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Green New Deal for FDR

NYU Urban Lab at the Schack Institute of Real Estate

The NYU Urban Lab is dedicated to becoming the premiere hub in the country focused on impact real estate development and inclusive growth in cities. Since its founding in 1967, the Schack Institute of Real Estate at NYU’s School of Professional Studies has fostered collaborations between students, faculty and industry leaders to address the unique real estate challenges facing the world. Schack has an extraordinary number of current industry practitioners counted amongst its adjunct faculty. The Lab is a working laboratory that leverages this network effect of industry expertise in combination with the cutting edge of academia to address current challenges and best practices in urban real estate development and urban policy. With a focus on industry research, case studies and practical training, the Lab and its affiliates create resources for the real estate industry and policy-makers across the public, private and social entrepreneurship sectors.

The Lab has a particular focus on the strategies for simultaneously advancing both economic and social prosperity, which we call inclusive growth.

The Lab is multi-disciplinary and focuses on four areas of research:

Inclusive Growth & Economic Development
Regenerative and Sustainable Infrastructure
Public/Private Partnerships & Impact Capital Formation
Agglomeration

The Lab’s annual activities include:

Faculty sponsored research
Convenings including the annual Global Cities Conference
A published body of practical case studies, tutorials and lectures by industry leaders and academics
Student, industry and faculty fellows are regularly involved in analyzing and publishing case studies in public/private partnerships.

Contact us today to get involved in helping to understand and shape the future of the global urban landscape.

Call for volunteer graduate research assistants

Leadership Team

Matthew Kwatinetz

Director, Urban Lab

Clinical Assistant Professor of Real Estate Economics, NYU Schack Real Estate Institute

Professor Kwatinetz is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Real Estate Economics and the Director of the NYU Urban Lab. Previously, “Professor K” was the Executive Vice President of Asset Management for the New York City Economic Development Corporation. In that role he was in charge of managing the largest real estate portfolio in the five boroughs at over 65M square feet and encompassing such assets as the 42nd Street Development Project, Hunts Point Food Distribution Center and Brooklyn Army Terminal. For EDC, Professor K also ran PortNYC, the third largest port in the US, and also managed the team behind the launch and operations of the NYC Ferry, which is the largest expansion of commuter ferry service in US history. Kwatinetz was the lead on the Mayor's Affordable Real Estate for Artists (AREA) program, which is the largest affordable artist work-space initiative in the country.

Before NYCEDC, Professor K ran QBL Partners, a double bottom line public/private advisory firm. Selected clients included U.S. Department of Energy, Wharton’s Geo-Spatial Laboratory, Real Capital Analytics, Denny Hill Capital, Penn Institute for Urban Research, City of Shoreline, Kinzer Real Estate Services, City of Austin, Citiscope/Ford Foundation. Before QBL, Kwatinetz worked as the VP of Finance and Economics for Kinzer Real Estate Services where he supported real estate investment decision-making and site selection for such clients as the University of Washington, Alaska Airlines, and Starbucks Corporation. For Starbucks and with Kinzer Real Estate, he led a team to negotiate the creation of a $150M manufacturing plant in Augusta, GA. Following that project, he was recruited by the Mayor of Augusta to create Augusta Regional Collaboration Project (ARC), a public development corporation which worked with the City and State to consolidate several higher ed anchors into Georgia’s third research university into the downtown, causing $150M+ of investment in the urban core. With ARC, Kwatinetz also worked with Paine College (an HBCU) and the Housing and Community Development Department to help equitably develop historic Laney-Walker Bethlehem.

Kwatinetz is a former consulting economist for the Penn Institute for Urban Research. In 2018, he published Thriving In Place: Supporting Austin’s Cultural Vitality Through Place-Based Economic Development, sponsored by the NEA, City of Austin and ArtPlace America. He is a co-author of “Introduction to the Big Data Era” with Stephan Kudyba in Kudyba’s Big Data, Mining and Analytics. While in Seattle, Kwatinetz served as the founding Vice President of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, co-founded the Seattle Cultural Overlay District Advisory Committee, and sat on King County’s Cultural Real Estate Task Force.

