The plans for the reconstruction of Rockefeller Park
Rockefeller Park and parts of the streets of Tribeca are about to be under construction for years — five overall, though the work will be done in shifts — as part of Battery Park City’s North/West Resilience Project. (The agency already rebuilt Wagner Park; the segments that most involves Tribeca are called Reach 1, 2 and 3. This link will take you to a page where you can click on each section.)
Basically the authority is creating a massive system of walls and gates to isolate its properties — from the ballfields to the apartment buildings just north of The Battery — from rising river waters. That means they have to construct a walls as far as N. Moore.
It’s a massive project so I focused on the issues that affect day-to-day use and broke it down in bullet points. There are more details below and renderings for each segment below.
The Rockefeller Park playground and ball courts will be closed during construction. STARTS WINTER 2028 FOR 2 YEARS
The North Esplanade (behind Stuy) will be entirely rebuilt. STARTS JANUARY 2026 FOR 3 YEARS
The corner where the walkway north of Stuy meets the Hudson River Park walkway will be redesigned. STARTS WINTER 2026
The south side of N. Moore will be redesigned to add a flood wall along the building and extend the sidewalk. STARTS SUMMER 2026 FOR 4 YEARS, BUT IN 8 STAGES
A flood gate will be installed at the end of Harrison STARTS SUMMER 2026
Flood gates will be installed on West Street and a flood wall will be built along BMCC’s retaining wall. STARTS WINTER 2026 FOR 4 YEARS, BUT IN STAGES
Overall for the North/West Resiliency Project, 435 mature trees will be removed, including on city streets. They will be replaced with 450 new trees.
N. MOORE CONSTRUCTION
The work going on now in front of IPN on N. Moore are test pits to examine the substructure. There is a lot of ConEd infrastructure under those sidewalks, so the BPCA has had to work with them, city Department of Transportation and city Department of Environmental Protection. They will know more in January.
The sidewalk there will be narrowed but not closed entirely during construction. Egress from the IPN entrance will be coordinated.
HARRISON STREET CONSTRUCTION
On Harrison, the BPCA is building a flip-up gate at the end of the street that will be embedded in the roadway. The gate will seal to columns on the north and south sides of the sidewalk that they are installing as part of the project.
HUDSON RIVER PARK CORNER
On the corner with Hudson River Park, the design is not yet finalized — it is in discussions with HPRT) but the plans have been approved with the regulatory agencies — the state and the feds. They are still working on materials, layout and design.
ROCKEFELLER LAWN & PLAYGROUND
The big lawn between Chambers and Murray will be open throughout construction, but the playground will have to close so they can install the foundations for the floodwall on its east side.
WEST STREET
The renderings above are kind of primative, but it gives you a sense of how they plan to keep Hudson River water from the north from coming into Battery Park City. The pink are areas that will get flood treatments.
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