By Jonathan Robison, M.R.P. ’22
After a pandemic-induced, one-year hiatus, the annual Cornell University City and Regional Planning fall fieldtrip was back! A collection of both first- and second-year students in the MRP and MA-HPP program travelled to the Big Apple to explore the country’s largest city. This year’s field trip was led by Robert (Bob) Balder (B.S. URS ’89), Executive Director of the Gensler Family AAP NYC Center, and Thomas J. Campanella, Professor and Director of CRP’s Undergraduate Studies. The trip offered an excellent opportunity to leverage AAP’s incredible staff, spaces, and programming in Lower Manhattan.
The theme of the students’ visit was New York Meets the Water and thus the weekend’s programming was focused on New York’s waterfront and shoreline. Students reviewed New York’s centuries of maritime history, beginning with the Lenape Tribe’s use of the abundant oysters and seafood, to the Dutch establishing a colonial commercial port in New Amsterdam by carving canals and wharfs into Manhattan, to the Erie Canal’s role in cementing New York as a premier node of global commerce.
Through lectures and guest speakers from private and public stakeholders, students learned how the active waterfront that lined the shores of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens through the end of the 20th century has been slowly transitioned into public amenities and green space. Students also discussed with these guest speakers the new strategies now being deployed to confront the challenges of 21st century climate change, storm surges, and sea level rise.
To better understand all this, Mr. Balder and Professor Campanella led students on three days of tours. They started with Lower Manhattan’s historic shoreline and the South Street Seaport District. The next day the group ventured off by East River Ferry to explore Brooklyn Bridge Park and new developments at Hunters Point in Long Island City, Queens. Students saw first-hand how these new public spaces thoughtfully embedded design elements aimed at protecting the city from the threat of water while still maintaining an open and welcoming waterfront. Finally, students had free time to explore Dekalb Market in Brooklyn and Museum Mile in Manhattan before returning to Ithaca.
photo / Jonathan Robison