Image of United Nations viewed from Southpoint Park Roosevelt Island from Natasha
Image of Striped Bass caught and released in the East River from chasfishing.com
The Louis Kahn/FDR memorial proposed for Roosevelt Island’s Southpoint Park may have another obstacle to overcome. Besides the:We now learn that the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation is reviewing waterfront projects to determine if new structures will be casting shadows on the water damaging to marine life. The April 8, NY Observer reports that:

A clash between state environmental regulators and multiple government agencies threatens several planned waterfront projects in the city, including portions of Hudson River Park on Manhattans West Side, the East River Waterfront and the 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park set to rise on Brooklyns once industrial shore.

The states Department of Environmental Conservation is pushing back against sections of all three projects, particularly because of the shadows that structures like floating walkways and a heliport would cast on the water. Led by Commissioner Pete Grannis, the D.E.C. has determined that shade from the new construction could damage marine life below, and, in many cases, violates the law.

The Kahn/ memorial’s 465 feet of tall trees enveloping both the east and west sides of Southpoint Park’s waterfront together with what one resident dubbed “The Kahn Death Box” room at the edge of the Island’s southern tip will certainly cast shadows on the water possibly damaging East River marine life. Hopefully, another nail in the coffin of this outdated and ill-suited project.Below are images of the Kahn/ memorial. We now know that it was designed from the outset with the intent to cut off and block the existing NYC skyline and waterfront views from almost all of Southpoint Park’s southern section except for the very tiny tip at the end of the Island. Describing the Kahn/ memorial, Robert McCarter, a Kahn admirer and author of Louis I. Kahn which has been described as the authoritative text and definitive monograph on the architect Kahn’s work writes: Image from NY Times
Image from Architectural Record
Click here to see the magnificent waterfront and skyline views that will forever be lost if the Kahn/ memorial is built.Here is a You Tube video with a 360 degree view from Southpoint Park.The Kahn/FDR memorial must be stopped.The March 29 Main Street Wire has extensive coverage of the Kahn/ memorial Town Hall meeting where many of these issues were discussed and Press HD has video of the event.