Fifteen years ago, the executive director of the Neighborhood Open Spaces Initiative, David Lutz, handed city planners a vision: a map of the city outlining 350 miles of contiguous pathways for walking and recreation.

“I started this as a cynic,” he said. Now, however, he said he’s delighted. “It’s all coming to fruition,” he said.

Mr. Lutz was referring to news that came late last month when the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the city-state agency created after the September 11, 2001, attacks, announced its commitment of $150 million to redevelop the 2-mile stretch of waterfront along the East River from south of the Brooklyn Bridge to East River Park just north of the Manhattan Bridge. Much of that strip is barren or derelict, filled with chain-link fencing and ad hoc parking lots crowded under the FDR Drive, which looms ominously over the waterfront as a lasting testimony to master planner Robert Moses and his preference for cars over people, highways rather than bikeways.

“Connectivity is the key,” Mr. Lutz said.

That catchphrase resonates just as strongly with people who see the East River Waterfront Plan as much more than the next link in the 32-mile Manhattan Greenway. Residents said that for those trying to transform Lower Manhattan into a vibrant residential neighborhood, the development gives the communities on the east side of Lower Manhattan a windfall in parkland – about 33 acres total – and quite possibly a neighborhood that doesn’t close at the end of the day.

“The reason we fought so hard to turn the East River into a green space is because we have so little of it and we are trying to attract people who want to put down roots,” the manager of Community Board 1, Paul Goldstein, said. The community board has been submitting its ideas to the city since 2002, he said.

The plan will begin by widening the existing paths and bikeways and increasing green spaces and park benches along that part of the river.The design calls for cladding the underside of the FDR Drive with soundproofing material and lights to make it “less like the underside of a dripping concrete highway,” a senior planner at the Regional Plan Association, Petra Todorovich, said. That construction will make way for glass “pavilions” – greenhouselike structures that will eventually create as much as 150,000 square feet of retail shops and community and art spaces. The design, planners said, allows light and views from the river to pass inland. Initially, two of the glass cubes will be built near South Street Seaport as well as one in the middle of the 2-mile stretch and one at the northern end near East River Park.

City planners say the initial phases of the project will take five years. But the largest and most costly projects require more detailed work and a timetable remains vague.

The planned renovation of Pier 15 into a multilevel park will require regulatory approval from, among others, the Army Corps of Engineers, which monitors waterways. City planners emphasize that renovating rather than removing and then rebuilding presented fewer regulatory hurdles.

The most significant changes resulting from the plan occur south of the Brooklyn Bridge. Though a timetable has not been set, plans call for creating a pedestrian-friendly plaza at the Battery Maritime Building, where ferries will shuttle people to Governors Island. The plaza, which will act as the “gateway” to the East River waterfront, will sit atop the Battery Tunnel. Plans call for the entrance of the tunnel to be moved 350 feet northeast at a possible cost of $65 million. Only $7 million, though, has been set aside from the current funding and that will go toward paying for the design of the project.The cash inflow required will come from other agencies.

Mr. Goldstein said residents of Community Board 1 hope the plan will help make the neighborhood a better place to live.

He is encouraged by the fact that South Street Seaport has a new developer, General Growth Properties, which has expressed interest in shifting the focus of the maritime mall from touristcentric businesses to one that caters to the growing resident community, which will include 15,000 new residential units east of Broadway in the financial district.

The renovation of the New Market Building, which is home to the Fulton Street Fish Market until the end of the month and will be partly razed under the plan, presents a similar opportunity. In a survey conducted last year, residents said the number one issue in the community was a dearth of retail amenities.

Mr. Goldstein hopes the renovation of the New Market Building, along with planned changes to South Street Seaport, will be akin to Pike Place Market in Seattle, with its mix of produce, crafts,restaurants,and residential units.

What remains best about the plan, however, is its feasibility, the director of the Department of City Planning, Amanda Burden,said.With a few simple steps, a dramatic improvement will be seen on the East River’s edge.One of the best examples will be Pier 42, just north of the Manhattan Bridge. Planners envision demolishing a dilapidated building and replacing it with a grassy berm. For those used to tramping toward the outer boroughs or Long Island for a chance to build sandcastles, you’ll be happy to know that the grassy knoll will lead into a sandy, riverside beach.

Does that mean swimming in the East River?

“They’re not going to swim there – well, maybe they will, but first you want to get them to the water’s edge,” Ms. Burden said.