By Maya Demchak-Gottlieb
The East River Greenway, also known as the East River Esplanade, is a 9.4-mile-long path along Manhattan’s East River that offers scenic walking and biking routes, attracting a growing number of students, families and residents. A major ongoing project facilitated by the United Nations Development Corporation began in 2015 and was scheduled for completion last year.
However, despite recent progress, portions of the greenway remain inaccessible, most notably an eight-block stretch between East 71st and East 79th Streets, which is currently closed due to ongoing construction.
The closure began in January 2022, after the Hospital for Special Surgery kicked off a $200 million expansion project known as the Kellen Tower. Now the projected completion date has been pushed back indefinitely, leading to frustration among local residents.
Patrycja Milewska, an Upper East Side resident and Baruch College student who visits the greenway weekly to run walk, and bike, says she is frustrated with the delays. “It sucks — I want it to be done,” she said. “It’s been a long time, and I’ve not seen any progress happening on it.”
Milewska emphasized that beyond its recreational value, the greenway fosters community bonds.
“It makes you feel safer, because the people living next to you and around you aren’t just like some strangers that you don’t know what they do, like they’re friendly faces, and you did yoga with them by the river.”
For Marta Jonik, a local artist, the greenway is not just a gathering place, but a creative wellspring. She photographs the landscape, which also provides artistic inspiration for her paintings. Jonik hopes future upgrades will incorporate the area’s artistic energy, suggesting events like sunset performances or open-air art exhibitions.
“This is a happy place,” she said. “People meet, they talk and they are happy.”
She pointed to fellow artist Masafumi Sakai, a music instructor and painter who regularly exhibits his work under the Queensboro Bridge, as an example of how art is already enlivening the space.
Esplanade Friends, a non-profit advocacy group and Waterfront Conservancy for the Upper East Side and East Harlem, launched a petition calling for an immediate solution this March.
“We demand the expedited reopening of the Esplanade, with a north-south connection restored by Spring 2025 at the latest,” the petition said. “Our community deserves uninterrupted access to this vital public space.”
HISTORY OF THE GREENWAY
The East River Greenway was originally developed between the 1930s and 1950s alongside the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive and has undergone steady transformation over the decades.
A major expansion effort began in 2011, when the city and state reached an agreement to use part of the Robert Moses Playground at 41st Street for the expansion of the United Nations Headquarters. In exchange, the United Nations Development Corporation contributed $73 million to help close a critical gap in the greenway between 38th and 60th Streets. The project was designed in three phases and included features such as an amphitheater and a floating pier.
The first section, known as Waterside Pier (between 38th and 41st Streets), was completed in 2016. In 2021, it was temporarily renamed “New Wave Pier” and outfitted with turf and picnic tables to serve the community during construction of the East Side Coastal Resiliency project.
In 2017, the city committed an additional $100 million to complete the remaining sections, culminating in the December 2023 opening of the East River Midtown Greenway.
Despite this progress, access issues remain.
In many areas, the elevated FDR Drive obstructs the greenway, limiting residents’ connection to the waterfront. According to a 2025 New York City report, “Many segments ‘Under the Elevated’ FDR highway are dark, unsafe, and unfit for community activity.”
In Manhattan Community District 6, where 9% of residents are under 18 and youth population growth is projected to rise by 9% between 2020 and 2030, the need for safe, accessible green space is pressing. Even as they await completion of ongoing construction projects, community members and planners are turning their attention to still more underused waterfront segments that could be repurposed to better serve a growing and diverse population.
