Park fix falls ‘short’

Expert fears flooding

The city could be washing away $1.4 billion on its Manhattan flood-prevention plan because its new East River Park design is two feet too short, according to an analysis of the project.

Dutch expert Hans Gehrels said if the city doesn’t add enough fill to raise the level of the park at the outset of the project now, it will have to rip up the park again in about 30 years.

Next year, the city is expected to begin reconstruction of the 58-acre park, razing its structures and natural growth and filling it in with 8 to 10 feet of dirt to create a barrier to rising waters during hurricanes and storms.

But according to Gehrels, unless the redesign adds two more feet to the height of the park, everything will again have to be leveled in the future so that another layer of fill can be added.

Gehrels said it was prudent to do the work now because “sea levels are rising faster than previously predicted.”

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera hired the Netherlandsbased Deltares firm to assess the project because of community opposition.

The current proposal, unveiled a year ago, was an about face from an alternative that would have preserved the riverfront park and moved a flood barrier closer to the FDR Drive. The city contends the new option will offer faster flood protection.

Such protection is seen as a necessity after Superstorm Sandy in 2012 sent water surging through the area. The flood waters washed into Con Edison’s 14th Street substation, knocking out power for much of lower Manhattan.

But opponents argue the work will close the park for at least three years, remove nearly 1,000 trees and ruin newly upgraded features, including a refurbished track and a soccer field.

Gehrels also called upon the city to protect the area during construction, when the park is closed and trees are gone, because “a severe storm may surge into the neighborhood more easily.”

The report recommended phased reconstruction of the park to keep parts of it open, something Mayor de Blasio announced earlier this month that the city would do.

But some say that still doesn’t go far enough.

“This plan needs to be really vetted. There’s so many unanswered questions. They really shouldn’t be proceeding to demolish this park,” said Pat Arnow, a founder of the East River Park Action group.

Brewer said she implored the de Blasio administration to take the report’s suggestions into account “before any construction begins.”

Rivera said she was scheduled to meet with the Mayor’s Office next week “to discuss how these recommendations can best be implemented into the proposed plan.” The City Council is expected to vote on the project this fall.