The first NYC Community Board committee to hear about MWA's Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines (WEDG) responded with great enthusiasm, voting unanimously in favor of a resolution to support the innovative program that marries waterfront design with an incentives system.

"Is it possible for this community to be an early tester of this? We are ready and waiting," said Catherine McVay Hughes, chairperson of Lower Manhattan's Community Board 1, after MWA's Roland Lewis gave a presentation on WEDG and its seven Guiding Principles to the Board's Planning Committee.

CB1 members posed many questions. "What about emerging technology?" asked Board member Tammy Meltzer.

"This is a living document. It will stay up to date with changing technology and changing conditions in the world," Mr. Lewis assured her.

"What is the City of New York saying about this?" asked member Ninfa Segarra.

"They are working with us in lockstep," Mr. Lewis answered, confirming that government agencies and regulators at all levels are in support of WEDG.

Several CB1 members brought up unpleasant noise associated with certain waterfront developments. "Noise mitigation should be a discussion point -- and that is coming from this meeting right now," Mr. Lewis said, proving the notion of a living document and of the community contributing to the process.

For more information on WEDG and its roll-out, contact Michael Porto, MWA's Director of Outreach & Planning, at mporto@waterfrontalliance.org. #WEDG

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Top photo by Robert Simko; bottom photo courtesy of Hornblower.

This year, City of Water Day will expand to waterfronts large and small all over New York City and New Jersey.

Dozens of groups have signed on to produce City of Water Day In Your Neighborhood events on July 12, 2014, while the bi-state festival takes place on Governors Island and at Maxwell Place on the Hoboken, NJ waterfront.

Below, in the first of a regular WaterWire series showcasing this year's In Your Neighborhood events, we take a look at what Bronx groups are planning.

The Bronx River Alliance will sponsor a guided tour of the river by canoe flotilla, leaving at 10am from Concrete Plant Park and visiting salt marsh and oyster restoration sites. For details on the Bronx River Alliance canoe trip, click here.

At Hunts Point Landing, Rocking the Boat, CityScience and NYC Audubon will be offering fun from noon to 5pm. Landlubbers can learn about tidal pools from City Science and about bird migration from NYC Audubon. On the water, Rocking the Boat will run a sailing program featuring student-built wooden boats: two six-passenger rowboats will be used to ferry people out to two six-passenger 19-foot sailboats. Guests will have an opportunity to learn to row, and once aboard the sailboats, they will be able to take turns steering and controlling the sails.

If you're interested in planning a City of Water Day In Your Neighborhood event at your local waterfront, contact Louis Kleinman at lkleinman@waterfrontalliance.org. #CityofWaterDay

The Port Authority Board of Commissioners voted on April 24 to approve an additional $60 million for the  Hudson-Raritan Estuary Resources program. Launched in 2001, this program serves as a counterweight to the impacts of harbor development, and has already preserved nearly 400 acres of wetlands and other open spaces in New York and New Jersey.

The action gives $30 million each to NY and NJ to preserve open space throughout the Hudson-Raritan Estuary area. Program funding has been used in the past to create additional access to the waterfront, establish new parkland in underserved communities, protect wildlife and help reduce damage to property from storms.

"During the past decade, no program has made a greater contribution to open space preservation and public access to the region's waterways then the Port Authority of NY/NJ's Hudson-Raritan Estuary Resources Program," said Greg Remaud, Deputy Director of NY/NJ Baykeeper in a prepared statement. "Hundreds of acres of important salt marsh, freshwater wetlands, and woodland habitat were preserved; new waterfront parks were created; nature trails along rivers and creeks were connected and enlarged."

Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance | 212-935-9831 | asimko@waterfrontalliance.org | http://www.waterfrontalliance.org
241 Water Street, 3rd Floor
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