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.