The East River Esplanade Reopens on the Upper East Side, Block by Block, Through October

For four summers running, the same locked gate met anyone trying to run, bike, or push a stroller north along the river past East 70th Street. You'd get a clean stretch of water from the low 60s, then chain-link fencing would appear right where the Hospital for Special Surgery campus begins, and the only option was to peel off into traffic on York Avenue and hope the path picked back up somewhere north of 78th. Jennifer Ratner, who chairs Friends of the East River Esplanade, told CBS New York last summer that this was the fourth year in a row that stretch had been shut, with no end date anyone trusted.

That gate came down this June. But the story worth understanding isn't just that a ramp reopened. It's who reopened it, and what that tells you about the timeline still ahead.

A hospital's construction schedule, not a city infrastructure win

The closures along this stretch didn't start as a Parks Department project. They started in March 2022, when Hospital for Special Surgery broke ground on its Kellen Tower, and the esplanade behind the campus went dark as a byproduct of that construction. Four years later, HSS is the one finishing the repair work, not the city on its own timetable.

That matters for anyone trying to predict when the rest of the path opens. HSS's own project page describes this phase as building on a prior $1.8 million renovation the hospital funded between East 70th and East 72nd Streets back in 2018. The current work includes structural repairs to the seawall, sinkhole remediation, and new surface upgrades: pavers, landscaping, and fitness equipment along the reopened sections. None of that is being driven by a city capital budget cycle. It's tied to when HSS finishes its own campus work and hands the path back to the public, coordinated with NYC Parks and the city's Economic Development Corporation.

That's why the reopening is happening in pieces instead of all at once, and why the completion date has more to do with construction sequencing than a fixed calendar.

What's open right now

As of this summer, here's where the path actually stands, according to Patch's coverage of the June reopening and HSS's own construction updates:

• East 70th to East 71st Street: reopened June 15, 2026, along with the 71st Street pedestrian ramp connecting to street level.
• East 71st to East 72nd Street: saw one more short closure in May 2026 for final painting and paving, work that needed consistently warm weather, and by the plan HSS laid out at the time, was set to reopen for good once that finished.
• East 72nd to East 78th Street: still under active construction as of this writing, with reopening expected in phases through October 2026.
• East 78th Street pedestrian bridge: closed in July 2026 as planned, so crews could finish structural work at that end of the stretch, taking this access point temporarily offline even as segments to the south stayed open.

At a Community Board 8 meeting covered by Patch, HSS project manager Jack Wong explained the sequencing directly:

"We are opening the ramp and the Esplanade from 70th to 71st street on Monday, June 15."

He also acknowledged the years of pent-up frustration behind the announcement, noting that the goal was to get pieces open as soon as they were safe rather than wait for the entire stretch to finish at once.

The sinkholes were the real holdup

Part of what kept this closed longer than a typical repaving job is structural, not cosmetic. NYC Parks had already remediated a sinkhole near East 74th Street before this phase began. A second sinkhole, near the base of the East 78th Street ramp, is part of the current scope of work. Seawall repairs at that end of the project have to happen before the surface work, the fitness equipment, and the final paving can go in. That's also why the 78th Street bridge's July 2026 closure was a temporary step backward for access at the north end, even as the southern blocks stayed open for good.

If you've walked this stretch before and remember uneven pavement or roped-off sections mid-path, that's the piece being addressed now.

The bigger unlock isn't this summer, it's the one after

The 70th to 78th Street repair is a single link in a much longer chain. City Council Speaker Julie Menin's office announced in a July 2026 press release that this project, once finished, will help create a contiguous esplanade running from East 53rd Street all the way to East 114th Street by late 2026, coordinated across NYC Parks, the city's Economic Development Corporation, and Community Board 8.

That's a meaningfully longer uninterrupted waterfront than most people on the Upper East Side have ever had access to on foot or bike. HSS Executive Vice President Mary Cassai described the esplanade as a source of daily wellness for the hospital's own staff and patients traveling from around the country, language that underscores how much this stretch of river functions as working infrastructure for the neighborhood, not just scenery.

What to actually expect between now and October

If your routine runs along the river, here's the practical read: the 70th to 71st segment is open now and should hold. The 71st to 72nd segment went through its final short closure back in May and should be settled for good. The 72nd to 78th stretch has stayed the least predictable part of the route through midsummer, with the 78th Street bridge dark since July while crews finish that end. Full, reliable access across the entire 70th to 78th run isn't expected until October.

For a neighborhood that spent four summers routing runners onto York Avenue, that's not a small shift. It's also a reminder that the pace of change here tends to follow institutional construction calendars as much as public ones, which is worth knowing the next time a fence goes up somewhere along the water and you're wondering how long it'll stay.

If you're weighing what life looks like on these blocks long term, from the waterfront routine to the building stock behind it, The Saez + Fromm Team works this part of Manhattan closely and is glad to talk through it. Request a Private Consultation whenever the timing is right for you.