Mr. Obama, tear down this wall! Or at least make it prettier.
The East Side may soon be more like the Eastern Bloc, thanks to a bleak — and pricey — $23.8 million federally funded floodwall being constructed around Veterans Affairs Manhattan Medical Center near Peter Cooper Village, critics raged.
“We are preparing for these storms that are devastating when they happen, but it happens every 20 years, every 15 years. I understand you have to protect for it, but we have to live here day in and day out,” said Janet Handal, the president of the Waterside Tenants Association, which represents a nearby apartment complex.
The 1,507-foot floodwall is part of a $207 million rehab for the center, which was severely damaged — and closed for nearly six months — after Hurricane Sandy.
The wall, expected to be completed in October, will snake from the main building’s entrance at East 23rd Street, east to Asser Levy Playground and west along East 25th Street. The hospital is bounded on the east by the FDR Drive and on the west by First Avenue.
There’s no moat planned, and the structure won’t be completely impenetrable — five floodgates will allow access to the center, “while allowing closure of openings in the event of … flooding,” said VA spokeswoman Jennie Haskamp.
At its highest, the wall will scale nearly 11 feet above the existing sidewalk grade, making it about 14-feet tall. It’ll be up to 1.2 feet thick.
“The floodwall is necessary to reduce flood risk and storm damage to the facility from hurricanes, storm surge, and other storm events that would cause East River waters to encroach on the VAMC,” insisted Haskamp.
But Handal said the feds never bothered to tell its neighbors about the massive rehab project, which she learned about it by chance.
“It’s fortress-like,” she continued, noting that dozens of trees — some 30 to 40 years old — will be uprooted to make way for the hurricane-buster.
“I get the need for resiliency, but this is a beautiful street. Thousands of people walk here every day — and this is an unremitting brick wall.”
The VA said the number of trees removed will be “minimal.”