The East River Waterfront Masterplan

“A great urban transformation that brings New Yorkers to the river's edge.” The East River Waterfront transformation represents nearly two decades of design and leadership by women shaping New York’s civic realm. Conceived during the Bloomberg administration and executed across multiple mayoral terms, the suite of projects, including the East River Esplanade, Piers 15, 17, and 35, and the Tin Building, reclaims more than 2.5 miles of Manhattan’s waterfront for public life. The initiative was championed by City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden, whose belief that design could transform civic experience set the tone for a generation of waterfront projects. Her commitment to inclusive public spaces informed everything from conversational seating to the creation of continuous pedestrian and bicycle connections, ensuring that the city’s edge became a place for people. With its industrial past and its commercial present—as well as its proximity to the soaring steel structure of the elevated FDR Drive—this project could not to be rooted in the picturesque English tradition that is prevalent in parks throughout New York City. Instead, the team worked to imagine and create a new type of recreation space for the city: proudly urban and celebrating its time and place. The result is a resilient civic landscape that reimagines urban infrastructure as public experience. It links neighborhoods once divided by the FDR Drive, reintroduces New Yorkers to their river, and transforms a formerly industrial edge into a dynamic sequence of parks, gathering spaces, and destinations. From barstool seating at the water’s edge to the rooftop park atop Pier 17, the design celebrates the city’s proudly urban character while offering new moments of reflection, play, and connection. Together, these projects stand as a living testament to the power of design led by women, to build places that shape not only the skyline, but the social life of the city itself.