Friday, June 30, 2006

Coastal Marine Resource Center To Host Benefit at East River Park With International Recording Artist Moby

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

COASTAL MARINE RESOURCE CENTER TO HOST BENEFIT AT EAST RIVER PARK WITH INTERNATIONAL RECORDING ARTIST MOBY

New York, NY, June 30, 2006 – The Coastal Marine Resource Center (CMRC) will hold its Annual Fundraiser at the East River Park Amphitheater on July 13th, 2006 from 6:30 to 9:30 PM to raise awareness for coastal conservation and public waterfront access. The evening will feature a performance by CMRC Benefit Host, V2 Records recording artist Moby and will honor Stewards of the Estuary Lillian Borrone and Vice Admiral Paul Gaffney for their work on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.

East River Park is a truly phenomenal waterfront resource hidden on the far eastern shore of lower Manhattan. The park is one of the biggest in New York and contains miles of waterfront public access and multiple athletic and cultural facilities. However, many amenities including the waterfront walkway and amphitheater have fallen into disrepair. Recent efforts by community groups have started the process of rebuilding, but significant resources are needed to make the Park fully functional and accessible.

The CMRC is proud to partner with sponsors Patagonia, Nautica, Outside Magazine, 3R Living and NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. The evening is being produced by Penta Dynamic Solutions and guests will enjoy hor d'oeuvres, cocktails by Leblon Rum and waterfront dancing as Moby performs with vocalist Laura Dawn and guitarist Daron Murphy. For more information please visit www.thecmrc.org.

About Moby: Moby started his musical career in 1982, playing hardcore punk with the Vatican Commandos. Since then he's DJ'ed, written classical music for movies, made dance and rock records, performed at the Winter Olympics and sold 15 million records. He recently wrote music for Richard Kelly's movie “Southland Tales” and will release a greatest hits album this fall. Learn more at www.moby.com.

About The Coastal Marine Resource Center: The Coastal Marine Resource Center is a 501.c.3 non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the New York – New Jersey Harbor Bight. For additional information and to purchase tickets for the CMRC Benefit, please visit http://www.thecmrc.org/.

###

Contact: Joel Banslaben, MPA
Executive Director, Coastal Marine Resource Center of New York
646-515-9290 or info@thecmrc.org

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Business Stewardship Speaker Series Kick-Off: Tuesday, July 25!!!

BUSINESS STEWARDSHIP SPEAKER SERIES KICK-OFF
TUESDAY, JULY 25 – SAVE THE DATE!

The Coastal Marine Resource Center of New York is pleased to announce that we will be kicking-off our Business Stewardship Speaker Series on Tuesday, July 25 from 8:30 – 10:00 AM at the Hudson River Foundation. Building on the success of the Business Stewardship Workshop earlier this year, the Speaker Series will showcase the experiences of local businesses and conservation organizations working together to implement restoration projects. The topic of the first meeting will be: Business Stewardship in the Harbor Estuary: Corporations Leveraging Resources for Coastal Conservation. Look forward to seeing you there!

What: Business Stewardship Speaker Series
Where: Hudson River Foundation, lower Manhattan (www.hudsonriver.org)
Date: Tuesday, July 25
Time: 8:30 – 10:00 AM

In addition, we have created a summary of our efforts to date on the Business Stewardship Initiative below. The Business Stewardship Workgroup, composed of members of the business and conservation communities, recently conducted it first meeting in May and is in the process of creating a “volunteer network” that will bring together the business and conservation groups for on-the-ground-restoration projects. Please email business.stewardship@thecmrc.org to find out more.

CMRC Business Stewardship Workshop Summary (PowerPoint)
http://thecmrc.org/docs/BusinessStewardshipWorkshopSummary.ppt

CMRC Business Stewardship Workshop Report
http://thecmrc.org/docs/BusinessStewardshipWorkshopReport.doc

Finally, a special section in the NY Times on “The Business of Green” that provides great insight into the latest trends in business stewardship.
http://www.nytimes.com/business/businessspecial2/index.html