Matthew is the Chair of the ULI NY District Technical Assistance Program and serves on the NY District Management Committee and the national Public/Private Council. He is the Board Chair for the Augusta Regional Collaboration Corporation. He is a Board Member of the Burning Man Project, as well as their interim head of Real Estate. He has been a featured speaker for Wharton, Harvard GSD, NYU, the University of Washington, Columbia, The New School, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Americans for the Arts, NAIOP, Net Impact, and the Centre for Policy Studies on Culture and Communities. Matthew received his MBA in Real Estate at The Wharton School, where he was named a Martin Bucksbaum scholar. He is a graduate of Deep Springs College and Harvard University, with honors.

Connect with Prof K on Twitter

Green New Deal for the FDR Fall 2022 Speaker Series III: Financing Smart Infrastructure

November 30, 2022

Green New Deal for the FDR Fall 2022 Speaker Series II: Sustainability & Infrastructure

November 2, 2022

Green New Deal for the FDR Fall Speaker Series I: Inclusive Growth and Infrastructure

October 19, 2022

A Green New Deal for the FDR?

May 4, 2021

Energy, Climate Justice & Sustainability Lab Launch Event

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

The Rise of Global Startups: Exploring Trends in Urban Venture Capital

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Building Inclusive Cities: A One-on-One with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

When Real Estate Meets Innovation

Thursday, December 7, 2017

The Driverless City

Monday, October 30, 2017

The Case of Inclusive Prosperity

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

The NYU Urban Lab features publications by the Urban Lab on topics in our core area, publications and case studies by NYU Schack professors relevant to our areas of study, and working papers created by students, faculty, industry and adjunct facu

Urban Lab Publications

NYU Schack Faculty Publications

Working Papers

Coming Soon

Videos

Affordability & Sustainability in the Capital Markets: 2022 Capital Markets Conference:

Fall 2022 Series Panel 1 - Green New Deal for the FDR: Harlem River Greenway

Faculty Seminar Series: Putting the 'S' in ESG

Thriving in Place: Creation of the Austin Economic Development Corporation

A Green New Deal for the FDR

Climate Justice Work in American Cities

Powering the Digital Economy: Microgrids and Renewable Energy

Urban Lab 1 on 1: Richard Florida and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop

Rise of the Global Start-up City with Richard Florida

Team

Call for Spring 2023 Volunteer Graduate Research Assistants

We are currently recruiting for unpaid graduate research assistant positions to work from February 2023-June 2023 in the following areas:

NYC's Affordable Housing Crisis "Wiki" - 2-6 students needed
NYC's Affordable Housing Crisis Event - 2 students needed
ESG Metrics in REITS, PE and Municipal Bonds Event - 2 students needed
ESG Metrics in REITs, PE and Municipal Bonds Research Paper - 2 students needed
Affordability: A Basket of Goods Index: 2 students needed to finish Reno research and draft paper for publication
Affordability: A Basket of Goods INdex: 2-6 students needed to extend the research to other cities in the US.

If you are interested, please send your cover letter and resume to Professor Kwatinetz at 11 W. 42nd Street, ATTN: Urban Lab Suite 509A, New York, NY 10036. Or email them to Professor K. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until filled. Earlier applications will be reviewed earlier. The next opportunity to join the Urban Lab will be in October 2023.

Graduate Research Assistants

Sanjana Dalal

Sanjana Dalal is currently pursuing Masters in Real Estate Development with concentration in Sustainable Development at NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate. She completed Bachelor’s in Architecture with core interest in Residential design and Affordable Housing sector from CEPT University, India. Her interest lies in using emerging technologies, softwares, trends and data for mitigating an outcome for overall development. She is passionate about the built environment and working towards the intersection of design, real estate Development and community upliftment.

