Field Trip/Climate Justice – East River Park
Zachary Tinubu-Karch
Sustainable Systems SP
April 27, 2022
The East River Park has been a cultural landmark for decades from its inception in 1939. The park has an exceptional way of bringing a variety of different demographics, people, and social classes together. However as we bring this space into our contemporary landscape, the dynamics of this increasingly communal space are inhibited by threats to equitable decision making. Risk of flooding has increased as a result of global warming, leaving us with volatile weather conditions as already seen throughout this year’s rainfall and with the unfortunate occurrence of hurricane sandy.
East River Park is standing right in the fire zone, and ultimately this circumstance places the park in a difficult situation. The park is both threatened by flooding and acts as a buffer zone for it simultaneously. The dynamic becomes complicated when we look at the latter half of this predicament:the buffer zone. The potential for the East River Park to provide protection still needs to be developed in a thoughtful and ethical way. It requires further construction to fortify the area and protect East River residents. However who makes these decisions? The residents of the East River have lived there for years and rely heavily on the park for its green lush nature–highly contrasting from the dense urban center that is manhattan–and additionally, further construction will affect the livelihoods of residents, from transportation, sound and air pollution and mobility restriction. Decisions are made by a select few government officials and disregard the lives of those on the East River Park. The trip was informative and allowed us to see the beginnings of the preventative measures and infrastructures put in place to stop flooding and other weather. As seen in the documentation below, the utilities of the communities right off the FDR are being raised so that buildings can retain energy functions when flooding occurs. Tall cement walls are erected as barriers. Lastly, places of leisure are being demolished for the sake of more absorbent structures.
After the field trip I looked at the NYC Stormwater Flood Map Viewer that depicts stormwater flooding resilience based on the geographic location within the city. They use a variety of variables that cater to five modes of classification amongst results. From looking at map I realized that Manhattan and the western most part of bk are not the only places that exist in nyc. Weather is only becoming more adverse, and flooding will threaten city wide at increasing rates. This dynamic will only increase – community decisions vs those of a select few. How do we incorporate a system for dealing democratically with time-pressing and complex infrastructural issues within communities. Especially when these changes lead to displacement, hindrance, and disempowerment.