In the News: "Seaweed revolution" needed to stir action to protect the oceans

Both the US Commission on Ocean Policy and Pew Oceans Commission arrived at the same conclusion - our oceans and coasts are in danger and need increased resources to support their protection and restoration. For some members of the commissions, the work does not stop there. In our region, Lillian Borrone (retired PANYNJ) and Vice Admiral Paul Gaffney (President Monmouth University) have continued to speak to the need for increased measures to assure that future generations are able to enjoy our great marine resources. In the op-ed below from the Asbury Park Press they focus on the need for a "seaweed revolution" to continue to build on the momentum of their conservation work. JB

Asbury Park Press
May 3, 2006

By: Lillian Borrone and Paul Gaffney II

The health of the earth is inextricably linked to the health of ocean ecosystems. As a recent speaker at Monmouth University observed, it is past time to start a "seaweed revolution" to raise awareness and spur action to protect the oceans.

Beneath the shimmering surface, our oceans are facing a crisis. As members of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, we had the privilege of traveling across the nation and heard story after story about the threats facing coastal communities and our ocean environment. Ocean currents show signs of shifting patterns; large fish species such as shark, marlin and tuna have declined more than 90 percent; harmful algal blooms and fish kills pock-mark our coasts and the frequency and intensity of hurricanes is predicted to increase, threatening lives and property along the coast.

The commission's final report, An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century, available at www.oceancommission.gov, sent out a call for action and set up a framework for change with more than 200 specific recommendations.

The message: We can and must do something now to avert the collapse of our oceans.

We have a rare opportunity to save one of our most precious natural resources - the oceans and coasts. Commission members have joined with representatives from the Pew Ocean Commission to form the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative to continue to apply pressure in Washington and around the nation on government leaders to act on ocean reform. The initiative has issued a U.S. Ocean Policy Report Card, which evaluates our national progress. The results were discouraging to say the least.

An overall mark of D-plus would put the student on probation at most schools. The report card recognizes that many governors, state agencies and universities have taken some action. In our own back yard, the state Department of Environmental Protection developed the COAST 2005 initiative, a plan to protect the integrity and economic viability of New Jersey's valuable coastal resources. New York Gov. George Pataki, a member of the Pew Oceans Commission, convened an ocean summit and has recommended increased funding for coastal, oceans and Great Lakes initiatives. At Monmouth University, we have started the Urban Coast Institute. Its mission is to bring the best science and information available to support stewardship of coastal ecosystems and communities.

This is a good start. However, much more can be done in this region and across the country.

Some key actions that should be taken at the state and federal levels include:

A doubling of ocean research funding and increased support for ocean research, science and education at the state and community level. How can one make good ocean policy without understanding the processes of the coastal ecosystem?

Place more focus on ocean issues in our school science curricula. We need an ocean-literate public that understands how the earth and ocean are connected.

Develop guidelines and standards for managing offshore waters to address
emerging demands for offshore energy development and wind farms, aquaculture and conservation of fisheries and other living marine resources.

Congress should reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Coastal Zone Management acts and approve the Law of the Sea Treaty.

Provide a sustainable source of funding for key ocean programs by implementing a key Commission on Ocean Policy recommendation to establish an Ocean Policy Trust Fund.

We have an historic opportunity to save our oceans if we act now. There is strong leadership in our region that can be a model to unify our nation around a common goal - protecting and restoring ocean and coastal ecosystems to provide the goods, recreation and services that people can cherish for generations to come.

Lillian Borrone is the former assistant executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Paul Gaffney II is president of Monmouth University, West Long Branch.

Asbury Park Press:
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

Monday, June 26, 2006

CMRC Benefit Postponed Until Thursday July 13th

Due to the inclement weather that is expected this week the CMRC Benefit is postponed until Thursday, July 13th.

We are looking forward to a great evening with Moby and our Stewards of the Estuary and hope you will be able to join us!

More details to follow soon. Thanks for your continued support!!!
JB

Friday, June 23, 2006

In the News: What Goes Down Drain Eventually Bobs Up Here

When it rains in our metropolis everything goes down the drain. Literally. Miles upon miles of paved, or impervious, surfaces channel rainwater into street drains where the liquid is mixed with everything that goes down our sinks, toilets and bathtubs. Under normal conditions, this mix of fluids and solids flows towards our wastewater treatment plants which clean the water and return it to our local waterways. However, when it rains the system is overwhelmed and the materials are released, untreated, into our waterways creating dangerous environmental conditions. In the first stage of wastewater treatment waters are "screened" for solids and other materials such as plastic bottles and (sometimes) live animals writes the NY Times in the article below. JB

By Corey Kilgannon

The best places to see the celebrated products of New York - its Broadway talent, its skyscraper architecture - are well known.

