A Curbed tipster in the know about the Richard Rogers/SHoP plans to remake the East River waterfront offers some tantalizing rumors:
There are different plans, one of which would eliminate one lane of traffic in each direction turning the FDR Drive into two lanes, each direction. (I doubt that would fly.) Then in another plan (the urban planner's dream world) the drive would be turned into an urban boulevard where it would be easy to cross the street to go "touch the water" or whatever the coined phrase the marketing whores have concocted. Then another plan, I guess, would preserve the FDR as it is, or modify is slightly (a la Brooklyn Heights/BQE ...?). From what I've heard (and I haven't seen any plans, mind you), the "esplanade," "public sculpture walk" or whatever it would be called, would have to be delicately cantilevered over the FDR Drive. So I think with the East River Project, there could be a lot of Sutton Place-type of structural interactions with the FDR Drive. If only Robert Moses were still around, he'd bulldoze everything between the Manhattan Bridge and the Jacob Riis housing.
Huh, what? Sorry, lost our focus staring at that totally awesome rendering of people boogieing down. Good God, who knew they were serious?
· East River Redevelopment Update: Thread The Intestine [Curbed]