recreation. Moreover, the river itself was seen as a cleansing site, serving as a place for New Yorkers to bathe.

This period was followed by a new emphasis on public health, where swimming in the East River was prohibited and construction of dumbbell tenements was banned. The wave of health concerns gave way to the near total redesign of the Lower East Side based on Robert Moses’ modernist design principles, segregating houses from places of work and play, and free-flowing roads from shopping areas. The result was a clear striation, from west to east of public housing, the FDR Drive, East River Park and then the East River, which separated people from the river.

This period has lasted until the end of the 20th century, when de-industrialization, legislation such as the 1977 Clean Water Act and a new demand for recreation space has re-focused the city on the recreational opportunities of the East River Waterfront. The last few decades have revealed a changed understanding of what the waterfront and River can be for New Yorkers. A series of efforts over the last ten years have been aimed at improving
waterfront access and activities along the East River. Currently, the Economic Development Corporation and the Department of City Planning are jointly developing the few remaining piers as public space.

Land Use

Land use in the study area to the west of the FDR Drive can be distinguished in six different patterns.

Between the Brooklyn Bridge and Clinton Street, mixed-use residential and commercial is the predominant use, with some multi-family residential and institutional uses, such as PS 126 and several playgrounds.
The area between Clinton Street and East 13th Street is mainly comprised of large-scale multi-family residential uses that are located on superblocks with small-scale institutional and open space uses interspersed.
The area between East 12th and north of East 16th Street is characterized by utility and transportation uses. The most prominent use is the Con Edison Plant, which takes up a whole block between East 14th and East 15th Streets, and Avenue C and the FDR Drive.
The area between East 14th and East 23rd Streets, and Avenue C and First Avenue, includes two superblocks with homogenous mixed-use residential and commercial uses: Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.
Both these developments have open space, some with public access and recreational opportunities.
Between East 23rd and East 34th Streets there are three superblocks with institutional uses dedicated to health: the Veteran Administration Hospital, the Bellevue Hospital Center, and the NYC Langone Medical Center
The area adjacent to the northwest of East 34th Street includes a small-scale, lot-based mix of residential, commercial, and institutional uses. Further north and closer to the FDR, land uses per block are less diverse, with mix-use, commercial, transportation and storage, as well as parking facility uses.

The area to the east of the FDR Drive is predominantly comprised of transportation, storage, and utility uses, public open space uses, and some commercial uses.

Existing Conditions Report

In February 2012, we released the East River Blueway Plan’s Existing Conditions Report. This report examines base conditions on the waterfront and in the surrounding area, summarizes the stakeholder discussions to date and provides an historical overview of the waterfront. See key sections of the report on the right.

You can also download complete sections of the Existing Conditions Report below.

INTRODUCTION, COMMUNITY OUTREACH + PLANNING CONTEXT

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

WATERFRONT NEIGHBORHOODS

WATERFRONT ENVIRONMENT

TRANSPORTATION + ACCESS

Neighborhoods

The Blueway project site represents an interesting cross section of New York City’s exceedingly diverse and dynamic population. The East River Blueway traverses many different neighborhoods, including the Lower East Side, East Village, Stuyvesant Town, Kips Bay, and Murray Hill. It also affects some other nearby neighborhoods, specifically the Financial District and Chinatown. There are no clear boundaries to these neighborhoods. As the population and demographics of an area changes with shifting trends and development, what is traditionally the Lower East Side can eventually resemble more Chinatown decades later. Nonetheless, every place has its particular history. Being aware of this history as well as the current context helps one understand and compare different areas that might differ socially, economically, politically, and physically.

The map above identifies the destinations along the Blueway that are within the different neighborhoods. It also shows the locations for entertainment, retail, and institutional destinations throughout the site and beyond. You can see on the map that the area along South Street lacks any significant entertainment and retail concentration. Even so, there are nearby streets, like East 14th Street and Avenue D, that are more active.