But the best place to see Manhattan's byproducts - what is stuffed down its sinks, flushed down its toilets and washed from its gutters - cannot be found in tour guides. There is perhaps no better vantage point than the Manhattan Grit Chamber, which strains solids from much of the borough's sewage as it flows underground to the Wards Island Wastewater Treatment Plant.

"This is where it all winds up," said John Ahern, who oversees the chamber, a large building at the eastern end of 110th Street in Manhattan, next to
Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive.

The Manhattan chamber handles sewage from much of the Upper East Side and Upper Manhattan, which makes up about a third of the city's total. From the baby's bathwater to the dead rat washed down a curbside storm drain, from a slop sink at Gracie Mansion to a Washington Heights bodega bathroom, it all goes into the street sewers, which, in their intricate latticework, are laid out so that the sewage flows by gravity to one large main bound for a tunnel running under the East River to the plant on Wards Island, surrounded by Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx. There it is cleaned of toxins and released as purified water into the river.

To keep the tunnel clear, grit and other solid materials must be strained before the sewage enters. That's where the chamber comes in. It was opened in 1937 along with the Wards Island plant and the city's other grit chamber in the Bronx and strains sewage from the west Bronx. It also feeds the Wards Island plant.

At the Manhattan chamber, sewage enters through a 12-foot-wide main and flows into a basement room, where it is split into four canals, slowing its flow so that solids settle to the bottom. The sediment is collected by an arm that sweeps the bottom of the canal and empties into buckets that automatically rinse the grit and lift it up to the ground floor, where it is deposited in metal bins.

The detritus floating in the channels - yesterday, this included cigarette butts, bottle caps, plastic bottles, candy wrappers and plastic spoons - is skimmed out by a rake and pulled up an incline called a screen climber, which resembles an escalator, and is also deposited into bins.

They sit at the foot of the elegant columns gracing the building's Art Deco lobby, one of the aging Art Deco features in the building that are being restored. The refined architecture is at odds with the omnipresent stench.


The strained waste water proceeds along the canals and through sluice gates, then drops several hundred feet down a shaft into a nine-foot-wide tunnel running as much as 500 feet below the East River to the plant.

The bins of accumulated solids, called "screenings," are frequently dumped by forklift into larger ones for transport to Wards Island and are held there until they are shipped to landfills out of state. The whole process is costly, and might be less so if people paid more attention to what they flush down the drain, city officials say.

Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/23/nyregion/23garbage.html

Monday, June 19, 2006

In the News: Developing a "Sea Sense" in Long Island

With recent events like World Oceans Day earlier this month and International Surfing Day on June 21 it appears that people the world over are moving towards creating an awareness of marine ecosystems and the need for conservation. Recent conclusions by both the Pew Oceans Commission and US Commission on Ocean Policy found that our coastal and oceanic resources are still at serious risk from overdevelopment and pollution. In addition, the recommendations of both commissions pointed toward the need for conservation, restoration and public access facilitated by increased coordination between scientists, policy-makers, businesses and the general public. While the conclusions are relatively easy, going forward with implementing the recommendations is an enormous challenge for the conservation community. However, for Long Island, many of the issues can be solved by increased collaboration and awareness writes Newsday in a great five part series. JB

Newsday Five Part Series:
Deep troubles: It's high time that we, as island-dwellers, started paying attention to the failing health of the waters around us.
http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/stories/ny-vpuno044767304jun04,0,211730.story

Our lifestyle kills oceans. Long Island’s water hazards are as ubiquitous as parking lots and fertilizer.
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpoce054769497jun05,0,5218697.story

Habitat Harmony: Science and industry need to work together to conserve fish.
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpoce064770657jun06,0,696705.story

Sea Sense: They're all connected. Building back fish stocks takes an ecosystem-wide approach.
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpoce074771725jun07,0,565632.story

Sea Sense: High-stakes fishing lawNew bill should diversify councils, respect science and set smart standards.
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpoce084772981jun08,0,4301191.story


June 4, 2006
First in a series


This narrow finger of land, our island home, points steadily to the vast ocean that has beaten on its shores for so many millennia. The might of the sea is right there in our faces, but we don't pay a lot of attention.

