Taking in the view from top of Pier 15 in Lower Manhattan. Masters of Regional Planning students from left to right: Jon Tsai, Hunter Zupnick, Sangi Gao, Barbara Summers, and Julie Casabianca
Monday October 21st, the Masters students from AAP NYC enjoyed a spectacular evening boat tour with friends of the Lower East Side Ecology Center. Meeting at Pier 16 in Lower Manhattan, we boarded a New York City Water Taxi and went on a leisurely two hour narrated cruise of the New York City Harbor. The tour provided dual insights of meeting community members from the Lower East Side and a harbor side view of our urban design studio study area–Manhattan’s East River waterfront.
My project has me working with three classmates to come up with green infrastructure strategies for the area around the Con Edison power plant seen above. Seeing the Con Edison power station in profile relative to the New York City Public Housing and the East River Park were valuable to our ongoing research. The boat meandered north up the shoreline providing excellent photo opportunities. The leisurely pace also gave our host time to describe the landscape.
Providing descriptive narration was the Lower Side Ecology Center’s Executive Director Christine Datz-Romero, LES Ecology Center Advisory Board member Venetia Lannon, and our urban design studio professor Claire Weisz. While switching off on the boat’s loud speaker system the three provided insight on the East River and the numerous initiatives underway along its shores. One of the more fanciful concepts is Plus Pool. This is swimming pool based in the waters of the East River that has permeable filtration walls.
The Kickstarter video campaign for funding the Plus Pool Concept.
In the realm of dreams that became reality, Christine provided an ecological perspective on the growth and history of the Ecology Center in the East River Park. Next up was Venetia Lannon (Regional Director of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) who provided perspective on the history of pollution especially on our stint up Newtown Creek, an East River tributary between Brooklyn and Queens. To this day, Newtown Creek has many industrial uses. Exemplifying this was active metal crushers mincing steel into tiny pieces of scrap metal.
All in all it was an unforgettable evening. On top of the nontraditional sights along the river, we also saw the staples. We got up close and personal with Lady Liberty and Ellis Island. For me it was the closest I’ve been to the Statue of Liberty since I was six years old. No doubt, this visit was as memorable as my first!
Statue of Liberty from our boat. Lookin’ pretty good for 138 years old.
Addendum: Several weeks prior to the boat tour Claire invited Christine Datz-Romero to come to the AAP NYC studio to present information about the Lower East Side Ecology Center. (The conversation provided a great history of the evolution of recycling/composting consciousness in NYC. You can hear an outtake here).