Lia Manos

Lia Manos is a second year Master of Real Estate Development with a concentration in sustainability at NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate. Currently Lia is working at CBRE with the Investment Properties Institutional Group as she finishes her final semester at NYU. This past semester a bulk of Lia's classes have incorporated green building and infrastructure, highlighting the ongoing problem that we are facing as our infrastructure and built environment ages. Outside of her professional and educational experience she has a passion for the environment, existing buildings and the state of our world. Real estate has the opportunity to have a large impact on climate change and her long-term goal is to help develop sustainable buildings.

Daniela Marin

Daniela Marin is a first-year Master’s Student of Real Estate Development at NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate. She is passionate about innovation, sustainability, and urban development. Before coming to NYU, Daniela worked for three years as the National Lean Coordinator at Marval S.A., a Colombian real estate developer, leading it towards a new philosophy of continuous improvement and value delivery. She holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in Economics from Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia.

Daniel Mayer

Daniel Mayer is a second-year Master of Real Estate Finance and Investment student at NYU Schack, focusing on global ESG investments. His research interests include urban and rural economic development. He works for an international stealth start-up on the acquisitions and development team for the North East division. Daniel graduated from Binghamton University in 2017 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and a minor in Russian studies.

JP McKay

JP McKay holds a Master’s degree in Applied Urban Science & Informatics from NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering. His research interests include rural economic development, circular production, and the application of data science to public problem solving. He works at real estate services firm JLL in its Public Institutions arm supporting the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, a federal office financing large-scale energy infrastructure projects that use technologies not yet commercially proven. He holds a B.A. in Public Administration from the University of Central Arkansas and is a member of the NYC Department of Design and Construction’s Urban Resource Recovery Working Group.

Cameron T. Spiller

Cameron T. Spiller is a first-year Master of Real Estate Development candidate at NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate. Currently, he manages his own real estate development firm and a team of real estate agents in NY, DE, PA, and NJ. He holds a B.Sc. in Economics from his alma mater Pennsylvania State University. Cameron is a returned Peace Corps Community Economic Development Volunteer, where he served for two years in Costa Rica. He also has a scholarship for middle school students to encourage excellence in service and academics.

Stokala Spring

Stokala Spring is a graduate student at the New York University Schack Real Estate Institute. His research interests include real estate investment, sustainable development, and impact capital. He is the founder of The Anverte Group and a proud United States Air Force Veteran that loves travel and exploration. Stokala graduated with a BS in Business Entrepreneurship and Innovation from the University of San Francisco California in 2021.

What is the Initiative about?

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt East River Drive (FDR) is a 4-lane wide driveway running down the eastern coastline of Manhattan. It spans a total distance of 9.68 miles, a route stretching from its northernmost point at East 125th Street in Harlem, to the southernmost point, near the Battery Park Underpass.

As the FDR nears the end of its useful life, and given increased climate risk issues, there are questions about how to think about the future of the FDR. The NYU Urban Lab is convening a group of people, companies, and institutions to consider the best solution for a new governance structure for a redevelopment project on the east side of Manhattan. This project would advance positive outcomes for issues of flood resilience, environmental justice, smart infrastructure, affordability, and job creation.

Our Advisory Board

Our advisory committee is composed of public and private stakeholders that oversee the FDR initiative, help make sure communication to all stakeholders is broad and accessible, and provide consulting on generated material.

Currently, the committee includes representatives of the US Department of Transportation, The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the NYC Regional Plan Association, the Hudson River Park Trust, Manhattan Community Boards, Private Developers, and many more.

Besides the Advisory Board, the project is supported and followed closely by NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate Faculty: Professor Barry Hersh, Clinical Ass, and Professor Stuart Brodsky, Director of the Center for the Sustainable Built Environment.

