LOWER EAST SIDE — Several of the long-delayed waterfront renovation projects pledged for the Lower East Side have been further delayed, while a promised community space on the waterfront remains deadlocked without a design plan, according to the city agency overseeing the projects.
Construction on a stretch of the long-awaited East River Esplanade project that was supposed to begin this summer has been pushed back to the fall, according to the Economic Development Corporation.
The EDC this fall will kick off work on the sprawling project's "Phase 4," falling between Catherine Slip and Pike Slip, which will rehabilitate and add recreational space to the waterfront area.
The esplanade project is already five years behind schedule.
The agency in January had projected a summer 2017 start of construction and a completion date of summer 2018. The project is now expected to wrap up in fall 2018, an EDC spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, the start of the design phase of a neighboring waterfront project — initially supposed to begin in the spring — will finally begin within the coming month.
The city in July will put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Brooklyn Bridge Esplanade project, beginning at Catherine Slip to the north and spanning under the Brooklyn Bridge to Peck Slip.
The esplanade will bring new recreational space to the coastal area, including new paving, railings and exercise equipment. The city earlier this year had had to dial back the original plan to build in the water when a feasibility study revealed it would be unsafe due to strong currents and sewer outfall, said the EDC.
The agency in January had expected to issue an RFP in early March and select a designer by September, at which point locals could start helping to plan the esplanade design in community visioning sessions.
The EDC would not give a reason for the delays.
Work on neighboring park project Pier 35 near Clinton Street is already underway. Subcontractors have already installed half of the structural steel for the recreational area near Rutgers Slip, and the rest will be installed this summer, said an EDC spokeswoman. That project is also slated for completion next fall.
The city has also pledged additional community space at an accompanying project at Rutgers Slip, the Rutgers Pavilion, but that project has been on hold for years with no revival date set in stone, according to the EDC — the city had to halt the project after new codes were put in place following Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
The city in early 2016 selected a contractor to carry out work on the pavilion, according to the Lo Down. A spokeswoman for the EDC said only that the project remained on hold while other design options were explored.
