The city's Economic Development Corporation (EDC) could nix plans to open a beach under the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side, The Villager reports. The agency recently conducted a feasibility study which found several factors going against the project including the cost of the project, the danger from waves, and the combined stormwater-sewage overflow nearby.
Local residents railed against the study at a Community Board 1(CB1) meeting where several members of the board said the EDC was coming up with excuses to keep the area closed off and not provide more waterfront access to New Yorkers.
In regards to the high costs, some argued that it could be countered by relatively simple measures like building rock walls instead of wave fences or artificial islands.
To the claim of polluted waters, members argued that most people don't intend to swim, and pointed to existing signs that ask people not to.
The Brooklyn Bridge Beach was part of an ambitious plan known as the East River Blueway that was introduced by then Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer in 2013. The Blueway would have opened up the waterfront starting from the Brooklyn Bridge up to East 38th Street. There's no word on how that project is moving along, but CB1 is still in favor of it.
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