A decade ago, the East Side Access project brought ugly wrap-around fencing to the worst location: Straight across from the subway station where most people enter Roosevelt Island. Its in-your-face presence finally came down… Only to be replaced by an ugly parking lot and litter collection site.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
East Side Access Project: “We have to finish this year.”
On a sunny day, the entry gate by the West Promenade was open. A friendly trio of East Side Access construction workers smiled when I asked if the fencing would ever come down.
“No, we have to finish this year,” one joked.
The East Side Access debacle project, now four times more costly than its original budget, has dragged on for fifteen years after getting federal funding. It was always a political boondoggle that will serve few passengers, all from Long Island. But it served its purpose in earning union votes.
In short, everything about it has been just as ugly as the fence. But time is finally running out. Even government work is not eternal.
Behind the Fence
“I used to run straight through there,” I told them, pointing at the grates.
In the early 2000s, before the fence went up, the subway airshaft, installed with the station, had been just that. It vented the four tunnels under the East River between Roosevelt Island and the rest of Manhattan.
Most Roosevelt Islanders, because the community has become so transient, have never seen this area without the ugly fencing. Now, the cleared-out air shaft and its new artwork will transform the space.
Imagine the next cherry blossom season without the eyesore. You never know, RIOC might even be inspired enough to update the out-of-date wayfinding signs.
Too much?
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Ten Years, or Another Temporary Fix?
Roosevelt Island was built through public investment, then expected to support itself through development. The ten-year lease extension gives RIOC a rare chance to replace short-term deals with a financial system designed to outlast the people approving them.
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