Marine Borers (worm termite things) have been munching away on the wooden pilings (that support the platform on which the East River Greenway and the FDR Drive sit) for at least a decade. The city has been aware of the infestation since at least 2000 and is only finally addressing it today. Emergency repairs have been underway near E. 53rd Street since January 2010 and work to deal with the rest of the area is scheduled to begin in January 2011 and continue until November 2014. (See the NYC DOT's 2009 Bridges and Tunnels Annual Condition Report.)

Why was an East River Esplanade Task Force made up of all our Upper East Side Politicians (Council Member Jessica Lappin, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Senator Liz Krueger, Senator Jose M. Serrano, Assembly Member Jonathan L. Bing, Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner and Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick) formed in March 2010 to " to assess the damage to the esplanade, estimate the cost of repairs, secure funding sources and develop a timeframe” for fixing the East River Greenway (see March 31, 2010 letter from Jessica Lappin and Carolyn Maloney to NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe) when all this was already done and THEY KNEW IT. Why wasn’t the public informed that according to the NYC DOT, a red flag condition (one with potentially serious danger to life and public safety) existed and that the failure of these worm termite eaten timber piles could and CAN lead to the sudden collapse of the East River Esplanade and the FDR Drive. Isn’t this exactly what is happening now???!!! Why are we not being warned?

Who is Mike Epstein, the photographer? Would he mind if I used this photo on my site if I linked to this group?

Perhaps this containment dome is a first effort by the East River Esplanade Task Force (Council Member Jessica Lappin, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Senator Liz Krueger, Senator Jose M. Serrano, Assembly Member Jonathan L. Bing, Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner and Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick)

It looks as though the work in this giant hole is being done by Phoenix Marine the same contractors that are doing emergency work (?) rebuilding the FDR (?) in the 50s right off of Sutton Place at the site of the caissons that are to be used to extend the Greenway south from 59th Street. (They have a barge the size of NJ with cranes on it.) As long as they have it all set up, they may as well stay forever and fix the Greenway.

Great BP reference

That looks like solid asphalt, but it ain't. It's loose gravel. I don't recommend trying to bike through it.

Holy shit, twitter accomplishes something...