This month’s Community Board 3 meetings, are heading into the new season of Spring with new construction changes in Lower East Side. This month’s Parks, Recreation, Waterfront & Resiliency Committee had their meeting at the BRC Senior Center at 30 Delancey Street.
A representative from the Brooklyn Bridge – Montgomery Coastal Resilience (BMCR) came to the meeting with new news of daytime parking restrictions that started March 10th, 2025. The new parking restriction will start from 7 am-4 pm for the next six weeks. The intersection of South Street and Montgomery Street will require daytime closure and two-way alternating traffic.
These parking restrictions are due to the BMCR Project. This project is installing a combination of flood walls and deployable flip-up barriers to protect from future storm surges. The design of the new project will extend the waterfront from the Brooklyn Bridge to Montgomery Street.
The next project on the agenda was The East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) Project. The ESCR project, is an initiative to protect Manhattan neighborhoods and parks from the effects of climate change.
Last month ESCR started localized Hazardous Soil removal in Ballfields 7 & 8 next to the East 10th Street Bridge and the FDR Drive. The samples collected will be tested for lead levels.
During the project, the Community Air Monitoring Plan (CAMP) will be conducted during the hazardous soil removal process, to ensure daily Air Quality Monitoring is conducted throughout the project site.
Parks
The reconstruction of parks across Manhattan East Side is a major goal for the Park’s Department. Some parks that are projected to be affected by the upcoming projects include the John V. Lindsay East River Park, Murphey Brothers Playground, and Asser Levy Playground. Since 2024, right in between Manhattan’s Chinatown and Lower East Side, there has been a need for improvements. Joining forces with the Sara D, Roosevelt Park Alliance, this month will launch the Hester Street Playground Community Lawn Proposal.
The proposal is a project to remove the sand from the sandboxes, that require constant daily maintenance. After sending out surveys to CB3 members in the neighborhood, there was an overwhelming response for the removal of the sandboxes. The Hester Street Playground Project is projected to replace the sandboxes with the SYNLawn in the Hester Street Playground. The SYNLawn is a branded artificial grass and synthetic turf.
This lawn which is contracted-grade nylon and 65% organic will be installed in the Hester Street Playground. The SYNLawn is already in parks in the Bronx like the Starlight Park along the Bronx River and East 174th Street and the Soundview Park at Clason Point in South Bronx.
The installation of the SYNLawn will be beneficial not only to the environment but for children and animals, due to its durability. The next goal for CB3 and The Parks Department is the introduction of more gender-neutral bathrooms in these parks. This issue will be discussed in April’s Parks meeting.
Immigration
On March 25th, 2025, CB3’s full Board Meeting was held at P.S. 20 at 166 Essex Street, Some major topics that came up in the meeting were the support of NYC Public school students from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). With the new Trump administration and his signing of Executive Order 13768, an order aimed at increasing immigration enforcement. The resolution to the increase of ICE, CB3 resolved to work with community immigration advocates to provide training and support for students, staff, and their families on immigration rights.
Since 2022, CB3 has seen a rise in immigrants from Latin America, the Caribbean China, and Africa.
CB3 passed a resolution to provide support, education, and resources to families of immigrants in the CB3 community.
