May 16, 2012 · www.gothamgazette.com

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Waterfront Archive

A Public-slash-Private Park  (August 2009)  The city has created a new plan for the ball fields on Randall's Island. Critics, though, are calling foul.

A New Name for Our Premier Waterway  (January 2009)  No waterway belongs to New York City quite the way the East River does. But we've saddled it with a dull and misleading name. Erik Baard suggests an alternative.

On the Beaches  (July 2008)  What are city beaches really like? Our audio slide show tours the shore from the Bronx to the Rockaways, as beach-goers weigh in on cleanliness, accessibility -- and jellyfish.

Keeping City Beaches Safe and Clean  (July 2008)  

Reclaiming New York's Blighted Waters  (April 2008)  Arthur Kill, the country's busiest industrial waterway, now offers a home to herons, egrets and turtles. What does this mean for New York's other rivers, creeks and canals?

A City by the Sea -- or Under It?  (March 2008)  Increased flooding, brought by climate change, could threaten some of New York's biggest development projects. What is being done so all the new construction can survive the warmer, wetter future?

Along the Shore, A Turning Point  (October 2007)  This is a key moment for the area's 700 miles of coastline.

The Staten Island Ferry Crash Three Years Later  (November 2006)  Three years later, the crash that killed 11 people remains a continuing and costly drama for those involved, including City Hall.

Waterfront In Fits And Starts (And Stops)   (September 2006)  Pat Arnow updates the progress – or inaction, or reversals – in several waterfront projects, including Hudson River Park, East River Park, Belt Parkway Bath… and why the Statue of Liberty can still gaze lovingly at the statue of Minerva in Green-Wood Cemetery.

Barging Back  (August 2006)  Barges, once ubiquitous on the waterfront, are poised for a comeback – moving garbage, and moving containers.

Drowning and Rescue in New York  (July 2006)  Even though New York City is a city of islands and rivers, remarkably few people drown here every year.

Unknown (Unused) Beaches of NYC  (June 2006)  Though they are little-known, hard to find, often harder to get to, there are at least a dozen “natural sand beaches” in New York City

Greenpoint Waterfront Fire  (May 2006)  People fighting for the character of Brooklyn's waterfront see a tragedy -- and suspect a crime -- in the spectacular fire that engulfed 15 abandoned industrial buildings on Greenpoint's waterfront.

Dredging In New York Harbor -- Economy vs. Environment?  (April 2006)  Will the Army Corps of Engineers clean up as they deepen channels?

New York's Port, Beyond Dubai  (March 2006)  Whether or not the fracas over port security will continue now that the Dubai deal itself has fallen through, it has brought back attention to a once-great New York Harbor where security is only one of several issues threatening the future.

Making The Old Fulton Fish Market Into Something New  (February 2006)  Pat Arnow details the plans, and dreams, for the old Fulton Fish Market – A center for art? A big mall? A new ritzy neighborhood? – and how to turn it from a question mark to an exclamation point.

Old Industrial Buildings on the East River  (January 2006)  Three old industrial buildings along the East River – the Austin, Nichols Warehouse; the Domino Sugar Plant; and the Con Ed Power Plant – are pitting preservationists against developers.

Cleaning Up The PCBs In the Hudson River  (December 2005)  After many decades, there is finally a plan to clean up the deadly PCBs from the Hudson River -- a plan that many worry is inadequate.

Clean Enough To Swim In Again?  (November 2005)  Have New York’s waterways become clean enough to swim in again? Well, as Pat Arnow explains, there is that matter of the 1.9 billion gallons per day from wastewater treatment plants.

East River Access From The Lower East Side  (October 2005)  Access to the East River from the Lower East Side, shut down for more than four years, is slated to return. “It will take two more years and a whopping $69 million,” Pat Arnow writes, “but the heavy equipment is already there, working away.”

Campaign 2005: Three Ways The Next Mayor Could Improve The Waterfront  (September 2005)  Carter Craft suggests three approaches that the next mayor could take to improve the waterfront.

Waterfront Slide Show  (July 2005)  New Yorkers may long have forgotten that they lived in what Walt Whitman called "City of the Sea! City of wharves and stores," but there is renewed activity, revived interest, and burgeoning conflicts over the city's waterfront.

Finding Balance on the Brooklyn Waterfront  (April 2005)  Kimberly Miller of the Municipal Art Society explains why the city’s current rezoning plan for the Greenpoint and Williamsburg waterfront -- which the City Council is about to vote on -- “might seem like a great deal.” But, she says, there is a better way.

Waterfront Rezoning And Its Shortcomings  (March 2005)  The rezoning of much of the waterfront of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, writes Carter Craft, “represents everything that’s right and everything that’s wrong about land use planning for waterfronts in New York City.”