Confirmed Advisors:

Donald Burns, Director of Planning and Program Development for the USDOT FTA
Jonathan Gouveia, EVP for Real Estate Development, NYCHA
Tiffany-Ann Taylor, Vice President for Transportation at the Regional Plan Association (RPA)
Rashi Puri, Assistant Vice President Real Estate and Planning, Hudson River Park Trust
Saul Scherl, President Tri-State at the Howard Hughes Corporation
James Wong, Executive Director of NYC Ferry
Tom Fox, Founders Council, Hudson River Park Trust
Will Brightbill, District Manager, Community Board 8

What have we accomplished?

Past Events

Spring 2021
The FDR project is born

The NYU Urban Lab is constantly looking for research initiatives that can positively impact real estate development and inclusive growth in cities; along those topics, sustainable infrastructure is one of the primary focuses of the lab. For this reason, when the future of the FDR Drive came into the discussion table, the research group knew it was a very relevant topic to allocate more effort and resources.

In 2021, the initiative was officially born to research the best practices to conduct the "Green New Deal for the FDR Drive." Today is one of the group's signature projects, as it brings together multiple areas of interest to the lab. Touching on affordable housing, sustainable green jobs, public/private partnerships, ESG, and many more topics.

The complexity of this undertaking makes the Urban Lab's role essential to bring an unbiased position to the subject and combine all types of city, state, and private organizations with interests in the project, as different ongoing planning efforts occur in the area.

Over the next 2-4 years, the group will continue to convene, outreach, and research this initiative. We expect to answer critical questions like how to create a holistic resiliency plan, how to involve coastal flood protection, how to apply new technologies like smart highways to regulate traffic, how to best finance this project of such magnitude, and how to reconnect communities with the waterfront, or how can this reconstruction serve as a model to create new green jobs for low-income communities.

Summer 2021
The NYU Urban Lab hosts a Technical Assistance Panel

On May 6, 2021, the NYU Urban Lab partnered with the ULI New York and the Waterfront Alliance to sponsor a single-day mTAP: A Green New Deal for the FDR. ULI is the oldest network of land use and real estate experts in the world, and the Waterfront Alliance is a coalition working to change the region’s waterways. The panel was divided into a morning session of sponsor briefings and 16+ stakeholder interviews, a public panel, and afternoon deep dive sessions on each topic.

Panel’s focus

What if a holistic resiliency planning effort were to start with the premise of rebuilding the FDR as coastal flood protection infrastructure?
Could it be a smart highway regulating traffic and easing congestion?
Are there new ways to finance such a project? Could communities be reconnected to their waterfront?
Could reconstruction serve as a model for the Green New Deal, creating new green jobs for low-income communities and communities of color?

14 mTAP panelists

Sam Chandan: Director, NYU Stern Center for Real Estate Finance Research
Cortney Worrall: President and CEO, Waterfront Alliance
Ali Chaudhry: SVP & Chief of Development and Government Relations, AECOM
Matthew Kwatinetz: Director of the NYU Urban Lab
Vishaan Chakrabarti: Founder of the Practice for Architecture Urbanism
Felix Ciampa: Executive Director at Urban Land Institute New York
Kate Biocourt: Director, Climate Resilient Coasts and Watersheds, New York - New Jersey
Matthew S. Washington: Vice President & Chief of Staff at Phipps Houses
Patty Belew: Assistant Director, Special Events at New York University
Venetia Lannon: Vice President, Environment Health Safety at Con Edison
Chris Karakul: Manager at ULI New York
Maritza Silva-Farrell: Executive Director at ALIGN
Tyler Duvall: CEO and Co-Founder, Cavnue
Maria Lomber: NYU Urban Lab

