The City-9-10-19 NYC hires expert to assess flood prevention "Dirt Bomb"

Under pressure Manhattan BP and CM Carlina Rivera pressed to retain an independent expert to
assess the City's September Suprise-The 10 foot dump of landfill on the stripped East River Park.
This after renovating the running track at a cost of $3 1/2 million. The "Dirt Bomb" would shut down the ERP for about 4 years. Cost 1.45 Billion plus possible cost overruns. More than the Dutch style BERM developed by the community. Like the overstepping 14th Street permanent solution to a temporary problem devised by Transportation Alternatives to exploit the L train shutdown-this "Dirt Bomb" must give way to a better approach.

The community plan would shut down one lane of the FDR on a temporary basis. The park remain open. Good for people. Good for the environment. The cost less than the "Dirt Bomb's" $1.45 Billion.
If by some thrilling act of cynicism the Dirt Bomb were to be constructed this puts Transportation
Alternatives squarely in bed with the zealous advocate of the automobile-Robert Moses. The very
person who they claim to be trying to extirpate from the throne of zealotry. Here's why---

The bike infrastructure and quieting zones pushed by TA set the table for congestion. Congestion begat a congestion tax. Once implemented the tax will divert traffic to flows outside the zone. By shutting down one lane of the FDR occasionally some bright light in DOT or Construction may have
decided that the Dirt Bomb was a better way to go. Hence that line of thinking puts TA and Robert Moses in the same bed. Advocating for the auto. It seems TA is too well funded to divert from its
self righteous and remorseless construction of a house of cards that reveals a reckless indifference to human life. A shutdown of the ERPark would be bad for the environment and bad for people. TA made its bones on conflating "going green" with bike bedlam. Shutting down the ERP would be a slap in the face of being environmentally conscious. In fact it would stink like some bloated fish
floating in the East River.


                                              THE CITY 9-10-19    Rachel Holliday Smith

Dear New Yorkers,

The City Planning Commission is expected to vote Sept. 23 on City Hall’s $1.3-billion plan to flood-proof the east side of Lower Manhattan.

Among the features: a flood barrier 10 feet high, from Montgomery Street to East 13th Street, that would bury recently reconstructed portions of East River Park.

That’s rankled some, still upset the de Blasio administration scrapped a previous, much less expensive proposal that would have kept the shoreline accessible.

On Monday, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera decided to go Dutch.

More here on the Netherlands-based flood-prevention expert they hired to conduct an independent review of the city’s plan before the key vote.