Petition for a continuous East River Greenway/Esplanade from 41-53 streets in Manhattan

Nine Bicyclists were killed in East Midtown from 1995-2007 and hundreds injured. Every day, hundreds of bikers have to use heavily congested First and Second Avenues in competition with trucks, buses, taxis, cars, road construction, 3 major exits/entrances to the FDR, hills, and even other bikers, when just a couple of blocks to the east sits space for an unfinished Greenway that serves as a highway for bikers around the rest of Manhattan Island. 

A Greenway and Esplanade would be good for the environment by encouraging people to get out of their cars, good for people's health, good for all New Yorkers by linking neighborhoods together, and even good for the remaining traffic in East Midtown, Manhattan.

Just 12 blocks, some of them easily reclaimed from the FDR shoulder or from parking lots and old detours, that’s all it would take to complete the Manhattan Greenway/Esplanade along the scenic East River from Battery Park to 125 Street (there are 2 more gaps in Harlem, one of which should be closed in a few years).  

This section might be constructed like the cantilevered Greenway/Esplanade currently being finished up by utilizing existing pylons in the East River by the FDR tunnel from 53-59 Streets.

We propose that our elected and appointed representatives complete the Greenway/Esplanade for bikers and walkers from east 41st Street (the end of New Wave Pier), to East 53rd Street (the future end of the Sutton Park Place South) alongside the East River with:

1.  Two-way bike lanes.

2.  Pedestrian walkways and seating.

3.  A permanent and safe barricade between the FDR and the Greenway/Esplanade.

4.  Additional access points from 41 Street to 53 Street, where feasible.

A potential plan, but certainly not the only plan, to fund the closure of the U.N. gap by setting up a special improvement district, can be found here: 

http://www.slideshare.net/ScottOnTheSpot/land-value-tax-gap-closure-proposal-29529037

In any case, more needs to be done than just continuously offering the same United Nations land-swap deal that has gone nowhere in over 10 years, to Close the East Side Greenway Gap!