Yes, we sit on the sand of some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and watch the waves roll in. Some of us venture out in small vessels of our own or in large party boats, to test our skills with hook and line against the survival instincts of the fish. We eat what commercial fishermen bring back to Montauk, the state's busiest fishing port - a catch dominated by such species as the Loligo squid, which becomes fried calamari, and the tilefish, which burrows into the ocean floor, consumes crustaceans, and tastes a lot like lobster.

But most of us don't spend much time thinking about the ocean, Long Island Sound, the Great South Bay, or the estuaries where fresh water meets salt in a network of bays, tributaries and tidal marshes that support a rich variety of aquatic life.

As we steer our cars through the crowded asphalt labyrinth of Long Island's roads, it doesn't often occur to us to worry about the rains that carry the gunk from those roads to the ocean, or about the fish who can't get upstream to complete their life cycle because they're unable to get past a dam that's now part of our transportation system.

Now is as good a time as any - and better than most - for all of us to start paying attention to the waters around us. Here are some reasons why:

Washington is changing the key rules.

For the first time in a decade, Congress is working on a significant update of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the law that lays out the rules for managing our fisheries. It balances the short-term economic need for fishing today against controls needed to ensure the health of fish stocks and the future of fishing tomorrow. Court decisions have said the act puts conservation first.

House and Senate reauthorization bills differ sharply in some ways, but agree in others. The debate over them should be viewed in the context of our on-again, off-again effort to make sound ocean policy.

Before 1970, our nation's share of world fish catch had declined sharply, from second to sixth. American fishermen were angry about the vast amounts of fish that foreign factory trawlers were harvesting near our shores. So Congress reacted with corrective legislation in 1976 that came to be known simply as the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

That law expanded national jurisdiction over the ocean from 12 nautical miles off the shore to 200 miles, giving us an "exclusive economic zone" of 4.5 million square miles - larger than the lower 48 states. It set up eight regional fishery management councils to guard against overfishing. But the investment in American fleets that it encouraged also contributed to a situation of too many fishermen chasing too few fish.

The key Senate sponsor for the reauthorization bill is Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). His name is on the original act, which was improved by the 1996 Sustainable Fisheries Act. On another issue, his push to drill for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, this page has compared him to the tough-to-kill Harry Potter villain, Lord Voldemort. Even if he is the Dark Lord of Drilling, he does know the subject of fishing, and his reauthorization bill makes more sense than the House version - though both have good features.

Commissions have sounded an alarm.

Two separate bodies, the independent Pew Oceans Commission and the congressionally appointed U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, have studied the issues and reached remarkably similar conclusions. They say our oceans are suffering from coastal development, from pollution that storm-water runoff and other sources create, and from overfishing in some fisheries.

The broad principles that they have laid out make excellent sense, especially the dry-sounding but vital goal of ecosystem-based management: We can't keep our oceans healthy and our fisheries sustainable by managing them one species at a time. We have to look not only at the species we're trying to conserve, but at the complex interaction among that species, those it eats and those that prey on it, and the habitat that nourishes it.

To keep those reports from sitting untouched on the shelf, the chairmen of the two commissions have formed a Joint Ocean Commission Initiative and begun giving regular grades to government. And last month, the chairmen, Leon Panetta of the Pew Oceans Commission and Admiral James Watkins of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, wasted no time in issuing a sharp analysis of the House bill after it emerged from a markup session.

Read more:
www.newsday.com

Deep troubles: It's high time that we, as island-dwellers, started paying attention to the failing health of the waters around us
http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/stories/ny-vpuno044767304jun04,0,211730.story

Our lifestyle kills oceans. Long Island’s water hazards are as ubiquitous as parking lots and fertilizer
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpoce054769497jun05,0,5218697.story

Habitat Harmony: Science and industry need to work together to conserve fish
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpoce064770657jun06,0,696705.story

Sea Sense: They're all connected. Building back fish stocks takes an ecosystem-wide approach
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpoce074771725jun07,0,565632.story

Sea Sense: High-stakes fishing lawNew bill should diversify councils, respect science and set smart standards
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpoce084772981jun08,0,4301191.story

