work / vision /
East River Blueway
Judith Heintz and Diana Drake worked with WXY Architects and eDesign Dynamics to formulate strategies for connecting, strengthening connections and enhancing existing bikeways and pedestrian ways along the East River in Manhattan. Connections back into the upland streets and communities across the FDR Drive were also essential to the plan and to the success of the East River waterfront as a viable regional, city-wide and local pedestrian and bicycle corridor and landscape.
Super-storm Sandy’s landfall in Manhattan in 2012 added the importance of developing green storm water strategies to the original circulation focus. We worked with a team to create green infrastructural methodologies for storm water treatment for water coming off of the FDR Drive as well as for water from the upland streets. This resulted in new and already-tested approaches being applied in various ways – from wetlands in the river itself to constructed wetland shelves suspended above the river to capture and treat storm water from the FDR that previously ran directly into the river.
New access bridges and other strategies across the FDR and new connections along the Blueway for
pedestrians and bicycles created opportunities for seamless integration of storm water recharge and
retention.
Project Team
Team Lead: WXY
Landscape Architecture: Judith Heintz, Diana Drake
Engineers: EDesign Dynamics
Images courtesy of WXY, Judith Heintz