Dear Mr. Tsunis,
We write on behalf of the over 3,000 residents of Gateway Plaza regarding the siting of the proposed Essential Workers Monument.
First, we want to thank you for listening to the BPC residents’ concerns regarding the original Rockefeller Park site, and shifting the proposed site out of Rockefeller Park. We also thank you for your general pledge to engage with BPC residents regarding BPC land use issues going forward.
We won’t add to comments that we know you’ve received regarding the appropriateness of completing a Monument on a short timeframe and on the appropriateness more generally of adding yet another memorial to BPC. We are in general agreement with comments made by CB1 and the northern BPC residents association on those subjects.
We wish to focus our comments on one of the two alternative sites that you announced last week: the Esplanade Plaza. In many ways, Esplanade Plaza is the southern BPC analog to the Rockefeller Park site that you quite correctly eliminated two weeks ago. We urge you to reject Esplanade Plaza as a potential Monument site.
Esplanade Plaza is the public square of BPC. It is at once recreational, social and community-building. There is no other site like it in BPC. In the words of BPCA’s own website, “Esplanade Plaza features plantings, seating, volleyball court, with sweeping views of the Statue of Liberty and lower New York Harbor. Often a place of local gathering, the plaza also plays host to numerous community dances performed as part of BPCA’s free outdoor programming.”
Although often referred to in short-hand as “the volleyball court,” Esplanade Plaza is much more than that, and finding another location for a volleyball court somewhere in BPC would not replace what would be lost if Esplanade Plaza were chosen as a Monument site.
Esplanade Plaza is a gathering spot for residents, office workers and visitors alike. Examples of popular BPC Parks-sponsored events held there include folk and swing dancing, tai chi, and concerts. Community groups and NYC non-profit groups use the space from May into October for events such as charity run-walk events, boating-related events, and the BPC Dogs Halloween costume parade and costume judging, It has been the home for many years of the BPC Block Party, which will resume again in 2022, after the pandemic. In winter, the Plaza is one of the largest snow-play-areas in Lower Manhattan when most of the lawns in BPC are closed.
Even the volleyball use is not just volleyball. It is an occasion for residents, office workers and visitors to come together in their enjoyment of the welcoming spirit of BPC and to savor the magnificent waterfront views while having fun with a sport that can be enjoyed simultaneously by people having a wide range of skill levels and mix of ages.
Volleyball is not the only play that takes place in Esplanade Plaza. The Plaza is overlooked by the Kowsky Plaza children’s playground, and children’s play often spills out to Esplanade Plaza. Children use Esplanade Plaza for games of catch, tag and just to run around; many BPC children learned to ride their bikes there.
An Esplanade Plaza site for the Monument would also entail significant construction disruption issues. As you know, the Plaza itself has a history of subsidence and sink holes that would likely be worsened by a project that would entail tearing up the existing Plaza and installation of 19 planter containers sufficient to hold large maple trees. Running a gas line to support an eternal flame would present health, safety and environmental issues that would need resolution. Completing such a project by Labor Day would likely require disruptive day-and-night construction for the remaining days of summer, right next to the largest residential complex in Lower Manhattan.
Finally, Esplanade Plaza is not a space that is conducive to solemn contemplation typical of memorial usage. The adjacent play area will mean the Monument would be in nearly constant earshot of loud children’s play and the nearby K-9 Sirius Dog Park. To the north, the active North Cove Marina casts a festive atmosphere for six months a year over Esplanade Plaza. The area is heavily trafficked by pedestrians and bike riders year round. To the extent that having one memorial next to another detracts from each, Esplanade Plaza would suffer from this problem, as it is nearly adjacent to the Police Memorial.
In closing, we thank you again for your decision to eliminate Rockefeller Park as a potential Essential Work Monument site. We urge you to do the same for Esplanade Plaza. The Plaza is a place of joy; please don’t convert it to a place of sadness and mourning.
Respectfully,
Rosalie Joseph, Honey Berk, Pat Gray
Robin Forst, Sarah Cassell, Howard Grossman
Jeff Galloway, Audrey Comisky, Steve Kessler
Karelene Wiese, Denise Ector
Bruce Katz, Larry Emert
Board of Directors of the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association
cc: Governor Andrew Cuomo
Congressman Jerrold Nadler
Senator Brian Kavanagh
Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou
Assemblymember Deborah Glick
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer
Councilmember Margaret Chin
Manhattan Community Board 1 Chair Tammy Melzer