File Photo
According to the DCP report, more than 80 percent of the city’s 8.5 million residents are just a 30-minute bus or subway ride away from the waterfront.
By Forum Staff
Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick on Friday released “Assessing New Yorkers’ Access to NYC’s Waterfront,” a report that chronicles which waterfront communities offer good public access to the shore and those where access is more limited—and an update to DCP’s Waterfront Access Map. The map, which features profiles and helpful information on all of New York City’s waterfront public open spaces, and the report together emphasize the City’s commitment to making public access to the waterfront much more equitable, Garodnick said.
The report and map were released on 5/20 as part of DCP’s annual celebration of NYC’s 520-mile-long shoreline, highlighting City efforts to better connect New Yorkers to our expansive waterfront.
Using detailed walkability and transit analyses, the report found nearly three million New Yorkers live within a half-mile of the waterfront and that approximately two million of them live within walking distance of a waterfront park or open space. The remainder, about 800,000 people, do not. The report also found that more than 80 percent of the city’s 8.5 million residents are just a 30-minute bus or subway ride away from the waterfront.
The report was done to support efforts by DCP, other city agencies, and open space advocates to expand access to the waterfront—and especially to close accessibility gaps in historically underserved communities. Expanding public waterfront access means more space for New Yorkers to exercise, relax, and interact with nature, and, more generally, be healthy.
The report highlights recent waterfront open space that successfully expanded public access in underserved areas, such as the North Shore of Staten Island and the Bronx’s Harlem River waterfront, and highlights how DCP’s Comprehensive Waterfront Plan addresses long-term strategies for expanding waterfront public access across the city. Achieving equity in access to the waterfront requires addressing physical barriers, such as highways, that have cut off communities from their own shorelines for decades.
“New York City’s waterfront is one of our best assets – a source of fun, relaxation, transportation, work, and much more. Every New Yorker should be able to reach and enjoy our shoreline and experience all it has to offer,” Garodnick said.
First released in 2018, DCP’s Waterfront Access Map offers New Yorkers easily accessible information about the many access points to the waterfront and across all five boroughs. The map highlights public parks and open space created along the waterfront since 2018, such as West Farms Park in The Bronx and Shirley Chisholm State Park in Brooklyn. The map also includes 300,000 square feet (or over seven acres) of recently certified Waterfront Public Access Areas—required publicly-accessible space along the waterfront that is built and maintained by private developers of medium to high-density buildings.
It provides details on where and what type of amenities are available—so how to locate boating and in-water recreation opportunities, volleyball courts or fishing spots—and which transit options, such as bike, ferry, or subway routes, are near the publicly accessible shoreline of your choice. It allows the public to easily filter the data by features, like outdoor art exhibit or a dog run. It also offers information about how these open spaces were created and how they are maintained.
For more information, visit nyc.gov/dcp.
