October Parks Committee Report for Manhattan CB3
We learned about a new compost and education center in East River Park. Plus, a new Greenway connector over water!
Author’s note: Tal and I serve on the Parks Committee of Manhattan Community Board 3 together — I wrote up this meeting’s summary. I write the newsletter Friends of New York City Abundance. This summary of key points is written to the best of my ability. The views expressed here only represent my own and not Manhattan Community Board 3.
Community District 3 includes East Village, Lower East Side, Two Bridges, and parts of Chinatown. Below is a summary of the October 16, 2025 Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency Committee meeting:
Side note: This meeting is on Youtube!
Great news: this committee meeting has been posted to Youtube!
Youtube has a nifty conversational AI Ask feature that can answer questions about the video contents, so feel free to ask it about this meeting or try out one of the auto-generated questions (I thought the response to “What’s the compost process?” was useful, for example).
Parks Manager Update
Luc A., the Parks Manager, provided an update on several ongoing projects and events:
NYC Parks ran a planting drive last weekend and next. Plant bulbs come from a Parks nursery in the Bronx.
The annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade was held on Sunday, October 19th, on streets around Tompkins Square Park. The Tompkins Square Greenmarket went on as normal.
Parks will be prioritizing cleaning up leaves from sidewalks as autumn rolls around to protect pedestrians from walking hazards.
Parks is beginning to refine maintenance and operations protocols at East River Park. That includes drafting rules for using the amphitheater and planned graffiti clean-ups. Parks recently took control of the Park after DDC oversaw its construction.
Questions for the Parks Manager
Q: How are needles cleaned up in parks?
A: Parks employees have an app to report needles for cleanup
Q: Who enforces the one hour limit at the tennis courts at East River Park? Why isn’t there an attendant present at the court?
A: Parks has limited resources and wanted to prioritize maintenance for the park opening, not a court attendant. Parks wants the community to experience the amenities and not immediately get bogged down in rules. There is going to be a tennis house constructed in the future. At that point, having a court attendant would make more sense.
Q: Who enforces the rules against off-leash dogs at East River Park?
A: Emailing Parks Enforcement Patrol helps them prioritize enforcement of this rule since they will have evidence the community is requesting assistance.
Compost area and educational center at East River Park
The Department of Design and Construction (DDC) presented plans for a compost area at East River Park:
The center will sit at the elbow of East River Park (near the amphitheater area).
It will have machinery to compost in large volumes.
There will be two outdoor classrooms at the site.
LES Ecology Center will have an office there.
There will be a tree grove on the water-facing side of the center.
Questions about Compost area
Q: Is there a big enough wall to protect the compost area from a storm surge?
A: Yes - the wall is hidden under the lawn. The Center will be built at a 100-year flood elevation.
Q: Will there be a fence around the compost area?
A: Yes, the standard 8-foot fence. Hard to hop.
Q: How is this project funded?
A: It is funded from the city as part of the larger East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project.
Q: Who will be using the classrooms?
A: LES Ecology Center will be coordinating classroom use. Christine from LES Ecology said children from nearby schools will be using the classrooms.
Q: Why is the concrete pathway into the Compost area so large?
A: It has to be wide enough to allow a truck to drive in.
Q: What are next steps for this project?
A: Approval from the Public Design Commission (PDC) and then back to the Community Board for a resolution.
East River Greenway project
The Department of Design and Construction (DDC) presented plans for a greenway connector over the water at the “pinch point” on the existing East River Greenway between 13th and 14th Street:
The narrowing of the Greenway occurs between the FDR Drive to the west and Con Edison infrastructure to the east.
First, the DDC gave some details on the new Design-Build procurement process they used for this project. In addition to a project having a maximum cost, Design-Build eliminates the procurement period between design and construction, speeding up projects. Here’s an AI-generated summary of the process that matches what was discussed in the meeting:
Then, the DDC gave more details about the design:
The Greenway will be a pathway with pedestrian and bike paths over water.
It will have benches, trash bins, and drinking fountains.
The structure will be 10 feet wide at the connector to Captain Patrick J. Brown Walk but will be wider over the water (25-32 feet).
There are many affected stakeholders in this project, making it unusually complex. For example, the MTA will be consulted during construction since the connector will run over the 14th Street Tunnel that the L train runs through.
Questions about the East River Greenway project
Q: Can we request a protected bike lane?
A: Our design adheres to DOT guidelines.
Q: Is this wide enough? There will be runners and potential collisions.
Q: What will happen to the nearby planned basketball court?
A: That court will only open after 2030 but will be built in parallel to this project. In the meantime, the area will probably be fenced off.
Q: Does Design-Build lead to use of inferior materials to get under budget?
A: We put in a lot of work for the project specifications to avoid this kind of corner-cutting.
Q: How is this project being funded?
A: It is being funded as part of the ESCR project.
FY27 Budget Priorities
The meeting concluded with some discussion of the Parks Budget Priorities, which will be part of the Manhattan Community District 3 Needs Statement:
Unlike past years, the Community Board will not have a single list of Expense Budget priorities and Capital Budget priorities. Instead, each committee will have their own ordered priorities.
Sarah D. Roosevelt Park improvements sit atop the Capital Budget priorities. The committee also increased the priority of renovating the Avenue A sidewalk at Tompkins Square Park and filling in empty tree beds on that walkway. The committee also mentioned the need for more gardeners in the Budget priorities.