After multiple rounds of funding since 2013, the proposed Brooklyn Bridge Beach — a project supported by elected officials, community leaders, and the public — is no nearer to opening. The plan backed by all of these constituencies aims to create a crescent-shaped wedge of sand along the East River waterfront, just north of the South Street Seaport, where park-goers could wade knee deep. If built, it would become the sole access point at which Lower Manhattan residents could step into the water that surrounds them, rather than merely looking at it.
The site is controlled by the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the City agency that negotiates strategic partnerships designed to foster economic growth by harnessing public-sector resources to private-sector projects. Although the EDC has accepted millions of dollars from the City Council and the the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) that were earmarked to create Brooklyn Bridge Beach, they have refused to spend any of this money. Instead, EDC had declared that a beach on that stretch of the East River would be unsafe, and is attempting to reallocate the funds to other, nearby projects — such as the East River Esplanade.
In a discussion at the January 16 meeting of the Waterfront, Parks, and Resiliency Committee of Community Board 1 (CB1), a succession of boosters outlined their frustration. Graeme Birchall, president of the Downtown Boathouse (which provides free kayaks to more than 30,000 people each summer in the Hudson River and on Governors Island), noted that, “EDC says the water is not safe there, but every year, the City allows hundreds of people into the water there for private event — a paddle board race that costs $1,000 to enter.”
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Graeme Birchall: “I’d propose to open a new Downtown Boathouse location there, and let the public walk on the beach for free, given that boaters get to use it by paying a lot of money.”
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This appears to have been a reference to SEA Paddle NYC, which has (every year since 2007) invited a crowd of paddlers to wade into the surf at the site of the proposed beach and embark on a 25-mile race up to the northern tip of Manhattan, and back down the Hudson River shoreline.
“I’d propose to open a new Downtown Boathouse location there, and let the public walk on the beach for free, given that boaters get to use it by paying a lot of money,” Mr. Birchall.
Louis Kleinman, the community liaison for the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, a not-for-profit advocacy group that works to transform the waters of New York and New Jersey Harbor into clean and accessible places to learn, work and play, said, “people who do a lot of East River kayaking use that beach regularly. It’s totally illegal, but they pull in there all the time, and never have any problem with safety.”
David Sheldon, a member of Save Our Seaport, which advocates for preserving the neighborhood surrounding the site, asked, “what were all those millions of dollars supposed to be for? Surely they didn’t need that much for a patch of sand?”
In 2016, the LMDC allocated $5 million to the project. According to the official website of Governor Andrew Cuomo, these funds were intended, “to continue to build on… past support for public waterfront access…. The project will also include the installation of new railings and site furnishing while creating limited beach access near the Brooklyn Bridge.” This tranche of funding came on top of a 2013 allocation of $7 million from then-Manhattan Borough President (now City Comptroller) Scott Stringer.
The EDC, which is also the lead agency overseeing the development of the East River waterfront, bases its position on a 2014 feasibility study, which concluded that, “due to existing site conditions and other ongoing uses in the vicinity of Brooklyn Bridge Beach,” the consultant team, “does not recommend allowing swimming or small recreational boat launching and landing at Brooklyn Bridge Beach without significant changes to the existing environment.” Instead, this report proposed “alternative engagement strategies,” including fishing platforms and onshore wading pools.
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A rendering of the proposed Brooklyn Bridge Beach, for which the City’s Economic Development Corporation has accepted $12 million in funding. The agency has since ruled the project unsafe and announced its desire to spend the money on other proposals.
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That study was reviewed by CB1 in February of last year. At that meeting, Mr. Birchall responded that, “kayaking in New York Harbor does have its challenges, but it also has an excellent safety record. Many tens of thousands of people go kayaking safely in New York Harbor every summer.” He continued, “the existing beach is fine as it is, both as a wading beach, and as a kayak launch site.” CB1 agreed with Mr. Birchall and passed a resolution urging the City to move ahead with the plan. This came on the heels of similar measures, enacted in 2008 and 2013.
Since then, there has been no visible progress toward creating a public beach beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. An EDC source says, “the study conducted by a professional engineer determined that there were feasibility and safety concerns for the Brooklyn Bridge Beach project as it was originally proposed. Given the serious safety and permitting issues, we will not be building Brooklyn Bridge Beach as proposed, but still have every intention of creating a project that connects the community with the waterfront. We are working towards putting out a request for proposals for the design of a buildable project that takes into account safety and permitting feasibility concerns as set forth in the study.”