Claiming -- Not Reclaiming -- New York's Waterfront

The opening of the Brooklyn Bridge Park and other waterfront attractions in New York has many people rediscovering their waterfront. But as this op-ed argues, the waterfront can't be reclaimed as it was never even claimed in the first place.

1 minute read

July 7, 2010, 6:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg

Looking back at the history of New York' waterfront, writer Nathan Ward shows that the city's relationship with its water has been primarily utilitarian.

"As our waterfront economy slowly faded, New York's piers became a no man's land, blocked off by empty sheds and bands of highway. In the latter half of the 20th century, there was a ghost town between landlubbers and the water.

But in this empty age lay the seeds of recovery. More than 70 years ago, when researchers from Manhattan's Greenwich House interviewed idle West Village dockworkers about ways to improve conditions on the West Side, these men called for the creation of 'opportunities for sane recreation.'"

FULL STORY: Take Me to the River. Finally.

Friday, July 2, 2010 in The New York Times

Environment History / Preservation Urban Development New York New York City Waterfronts Brooklyn Bridge Park View More

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