A potentially troubling development today as I rode through Sutton Place via the Greenway detour:
The first thought that popped to mind was that the caissons were being prepared to be removed. This would seriously delay any expansion of the Greenway south.
Repeated calls to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation have gone unanswered. The deadline to remove the caissons under the original DEC temporary permit was recently pushed back until March 1st of this year.
UPDATED 6:00pm 1/13/10: We just heard back from NYS DEC and aides from State Senator Liz Krueger’s office. The caissons are NOT being prepared to be removed. No one is sure what the barge and cranes are doing there (reassuring??). We’ll continue to monitor the situation and bring you updates as they happen.
Newsflash!
OK, it’s not that exciting. But as you can see, there is work going on on the Gap. Specifically, Phoenix Marine is working on the underside, checking the condition of the structure. I spoke to the Foreman, but that’s about all he would or could tell me. He doesn’t know about the caissons, nor whether the bike path will be completed. That is not their job. But, someone must have felt it was worth looking into the structure, so is that in preparation for….?
Anyway, I have some pretty good pictures of the caissons which I will try to upload. The guys were getting nervous about me being in a semi-restricted area though, so that’s as far as I got. The last block of the 51-54 street East River Park is now closed off for their work.
Update:
Ellen Imbimbo, chair of CB6’s Waterfront subcommittee, called me this morning after my CC to her on this yesterday. She’s unaware of what they’re doing there either, but since it falls within CB6’s territory, she promised to find out and let me know. I wonder who hired these people? She vowed to find out.
Unfortunately, she also reaffirmed that no decision has been made yet on the caissons or in a more general sense, on what to do about the Gap. I let her know about your site – she hadn’t been aware of it before. Let’s try to reach out to CB6 as much as CB8. Remember, the toughest 21 block (38-59) of the Gap are in their jurisdiction.
[...] a large barge parked itself next to the East River caissons at 53rd Street, we put a call into DEC and a day later I spoke to a high ranking official at DEC about the matter. [...]
Mystery solved! Emergency repairs are being made to the FDR, according to the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security United States Coast Guard (LOCAL NOTICE TO MARINERS District: 1 Week: 02/10).
New Mystery: Why are local politicians keeping it a secret? Why create such a panic about the caissons when there most likely are plans to do the work as part of or as a piggyback to this project?
NY – EAST RIVER-EAST 51ST TO 54TH STREETS
Phoenix Marine will be making emergency repairs on the FDR Drive from East 51st to 54th Streets until further notice. Work hours are 24 / 7. A 120’ x 40’ Flexifloat, 140’ x 50’ Crane Barge, and 90’ x 90’ Concrete Barge will be on-scene during this time. The Phoenix Marine points of contact are Mr. John Keeley at 347.386.3901 or Mr. Howard Charles at 347.386.5162.
Marine Borers (worm termite things) have been munching away on the wooden pilings (that support the platform on which the East River Greenway and the FDR Drive sit) for at least a decade. The city has been aware of the infestation since at least 2000 and is only finally addressing it today. Emergency repairs have been underway near E. 53rd Street since January 2010 and work to deal with the rest of the area is scheduled to begin in January 2011 and continue until November 2014. (See the NYC DOT’s 2009 Bridges and Tunnels Annual Condition Report.) This barge pictured is the above-water staging ground for repairs.
Why was an East River Esplanade Task Force made up of all our Upper East Side Politicians (Council Member Jessica Lappin, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Senator Liz Krueger, Senator Jose M. Serrano, Assembly Member Jonathan L. Bing, Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner and Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick) formed in March 2010 to ” to assess the damage to the esplanade, estimate the cost of repairs, secure funding sources and develop a timeframe” for fixing the East River Greenway (see March 31, 2010 letter from Jessica Lappin and Carolyn Maloney to NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe) when all this was already done and THEY KNEW IT. Why wasn’t the public informed that according to the NYC DOT, a red flag condition (one with potentially serious danger to life and public safety) existed and that the failure of these worm termite eaten timber piles could and CAN lead to the sudden collapse of the East River Esplanade and the FDR Drive. Isn’t this exactly what is happening now???!!! Why are we not being warned?