Monday, June 12, 2006

CMRC to Host Benefit at East River Park with International Recording Artist Moby!!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

COASTAL MARINE RESOURCE CENTER TO HOST BENEFIT AT EAST RIVER PARK WITH INTERNATIONAL RECORDING ARTIST MOBY

New York, NY, June 12, 2006 – The Coastal Marine Resource Center (CMRC) will hold its Annual Fundraiser at the East River Park Amphitheater on June 28th, 2006 from 6:30 to 9:30 PM to raise awareness for coastal conservation and public waterfront access. The evening will feature a performance by CMRC Benefit Host, V2 Records recording artist Moby and will honor Stewards of the Estuary Lillian Borrone and Admiral Paul Gaffney for their work on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.

East River Park is a truly phenomenal waterfront resource hidden on the far eastern shore of lower Manhattan. The park is one of the biggest in New York and contains miles of waterfront public access and multiple athletic and cultural facilities. However, many amenities including the waterfront walkway and amphitheater have fallen into disrepair. Recent efforts by community groups have started the process of rebuilding, but significant resources are needed to make the Park fully functional and accessible.

The CMRC is proud to partner with sponsors Patagonia, Nautica, Outside Magazine and New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The evening is being produced by Penta Dynamic Solutions and guests will enjoy hor d'oeuvres, cocktails by Leblon Rum and waterfront dancing as Moby performs with vocalist Laura Dawn and guitarist Daron Murphy. For more information please visit www.thecmrc.org.

About Moby: Moby started his musical career in 1982, playing hardcore punk with the Vatican Commandos. Since then he's DJ'ed, written classical music for movies, made dance and rock records, performed at the Winter Olympics and sold 15 million records. He recently wrote music for Richard Kelly's movie “Southland Tales” and will release a greatest hits album this fall. Learn more at www.moby.com.

About The Coastal Marine Resource Center: The Coastal Marine Resource Center is a 501.c.3 non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the New York – New Jersey Harbor Bight. For additional information and to purchase tickets for the CMRC Benefit, please visit www.thecmrc.org.

###

Contact: Joel Banslaben, MPA
Executive Director, Coastal Marine Resource Center of New York 646-515-9290 or info@thecmrc.org

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

CMRC Benefit at East River Park June 28th!!!

The CMRC will be holding its Annual Fundraiser at East River Park on June 28th from 6:30 to 9:30 PM. We will be honoring as "Stewards of the Estuary" Lillian Borrone and Vice-Admiral Paul Gaffney for their work on the US Commission on Ocean Policy. The evening will include a performance by international recording artist and CMRC Benefit Host Moby. It should be a great evening! JB

For more information on the events and to purchase tickets please see our website at www.thecmrc.org

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Exploring Our Coasts & Waterfronts: East River Park, Manhattan

The CMRC is committed to increasing public access to our urban waterfronts found throughout the New York - New Jersey Harbor Estuary. As part of this effort, the CMRC's Conservation & Access Network periodically explores our coasts and waterfronts in search of areas that either currently provide access or are in need of resources to increase public access to the coastline. Today, we explore a great waterfront asset - East River Park in lower Manhattan - and efforts to revitalize its currently under-utilized coastal resources. The CMRC will be holding its Annual Benefit at East River Park on June 28th! JB

East River Park is a truly phenomenal waterfront resource hidden on the far eastern shore of lower Manhattan. This great park is one of the biggest in all of New York City and contains miles of waterfront public access and multiple facilities for athletic and cultural activities. However, the Park has also faced periods of neglect and as a result many of the amenities, including the waterfront walkway and amphitheater, have fallen into disrepair. More recent efforts by non-profits and community groups have again started the process of rebuilding the park and increasing access, but a lot of work still needs to be undertaken to make this Park fully functional and accessible.

East River Park was created by the "Power Broker" Robert Moses in the early 1930s as a result of the construction of FDR Drive. While Moses was great at building highways he was also adept at creating parkland and during the process he actually added many acres of waterfront property by building an extension of the current shoreline. Today the park is one of the largest in New York City at 57,457 acres. From the Eat River Park Website:

The East River Park runs alongside the Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Drive and the East River from Montgomery Street to East 12th Street. It was conceived in the early 1930s when Robert Moses (1888-1981) was designing the FDR (also known as East River) Drive. Moses knew that the expressway would pass through the Lower East Side, a neighborhood sorely in need of parkland. He was determined not to let the land between the expressway and the river go to waste. Moses envisioned a tree-shaded esplanade with abundant recreational facilities and windswept views of the East River and beyond.

