BY THE VILLAGE SUN | Finally, some action on the coastal resiliency redactions.
On Tuesday, City Councilmember Carlina Rivera tweeted that the de Blasio administration would be releasing “additional unredacted materials” from a 2018 feasibility study of the embattled East Side Coastal Resiliency project.
City Hall will be releasing more materials from its ESCR value engineering review today thanks to advocacy from my office & the Community Advisory Group.
We’ll review these materials carefully and support the CAG in efforts they make around this needed resiliency project. pic.twitter.com/BkyEqbjmGQ
— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) April 6, 2021
Four days earlier, however, East River Park ACTION and a slew of candidates running for political office sued Mayor de Blasio and the Office of Management and Budget, demanding the release of the full so-called value engineering study.
The study compared a previous low-impact plan to build berms along the east side of the F.D.R. Drive and the more drastic one City Hall abruptly adopted, without prior community notification or review, that would bury the existing East River Park under 8 feet to 10 feet of infill soil.
The earlier scheme went through community workshops and planning sessions and won local buy-in. Meanwhile, the current plan is pegged at $1.45 billion and would be done in phases over at least five years, putting large parts of the park off limits at any given time.
Rivera, in her tweet, said the city’s Department of Design and Construction agreed to release the additional information as a result of advocacy by her and the East Side Coastal Resiliency Community Advisory Group.
But members of East River Park ACTION countered that it was their lawsuit, plus a letter by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer to the mayor, advocacy by the Grand Street Democrats political club and also coverage by local media outlets, including The Village Sun, that compelled D.D.C. to cough up more of the heavily redacted study.
And you did not give credit to @galeabrewer and @TheVillageSun @boweryboogie @GrandStreetDems who have been asking for this transparency for months
— Our Park (@ERPAction) April 6, 2021
The new information will be posted on the E.S.C.R. Web site.
“Let’s see what we get,” said East River Park ACTION.
We very badly need someone better in that job. At this point I’m willing to volunteer for anybody running against her, who doesn’t prioritize FDR Drive traffic and Con Ed pollution over the air quality in our neighborhood. Save ERP!
Adorable! Rivera trying to take credit for anything having to do with East River Park other than promoting the destruction of the park.
Rivera continues to give cover to de Blasio and this terribly flawed plan by attempting to take credit for getting portions released, as if that was enough, instead of arguing that her constituents are entitled to see the full report.
She ignores the wishes of her constituents and all the affected communities who worked tirelessly on the original plan with her continued support of the mayor’s folly.
Taking credit for the efforts of other while working to promote the mayor’s plan against the interests of the community, is akin to Republicans boasting about the benefits of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 when not one of them voted in favor of it.
Time and again she works against her constituents and does not keep her promises. Time for someone that does.