Mayor Adams Completes First Section of East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, Taking Steps to Protect Lives, Property

October 17, 2024

First Section of Project-Between East 15th Street and Asser Levy Playground-Completed Ahead of Schedule, $10 Million Under Budget

City Reopens Murphy Brothers Playground on Avenue C with Flood Protection, New Dog Run, Ballfields, Other Amenities

NEW YORK-New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced that the city has completed the first section of East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) ahead of schedule and under budget, a major milestone in the effort to protect more than 110,000 Lower East Side residents, including 28,000 in public housing, from future storms and high tides and protect billions of dollars worth of infrastructure and property in the area. ESCR employs raised parkland, floodwalls, berms, and 18 swinging or sliding flood gates to create a continuous line of protection against sea level rise and the growing threat of stronger, more severe coastal storms worsened by climate change. The $1.45 billion project is being built in two sections, with the northern section having begun work in November 2020. Work in that area was completed earlier this week at a cost of $163 million, which is $10 million under its original projected budget, and two months ahead of schedule. Construction on the second section, which is underway and anticipated to be completed by the end of 2026, includes a complete reconstruction of East River Park.

Read the full Mayoral Press Release.