The East River waterfront has played a crucial role in the development of New York City. Before the arrival of Dutch colonists in the 17th century, it was home to the Nechtanc, a subgroup of the Lenapes, Native Americans who once inhabited much of the New York area. After European settlers colonized the area, it formed a vital link in trade with Europe and the West Indies. By 1825, the area was marked by an active shipbuilding industry, boisterous masses of sailors, and a number of active municipal waterfront markets. In the mid-19th century, as sea trade moved to the deeper channels of the Hudson River, docks gave way to factories, and then, in the late 19th century, to tenements. By the time Moses developed his plan for the park, the southern East River waterfront was dotted with slaughterhouses, glass factories, power stations, and railroad yards.

Located in downtown Manhattan the park is really a hidden gem located adjacent to millions of urban residents who are unaware of what lies just across the FDR Drive. Limited access is provided by footbridges that cross the highway at distant intervals. In addition, the residents of the multiple housing projects in the nearby Lower East Side have had difficultly accessing the park and its resources and many physical and socio-economic barries exist for the nearby local communities.

The Park is managed by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The Park is home to miles of waterfront esplanades and many, many athletic facilities including tennis courts, basketball courts, a track, soccer fields, baseball fields and more. In addition, East River Park is home to the Lower East Side Ecology Center which provides environmental education and outreach from the Fireboat House just south of the Williamsburg Bridge. On the far south end of the Park exists a great cultural resource in the East River Park Amphitheater. This amazing facility has a capacity of over 2,500 attendees and provides great waterfront views of the River and Brooklyn. Below is a little history on the Amphitheater from the Parks website:

An amphitheater was built in the park in 1941, along with an adjacent limestone recreational building, as part of an urban renewal project for the Lower East Side. Joseph Papp (1921-1991), founder of Shakespeare in the Park and the Public Theater, staged Julius Caesar there in 1956. During much of that decade, the amphitheater was the site of free Evening-in-the-Park concerts. Local schools held their graduation ceremonies there, and the Group of Ancient Drama performed free productions of Greek classics. In 1973, however, the amphitheater closed due to a budget shortage. Vandals attacked the neglected theater and by 1980 it was unusable.

The size of the Park is so large that simple maintenance activities require a large amount of resources. Unfortunately, unlike places like Central and Bryant Parks, no conservancy exists solely to assist with the parks efforts and consequently resource needs often are not met. Several non-profit organizations have worked tirelessly to advocate for the Park and the need for more resources to maintain the facilities and operate athletic, environmental and cultural programs. Currently, a largescale redevelopment project is underway to revitalize the Parks Esplanade and several of the athletic facilities have been renovate in recent years. Plans are in place to create a waterfront bike and walkway very similar to the current resources on the west side of Manhattan. From the NYC Parks website:

In recent years, the park has been the site of extensive renovations, including 1994 improvements to the basketball court, playground, and picnic area, and seawall. Renovation continued in 1996, when Parks celebrated the opening of the 10th Street comfort station, funded through the efforts of City Council Members Antonio Pagan and Kathryn Freed, with a First Flush ceremony. Commissioner Stern performed a ceremonial flush of the men's room toilet and cut an inaugural toilet paper ribbon. In 2000, ballfield lighting improvements were completed with funding provided by City Council Member Margarita Lopez. A bikeway was completed in 2001 with funding from Mayor Giuliani and Borough President C. Virginia Fields.

East River Park is an amazing waterfront resource that has in recent decades somehowremainedd "hidden" from the millions of residents in the region. The Park serves a large low-income community but due to limited access the Park has been underutilized by those who truly deserve to have complete access to the Park and its waterfront resources. Several largescale capital projects are underway and many local groups are working to increase resources for the Park, however it still remains in need of assistance to really live-up to the unbelievable potential it has. Hopefully, with assistance from the CMRC and the many other organizations and agencies that are involved, East River Park will one day parallell Central Park as one of the great parks in the Harbor Estuary.

