The East River Esplanade Now Runs on a Sinkhole Schedule

The seven blocks of the East River Esplanade between East 72nd and East 78th Streets were supposed to reopen at the end of October. The new expected date is November 23, 2026. The construction behind Hospital for Special Surgery isn't what slipped. A sinkhole at East 80th Street did, and NYC Parks needs part of the HSS work zone to fix it.

That one delay shows how the Upper East Side waterfront works this year. Sinkhole repairs between East 74th and East 94th Streets have set the opening and closing dates for one stretch after another. Anyone planning a run, a dog walk or a ferry ride along the river this month will do better with that map than with the one the city put out in July.

Five Sinkholes in Twenty Blocks

The notices from this year read more like a list of failures than a construction schedule. Going north:

1. East 74th Street. NYC Parks fixed a sinkhole here as part of the HSS project, and HSS lists it as complete.
2. The base of the East 78th Street ramp. HSS's work with Parks includes fixing a sinkhole here and repairing the seawall.
3. East 79th Street. This one was repaired over the summer, and the work closed the pedestrian entrances at 78th and 81st.
4. East 80th Street. It's less than a block from the 79th Street hole. Work started October 13 and closed the same two bridges again.
5. Between East 93rd and East 94th Streets. Fencing went up April 23 around a sinkhole that kept getting bigger, and the closure covered about seven blocks. Our Town reported in early May that the path reopened about a week later. Part of the walkway and lawn were open again, the hole itself was still fenced off, and Parks was still working out how to fix it.

Three of those five sit within about six blocks of each other, between 74th and 80th. That's the same stretch HSS has been rebuilding with new pavers, landscaping and an outdoor fitness area. The surface project and the structural repairs overlap on the same ground, so whichever one is slower sets the reopening date for both.

The Promise From July

On July 8, City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced that the East 71st Street pedestrian ramp had reopened. It had been closed since July 2025. The same release said the East 70th to 78th Street stretch would be restored in stages through October, and that the larger set of projects would produce "a contiguous esplanade from East 53rd Street to East 114th Street in late 2026."

The southern half of that is close. The 70th to 71st Street section is finished, with a permanent ramp at 71st, permanent pavers and landscaping. Parks fixed two sinkholes there, and Con Edison removed an old fuel line that was no longer in use. HSS has worked this ground before. It paid for a $1.8 million renovation between 70th and 72nd Streets in 2018.

The finish date moved after that. HSS spokesperson Tracy Hickenbottom gave Patch the explanation: "HSS had anticipated reopening the remaining section through East 78th Street by the end of October. However, additional sinkhole repairs being undertaken by NYC Parks near East 80th Street require access to a portion of the construction area, affecting the schedule."

The two bridges have two different timelines. When the closures started, Patch reported that Parks expected to finish within two weeks. Parks staff told Community Board 8's Parks and Waterfront Committee that the topside work would be done the week of November 23. As of October 20, both entrances were still listed as closed. For anyone who crosses the FDR at 78th or 81st, the signs at the bridge are the most reliable update.

Where You Can Walk in Early November

There's one more layer under the southern part of the table. NYC Parks' capital project tracker lists a separate stabilization and reconstruction project that covers Andrew Haswell Green Park and the esplanade from East 63rd to 81st. Construction started in April 2026, and completion is projected for April 2028. The tracker doesn't list specific closures. Still, the November 23 reopening covers the HSS section, and the structural work underneath that same stretch is scheduled to continue for about 17 months after it.

North of 94th, Repair Takes the Place of a Rebuild

The East Harlem part of the July promise is where the sinkhole schedule stops being temporary. Our Town reported on October 5 that the overhaul of the Bobby Wagner Walk, which starts around East 94th Street, has stalled. It was allocated $294 million in 2022. Then contractors raised concerns about damaging the FDR Drive, and they found the water along that stretch is too shallow for a construction barge to get close.

City officials told Community Board 11 that the East 94th to 107th Street section would now cost "well over $500 million." It is "in final design," but it's "on hold until future funding is available." The same report says most of the work on those blocks will be routine sinkhole repair instead of the modernization promised in 2022. The East 107th to 114th section has no funding and is still in pre-design. Two pieces are still on track. Construction on the East 117th to 124th section is expected to start early next year, and the East 107th Street pier is being reworked around the same time, without the restrooms advocates asked for.

For anyone running north from Carl Schurz Park, this means the waterfront past the mid-90s will keep being maintained hole by hole for the foreseeable future. The fenced patch at 93rd Street is what that maintenance looks like.

Ways Around the Fence Until November 23

With 72nd to 78th closed and the 78th and 81st bridges shut, there are two good ways onto the water. One is south of the closure through the 71st Street ramp. The other is north of it from Carl Schurz Park.

• Southern loop. Go in at the 71st Street ramp and head south past Andrew Haswell Green Park onto the East Midtown Greenway, which runs to 53rd Street. This is the longest continuous stretch of open path on the Upper East Side right now.
• Coffee on the way. Dan Bakery opened its Manhattan location in August at 1431 York Avenue at East 76th Street, a short walk from the 71st Street ramp.
• Dinner on the detour. La Collina, an Italian restaurant and pizzeria, opened August 18 at 1431 First Avenue at East 74th Street. A few blocks north, East Side Feed reported in September that the Thai restaurant Ob Uan had opened at 1479 First Avenue at East 77th Street.
• Northern loop. Carl Schurz Park, which includes Catbird Playground, puts you back on the water north of the 81st Street closure. The Carl Schurz Park Conservancy has a rescheduled volunteer gardening day on November 15 at 86th Street and East End Avenue.
• By water. The East 90th Street landing is a stop on NYC Ferry's Astoria route, and the winter schedule started November 2, with changes to weekend service and some weekday-afternoon departures on the East River. If you used summer departure times from 90th Street, check them again.

When the HSS section reopens, it's expected to have new pavers, new plantings and fitness equipment along the river between 72nd and 78th. The pedestrian bridge at 78th Street is the one to keep checking, because it reopened after a closure earlier this summer and then closed again for the 80th Street work.

A home's access to the waterfront can depend on one particular ramp or bridge, which is why buyers on the Upper East Side do well to know the details. If you're weighing a co-op or condo near East End or York Avenue and want to know which access points serve a building and where repairs stand, Evan Roth can talk it through with you. Schedule a Private Consultation.