Submitted by Scott Baker, Jun 5, 2007 11:30

The so-called Esplanade would actually be the fulfillment of a promise to make a circumnavigational Greenway around Manhattan in the early 1990s. Anyone who has tried to bike on one of the most dangerous stretches of Avenue in New York - from 53 to 38th street on Second - knows the hazards of not having this particular section of Greenway completed firsthand. First Avenue and York are not much better. Completing this critical connection would save lives, reduce traffic (both bicycle and vehicular since bikes wouldn't have to occupy lanes of car traffic), improve the health of New Yorkers who could now bike in safety, connect the Upper East Side neighborhood with the Midtown East Side, and in general, make New York a more pleasant, better place to be. It's sad that it takes a building swap with an unpopular institution like the U.N. to accomplish this, but the city can't, or won't fund this any other way, it seems.

I have been to several community meetings on this area over the past five years, and even now it is unclear what will be built at the former Con Ed site. Another meeting is scheduled for tomorrow. The community boards should not cave in too easily, however. From current construction, it is clear that only 38th-60th streets need to be linked, and about a third of this 22 block stretch could accomodate parkgoers and bicyclists with the addition of just a few benches and fences.

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