Read more:

East River Park Homepage
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=12173

Google Map of East River Park
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=nyc&ll=40.714932,-73.975925&spn=0.014378,0.042915&t=h&om=1

Wikipedia on East River PArk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_River_Park

NYC Department of Parks and Recreation
http://www.nycgovparks.org/

East River Park Redevelopment Site
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/lmr/html/east_river_park.html

Friday, June 02, 2006

Conserving our Coasts & Waterfronts: NYC Audubon's Harbor Herons Program

The CMRC's periodically explores the agencies, organizations and individuals who act as "Stewards of the Estuary" to better understand the latest programs and projects affecting our coastlines and waterfronts. One such organization, Audubon NYC, is active in the conservation and monitoring of avian species that exist in our Harbor Estuary region. The article below describes their Harbor Herons Program which works to protect and restore the great wading-bird populations of our region. JB

Millions of birds inhabit our urban estuary and surrounding coastlines, using these areas for nesting, foraging and migratory routes. Recently, scientists have observed a significant increase in the amount of birds found on the most developed portions of our landscape. One organization, New York City Audubon, works to protect, monitor and raise awareness of all birds species found in the region's ecosystem.

One of the more important grouping of species from a coastal marine perspective, is that of the Harbor Herons, a group of wading birds that can be found in, on and around the waters of the New York - New Jersey Harbor Estuary. NYC Audubon has develop a program known as the Harbor Heron Project, that works exclusively to monitor and protect these species.

Harbor Herons include a wide range of birds that live near the water. This includes some very charismatic species like the Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron and Black-Crowned Night Heron. These birds can often be seen along the waterways of the Harbor Estuary in the extensive mudflats, tidal marshes and shallow pools looking for prey in the water or hiding out in the reeds and nearby trees waiting for dusk, and feeding time, to arrive.

Many of these species have at some point been on the endangered species lists at both the State and Federal levels but now due to the great conservation work of groups like NYC Audubon their populations are now rebounding. Below is a brief description of the changing population numbers from the Harbor Herons site:

New York City, the Audubon, and egrets have a common history going back more than a hundred years. At the end of the Nineteenth Century, a New York City resident, George Bird Grinnell, started the first Audubon. He brought together like-minded people who hoped to stop the slaughter of egrets, which were being killed by the hundreds of thousands so that their plumes could be shipped to New York and used to decorate hats.

The millinery trade brought egrets, and several other bird species, to the brink of extinction. Grinnell's Audubon and the organizations that followed it brought protection to the egrets and scores of other beleaguered species with the enactment of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1914. With new protection, egret and heron populations recovered and spread beyond their historical southern ranges. By 1960, egrets were nesting as far north as New Hampshire. There were, however, no egret colonies in New York City.

Imagine the delight of New York birders when Scotty Jenkins found egrets nesting on Pralls Island in the Arthur Kill on the western border of Staten Island! The Clean Water Act of 1972 had allowed water quality to improve enough to support prey species for the egrets.
Following Jenkin's discovery, New York City Audubon began efforts to protect the nesting site, and started an annual census of breeding herons, egrets and ibises in the city. Eighteen years later, the censuses continue and the birds are prospering.

Today the Harbor Herons Project runs many great programs of interest that support the continued conservation of these bird species. One fo their most successful efforts is an extensive volunteer monitoring network that collects data on the numbers and whereabouts of birds in the region. In addition, the Harbor Herons Project runs several outreach and education programs, most notably their Sunset Journey Eco-Island Tours that visits North and South Brother Islands and also passes by a newly found colony at Mill Rock. These tours are provided with assistance from the NY Water Taxi every Saturday throughout the summer and provide great views of the birds and the harbor and leave from South Street Seaport.

Although the Harbor Herons are coming back in droves there are certainly several threats, like development and chemical releases, that will continue to pose a threat to the different species. With the continued hard work of conservation organization like NYC Audubon and many others, we hope to see a rebound in the many birds population that inhabit the coastal waters of the New York - New Jersey Harbor Bight. The amazing success of these efforts will only continue to solidify the region as a truly urban estuary.

More info:

NYC Audubon Harbor Herons Project
http://www.nycaudubon.org/projects/harborherons/

Harbor Heron Tour Schedule
http://www.nycaudubon.org/home/SBTrip.shtml

NY Water Taxi
http://www.nywatertaxi.com/Default.aspx