Progress on the East River Blueway Plan

It’s not simply a matter of water access, but rather a multitiered approach to habitability and improvement.

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Previous City Atlas posts have covered the evolving plans for the East River Blueway Plan between the Brooklyn Bridge and 38th street. The plan is to improve water access and habitability along that strip of Manhattan coast through the renovation of green spaces and improvements in transportation and infrastructure. Urban Omnibus recently posted an interview with Adam Lubinsky, one of the principals of WXY Architecture + Urban Design, the firm chiefly responsible this colossal undertaking.

Mr. Lubinsky begins by discussing the overall plan for the Blueway and its inspiration and then goes on to talk about the challenges facing his firm, the city, and the relevant neighborhoods involved. It’s not simply a matter of water access, but rather a multitiered approach to habitability and improvement involving sanitation, the MTA, and various community boards and environmental groups as well as all the typical construction and engineering concerns. And the aesthetics of the end product are as much of a concern as any of these other issues.

The interview is nice inside look into the considerations that go into city projects of this magnitude and the concerns that different parties have to deal with and concede to. In a city where change is the watchword, the East River Blueway Plan is one of the more exciting projects on the docket and City Atlas will be following its progress closely.