Stakeholders interviewed

Laura Starr: Partner, Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners
Trent Lethco: Principal and leader of ARUP's Integrated Planning Group in New York
Trever Holland: TUFF LES and CB3
Amy Chester: Managing Director, Rebuild by Design
Elijah Hutchinson: Vice President of Waterfronts, NYCEDC
Cecilia Kushner: Chief Strategy Officer, NYCEDC
Adam Meagher: Vice President for Planning & Development, NYCEDC
Carrie Grassi: Senior Policy Advisor, NYC Mayor's Office of Climate Resiliency
Eric Wilson: Deputy Director, NYC Mayor's Office of Climate Resilience
Tom Fox: Founder Tom Fox NY, Maritime Industry Advisor
Frank Avila Goldman: Affordable/Low-income Housing Advocate
Dina Elkan: Director Events & Park at Solar 1
Ingrid Sotello: East Harlem Community Alliance
Alice Blank: Community Board 1
Victor Papa: Two Bridges Neighborhood Council
Adam Hartke: CB 6 District Manager
Christine Datz-Romero: Executive Director, Lower East Side Ecology Center
Danny Harris: Executive Director, Transportation Alternatives
Suzan Al Shammari: Manhattan Organizer, Transportation Alternatives

Public Presentation
May 2021 Public Webinar
Our webinar speakers were industry experts that addressed questions of the FDR’s future in the context of coastal flood protection, smart highways, and environmental and social justice on the east side of Manhattan. One of the biggest issues raised was the need for a governance structure to advance this complicated initiative, which brought us insights to keep growing the Urban Lab's initiative.

Webinar Speakers

Vishaan Chakrabarti; Founder and Creative Director PAU studio / Professor at UC Berkeley
Ali Chaudhry; SVP & Chief of Development and Government Relations, AECOM
Tyler Duval; CEO and Co-Founder, Cavnue
Maritza Silva-Farrell; Executive Director, ALIGN
Matthew Washington; Deputy, Manhattan BP Office

Spring 2022
The FDR Project receives the ULI Curtis Infrastructure Grant

On January 26, 2022, the FDR project was accepted to be part of the ULI District Council Infrastructure Grant Cohort. The Curtis Initiative aims to promote forward-looking, equitable, resilient infrastructure investments and enhance long-term community value. In this way, the NYU Urban Lab and teams from six other cities were invited to join the 2022 Cohort.

This cohort comprises ULI members, local leaders, and other global experts from each city that meet regularly to identify key issues, share best practices, and provide project support/technical assistance.

Urban Land Institute - Curtis Infrastructure Initiative

Upcoming Events

Fall 2022
Online Events Series
The NYU Urban Lab will host a series of online events, where we will be inviting experienced speakers with a track record of participating in different planning efforts on the waterfront of New York City.

These events will be open to the public to participate, and we will count with the presence of our outstanding Advisory Board and our valuable Stakeholders to help focus the conversation on the initiative of the Green New Deal for the FDR.

Fall 2022 Panels:

Inclusive Growth and Infrastructure
Featured Project: Harlem Greenway Link
Oct 19, 2022
Recording here
Sustainability & Infrastructure
Feature Project: East Side Coastal Resiliency Plan
November 2, 2022
Register here
Financing Smart Infrastructure
Feature Project: The Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency Plan
Nov 30, 2022
Registration TBA

Spring 2023
Applied Research Panel
A research panel will be conducted during spring 2023 where different stakeholders including community and industry experts will be invited to discuss the FDR Drive future plans. On this occasion, the panel will perform in a week format, and the main goal will be to provide an unbiased strategic perspective on this issue. The result will be a detailed report with recommendations that will be distributed among the community to spread awareness of this important discussion.

Panel’s focus

What is a reasonable time frame to spend in the ideation and community engagement phase in determining critical “go/no-go” decisions about how this effort should be focused geographically and what elements should be addressed in terms of green job creation, resiliency, and smart highway (i.e., should we focus on one or all)?
What should be the structure of an entity to manage the process of a Green New Deal for FDR? Should it be managed by a new non-profit, the state, the city, a BID, or DOT? Should it have a Board? Community advisors? How should these be selected? Will legislation be required?
How should this new entity be financed initially (i.e., start-up), or mid-term (advocacy)? How should the project itself be financed (if differently) and how can the entity be sure to maintain community priorities in this process?
How should the overall project’s success be judged? Based on public finance? Resiliency outcomes? Ability to pay for itself?

