A milelong gap in Manhattan’s riverfront esplanade would finally be plugged and spruced up under a pending deal that would also allow the United Nations to expand.
An October deadline is looming to complete the details of a land swap that could potentially generate more than $200 million for the city, officials say.
Some of the money would go to building a cantilevered riverfront walkway and bike path over the East River from East 38th to East 60th streets. The path would allow cyclists to make almost a complete ring around Manhattan from the Upper West Side to East 120th Street.
Advocates have been trying to fill this gap in the “green necklace” around Manhattan for decades.
“Everybody’s always thought that’s one of the hardest pieces,” said Noah Budnick, deputy director of Transportation Alternatives. “Now people are saying that it’s doable. It’s gone from the impossible to the doable.”
The esplanade construction is part of a long-discussed UN expansion plan. The city would sell or lease a small, asphalt playground on First Avenue to the United Nations Development Corp., which would construct an office tower there. The price is being negotiated.
The United Nations would relocate employees from two city-owned buildings to the new tower, leaving the city free to sell those buildings and generate more revenue.
The cost of the playground sale and other details must be set by Oct. 10, under the terms of legislation signed by Gov. Cuomo in July. Mayor Bloomberg, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos have to approve the plan.
Activists say the deal could generate $200 million to $400 million for the city, of which $150 million would go to build and maintain the esplanade.
The Friends of the East River Greenway, a coalition of groups formed to push for the project, is blanketing the neighborhood with mailings and robo calls.
But some residents of nearby Tudor City don’t want to play ball. They object to losing Robert Moses playground and replacing it with a skyscraper. The new tower can be as high as the existing 39-story UN Secretariat building.
“We’re not opposed to a greenway — it’s a very nice amenity. But not at the cost of taking other public land,” said Edan Unterman, president of the East Midtown Coalition for Sensible Development.
Jack Collins, director of the East End Hockey Association, said his group has been using the playground since 1972 and doesn’t want to lose the park.
“If this is a need for office space, it should be solved with office space,” he said.
Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh insists the deal must include a replacement playground. Closing Asser Levy Place, a short street off 23rd Street, and turning it into a play space is one option.
Opponents will express their concerns at a public forum at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Sutton Place Synagogue on 51st Street.
Bikers and pedestrians can enjoy much of Manhattan’s waterfront. But a city plan to ring the entire island is held up by these missing links:
* Inwood Hill Park. Bike path planned but not built.
* The Polo Grounds, West 155th to West 162nd streets —Topography and proximity of the Harlem River Drive to the Harlem River there demand waterfront bike and pedestrian paths be built over the water.
* West 145th to West 151st streets. The waterfront has been used as a parking lot and a storage area for garbage bins.
* 38th to 60th streets along the East River. A former Con Ed parking lot. Further north, the esplanade would have to be built next to the FDR Drive and over the river.