Leaving The Hudson River Out Of “The Hudson Yard” Plans  (December 2004)  "At the same time that both city and state are pulling out all the stops to redevelop the West Side, attract the 2012 Olympics, and expand the convention center," Carter Craft writes,"it is unfathomable to think that more than a billion dollars in public money is to be spent to redevelop 11 blocks along the Hudson River with no real plan to improve the waterfront."

Getting Federal Money To Improve The Port Of New York  (March 2004)  Carter Craft details federal legislation that could dramatically improve the Port of New York - if our Congressional delegation shows leadership.

Waterfront Stories On Film  (February 2004)  A new film series about the NYC waterfront might remind us that current struggles are not at all new ones.

Eight Ways To A Better Future Now  (January 2004)  Carter Craft suggests eight ways to improve the waterfront.

The Lessons Learned In Creating Hudson River Park  (December 2003)  Thirty years after a dump truck crashing through a riverside elevated highway helped create the community movement to reclaim the waterfront, Carter Craft details the lessons learned in creating Hudson River Park.

A New Future For The Great Port  (November 2003)  With 1,000 newly hired longshoremen, and new interest in building a cross-harbor freight tunnel. the "Great Port" of New York and New Jersey, says Carter Craft, is not just a background in nostalgic old movies.

The Tragedy And Neglect Of The Staten Island Ferry  (October 2003)  “The crash of the Staten Island Ferry Andrew Barberi that killed ten people,” Carter Craft writes, “should serve as a warning to New Yorkers that this icon of New York City travel and tourism is in desperate need of attention, and innovation.”

Staten Island Awaits Its Turn  (September 2003)  Staten Island has all the problems facing the rest of the city, from traffic congestion to uncoordinated growth, but, Carter Craft writes, nestled in this borough bounded by bays and kills are a few model solutions as well.

Will The Bountiful Triangle Return?  (August 2003)  For three centuries, the heart of the city was the "bountiful triangle of water" bounded by Brooklyn, Governors Island, and Manhattan, writes Carter Craft, who asks whether we will take the opportunity to bring that triangle to prominence once again.

The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway -- A Thin Green Line  (July 2003)  The Waterfront. The Manhattan waterfront greenway opens very soon, a nearly continuous waterfront esplanade that is a cause for momentary cheer but, Carter Craft argues, far less than what is needed to harness the potential of the city’s waterfront.

Rezoning the Williamsburg and Greenpoint Waterfronts  (June 2003)  Carter Craft looks at the mayor's plan to rezone the waterfronts of Williamsburg and Greenpoint to make them largely residential and commercial.

Bickering May Lose Us Bucks  (May 2003)  The New York harbor stands to lose tens of millions of dollars in federal transportation funds because of bickering among various harbor interests.

Hunts Point’s Waterfront Dreams  (April 2003)  The Waterfront. Carter Craft looks at the perils and promise of Hunts Point and Port Morris in the Bronx, which have the distinction of being the waterfront neighborhoods with the least amount of waterfront access in the city.
And learn about the neighborhood, or tell us what you know about the neighborhood, in the Hunts Point Community Gazette.

Bringing Sand to the Brooklyn Beach  (March 2003)  The Army Corps of Engineers wants to bring sand to a beach in Brooklyn - doing work that, critics say, would fix problems that the corps caused in the first place. Peter Fleischer attended a public meeting where the corps presented its new proposal.

Big-Boxed In on the Waterfront  (February 2003)  Carter Craft looks at the proposal to stick an Ikea on the waterfront in a rapidly-changing Red Hook, only the latest Big Box store on the city's waterfront.

Wakes  (August 2002)  

Change and Conflict on the Brooklyn Waterfront  (July 2002)  

  (June 2002)  

Harbor (in)Security. Also: Harbor Events.  (May 2002)  

A Super Model for New York Harbor  (April 2002)  

Bronx River Rising  (March 2002)  

New Attention From City Hall  (February 2002)  

The Waters Of The Harbor  (January 2002)  

Governors Island And The United Nations  (November 2001)  

Moving Freight On Water  (September 2001)  

Brooklyn Navy Yard  (July 2001)  

Blessing The Fleet  (June 2001)  

In Defense of the Port  (May 2001)  

Who Owns the "578 Miles" of Waterfront, and How Are They Being Used?  (April 2001)  

Ferries  (March 2001)  

Parks and Parking Along the Hudson  (February 2001)  

The Missing Marshes of Jamaica Bay  (January 2001)  

Light at the End of the Rail Tunnel?  (December 2000)  

Election Special--The Major Local Issues, from dredging to access  (October 2000)  

In the News: A Ban on Jet Skis?  (September 2000)  

City Beaches: Safe for Swimming?  (August 2000)  

The City's Crowded Waterways  (July 2000)  

In The News: Trashing the Littoral  (June 2000)  

In The News: Pier Pressure  (May 2000)  

In The News: Waterfront Primer  (April 2000)