Close the Gap
Petition for an East River Esplanade from 38-61 streets

There is no East Midtown Greenway or even a marked Avenue-based bike lane in East Midtown - nothing to keep a bicycle rider or jogger from the cars, trucks, buses and pedestrians in this most clogged part of the East Side. 
Nine Bicyclists have been killed in East Midtown from 1995-2007 and hundreds injured. 
Not a very pretty picture after a long bike ride around Manhattan! 
Just 23 blocks, some of them easily reclaimed from the FDR shoulder or from parking lots and old detours, that’s all it would take to complete the Manhattan Greenway along the scenic East River from Battery Park to 125 Street. 

This section might be constructed like the cantilevered esplanade over the Hudson River beside Riverside Park in the west 80s, and by utilizing existing pylons in the East River by the FDR tunnel from 54 Street - 59 Streets.

We should have a completed esplanade regardless:
    Of whether the United Nations extends its park, and be allowed to use it whether or not V.I.P.s come to New York
    Of the Department of Transportation’s future plans to move or change the FDR
    Of the future development plans for the old Con Ed site from 37-41 Streets

We propose that our elected and appointed representatives complete the Greenway from east 38th Street (the end of Glick Park), to East 61Street (the current end of Bobby Wagner Walk) alongside the East River with:
1.  Two-way bike lanes.
2.  Pedestrian walkways and seating.
3.  A permanent and safe barricade between the FDR and the esplanade.
4.  Additional access points from 38 Street to 61 Street, where feasible.