NYC Economic Development Corporation

The effort to revitalize a nine-block stretch known as the East Midtown Greenway and Andrew Haswell Green Park project is again underway.

The $100 million undertaking, which is part of the East River Esplanade extension, and beyond that, the city's more comprehensive plan to create a 32-mile greenway looping around Manhattan, will also be receiving a few more frills than previously anticipated.

The Manhattan Community Board 8 Parks Committee gathered last Thursday for updates from the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) on the project. A handful of new renderings were revealed during the EDC's presentation, with images revealing a revamped Andrew Haswell Green Park highlighted by a new entrance and approach, and the now-bare-bones area beneath the Alice Aycock Pavilion expanded and upgraded for public use.

The project's scope will also see the addition of two new pedestrian walkways: the first will stretch over the East River from East 61st Street down to East 53rd Street; while the second will be a new pedestrian bridge over FDR Drive at 54th Street connecting Sutton Place Park South to the esplanade. 

NYC Economic Development Corporation


NYC Economic Development Corporation

Construction on the East Midtown Greenway and Andrew Haswell Green Park project "officially" restarted in October 2020, while construction on the Sutton Place-54th Street bridge will begin later this summer (it was first announced in 2019). 

As Patch reports, Yvi McEvilly, an EDC vice president, has shared that work on both Andrew Haswell Green Park and the entire greenway will be completed by fall 2023.

Clara Coffey Park, which has been closed as work crews build the Sutton Place-54th Street bridge’s foundation and reroute sewer lines, is set to reopen this fall with a few changes of its own.