Reimagining the East River Esplanade

Museum exhibits and design com­pe­ti­tions offer oppor­tu­ni­ties to apply artis­tic imag­i­na­tion to the exist­ing spaces of our city.

Cur­rently on dis­play at the Museum of the City of New York, “Reimag­in­ing the Water­front: Manhattan’s East River Esplanade” fea­tures design pro­pos­als for the East River Esplanade, a strip of land between 60th and 125th Street.  The exhibit dis­plays win­ning sub­mis­sions to a design com­pe­ti­tion hosted by CIVITAS, a non-profit orga­ni­za­tion ded­i­cated to improv­ing the qual­ity of life in the Upper East Side and East Harlem. CIVITAS hopes to “inspire city res­i­dents to think boldly about the site’s poten­tial.” Though the site cur­rently offers a prom­e­nade and bike lane, it also strug­gles with a his­tory of neglect and the impact of a neigh­bor­ing high­way. The sub­mis­sions include a cre­ation of a sys­tem of canals as well as return­ing to the area to its orig­i­nal marshland.

Image: Museum of the City of New York