The FDR Drive: 100 Years of History

The FDR East River Drive

1920s and 1930s

Envisioning the project
In the 1920s, with the expansion of New York City, urban planners and civic leaders proposed a Regional Plan for the metropolitan area. Released in 1929, it included the construction of waterfront highways, such as the "Chrystie-Forsyth Parkway", which eventually became the Franklin Delano Roosevelt East River Drive (FDR Drive).

Construction Commenced
It was not until 1934 that construction commenced, with the first of two initial sections, starting between East 92nd Street and East 125th Street. This section was only constructed after Robert Moses, the city commissioner at the moment, came to a mutually beneficial arrangement with several local businesses, including the Con Edison Utility Company.

1940s

The boulevard becomes a controlled-access parkway
During the Postwar Era, the New York City Planning Department recommended the completion of the East River Drive. The project's goal was to divert large volumes of traffic from congested Manhattan streets and provide fast, convenient travel for great numbers of motorists. As part of a 1945 arterial development program, Robert Moses pushed for the completion of unbuilt parkway sections, and the conversion of the existing boulevard into a controlled-access parkway along the entire East Side of Manhattan.

1950s and 1960s

Connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn
During the decade of 1950s the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel was opened, allowing 14 million vehicles to cross between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Shortly thereafter, the Battery Park Underpass was also finished, connecting the FDR to the tunnel.

Addition of viaducts and overpasses
In 1966, three additional viaducts were added between East 23rd Street and East 42nd Street. Moreover, existing boulevard intersections with dangerous left-turn lanes were replaced with exit ramps, overpasses, and viaducts.

1980s and 1990s

Initial efforts of renovation
In the 1980s some reconstruction efforts began. For instance, the viaduct from the Battery to just south of the Williamsburg Bridge was reformed due to potential hazards. Likewise, during the mid-to-late 1990s, the New York State DOT (NYSDOT) reconstructed the elevated section of the FDR Drive between 14th and 34th Streets.

The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway originates
Plans for a Manhattan Waterfront Greenway were initiated in 1993 under Mayor David Dinkins. The completed greenway would result in more than 1,000 acres of open space along the Hudson, East, and Harlem rivers.

2000s

Rehabilitation projects
Between 2002 and 2004, the NYSDOT spent $19 million on a project to rehabilitate the roof structure at the Gracie Mansion tunnel that was completed between East 88th Street and East 90th Street.

In 2006, a four-year project was accomplished to rehabilitate both directions of the FDR Drive from East 54th Street north to East 63rd Street. And in 2007, another five-year project was completed, involving the construction of a detour roadway bridge, the installation of a floating fender system, and the rehabilitation of the section between E53rd and E63rd streets.

The city invests $4.5 Million dollars on the waterfront
In 2002, under Mayor Bloomberg, the city authorized $4.5 million in the capital budget to provide a continuous shared-use pedestrian and bicycle path around Manhattan, at the water’s edge and separated from vehicular traffic wherever possible.

2010s

Construction of the East Midtown Waterfront Esplanade
In 2011, the New York State legislature mandated the construction of the East Midtown Waterfront Esplanade; a continuous greenway from East 38th – 60th Street along the East River to create a critical transportation connection and to provide new open space.

The Greenway receives further funding
In 2017, mayor Bill de Blasio announced capital funding of $100 million dollars for design and construction for the East Midtown Greenway – 53rd to 61st Streets, along with an upland ‘flyover’ connection at 54th Street. Construction is expected to be complete in 2023.

Current and Past Planning Efforts

SECTION I: Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency Master Plan (LMCR)
Comprising four projects:

Battery Coastal Resilience Plan
The project will rebuild and elevate the wharf promenade while protecting it from sea level rise in the year 2100. Construction is anticipated to begin at the end of 2022.
Project Leads: NYCEDC, NYC Parks, Mayor's Office of Climate Resiliency (MOCR)
Total Funding: $165M
Additional Information of the project here.
The Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan
The master plan features a multilevel waterfront that extends the shoreline of the East River by up to 200 feet from its existing location. The upper level will be elevated by about 15 to 18 feet to protect against severe storms like Superstorm Sandy, while doubling as public open spaces with sweeping views of the city and harbor. The lower level will be a continuous waterfront esplanade, raised three to five feet to protect against sea-level rise while connecting New Yorkers to the water's edge.
Project Leads: NYCEDC
Total Funding: $900 million
Additional Information of the project here.
Seaport Coastal Resilience
This project will raise the esplanade approximately three to five feet to defend against tidal flooding and coastal storms and include drainage improvements to protect against extreme precipitation. The project will also help improve waterfront access with pedestrian and cyclist enhancements and upgraded waterfront.
Project Leads: NYCEDC, MOCR
Funding: $110M
Additional Information of the project here.
Brooklyn Bridge-Montgomery Coastal Resilience (BMCR)
The project consists of installing a combination of flood walls and deployable flip-up barriers to protect the neighborhood from a 100-year storm surge in the 2050s, while also maintaining access and visibility to the waterfront. The design calls for the use of deployable barriers that will be permanent infrastructure, hidden until they are flipped up in the event of a storm.
Project Leads: DDC, NYCEDC, MOCR
Funding: $522M
Additional Information of the project here.

Interim Flood Protection Measure (IFPM)
In the Seaport, including parts of the Two Bridges and Financial District neighborhoods, Emergency Management (EM) has spent $3.5 million to deploy a combination of just-in-time Tiger Dams and pre-deployed HESCO barriers by the 2019 hurricane season as temporary measures in advance of a permanent solution. IFPM was installed in September 2019 and deployed for the first time in advance of Tropical Storm Isaias in August 2020.
Additional Information of the project here.

SECTION II: Lower East Side

East Side Coastal Resiliency Plan (ESCR)

Location: Montgomery Street – East 25th Street
The project is a coastal protection initiative, aimed at reducing flood risk due to coastal storms and sea-level rise. The boundaries of this project correspond with the natural "pinch-points" in the 100-year floodplain. The project design integrates flood protection into the community fabric, improving waterfront open spaces and access, rather than walling off the neighborhood. Construction on the East Side Coastal Resiliency project began in Fall 2020 and will continue through 2026.
Project Leads: The City of New York and the federal government
Additional Information of the project here.

SECTION III: Midtown

East Midtown Waterfront
In April 2017, the mayor announced capital funding for the design and construction of the East Midtown Greenway – 53rd to 61st Streets, along with an upland ‘flyover’ connection at 54th Street. An RFP for a designer followed that summer and the selected team led by Stantec began its design in October 2017. Construction is expected to be completed in 2023.
EDC partners include NYC Parks, NYCDOT, and East Midtown communities.
Additional Information of the project here.

SECTION IV: Harlem

East River Esplanade Stabilization and Reconstruction Project Phase 2
Location: East River Esplanade between East 96th Street and East 125th Street)
This project will stabilize and reconstruct portions of the East River Esplanade.
Total Funding: Greater than $10 million
Funding: NYC Mayor and City Council
Additional Information of the project here.

East River Esplanade Stabilization and Reconstruction Project Phase 3
Location: Manhattan FDR, East River, East 59 & East 63 Streets; Manhattan FDR East 90 to East 125 Streets; Manhattan FDR Drive, East 63 to East 81 Streets
Total Funding: Greater than $10 million
Funding: NYC Mayor and City Council
Additional Information of the project here.

Harlem River Greenway Link
Location: E. 125th St.–E. 132nd St
The Harlem River Greenway will enable neighborhood residents to bike, walk, and play along the waterfront—connecting them to the air, water, and community. Critically, the new park design will strengthen and repair over four miles of bulkhead along the Harlem River, making the community more resilient and protecting the shoreline against the effects of sea-level rise.
Additional Information of the project here.