NYC Department of City Planning
The event kicks off the Commission’s program for the next Comprehensive Waterfront Plan. The Department of City Planning has announced a Waterfront Planning Camp for Saturday, August 17th. The camp will be hosted at Nolan Park on Governors Island and is open to all ages, free of charge. As it begins the process of crafting the future of the City’s 520 miles of waterfront, City Planning is inviting New Yorkers to participate in a day of fun, interactive activities that will allow them to share their vision and help shape it.
The Waterfront Planning Camp is the first in a series of events, which City Planning promises to unveil in the weeks to come, designed to incorporate public input in the development of the Comprehensive Waterfront Plan. At this first camp, the Commission is primarily striving to increase public access, spur economic opportunity, and tackle issues created and exacerbated by climate change.
Starting this fall, planners will conduct listening sessions to address local concerns and hear from community organizations. City Planning is also putting together a boxed kit containing materials that will enable neighborhood groups to hold meetings and generate ideas of their own.
City Planning is partnering with the Center for Architecture and the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects to create workshops where students enrolled in graduate design, planning, and environmental programs can work on creative solutions to the biggest challenges facing the City’s waterfront.
City Planning has already posted an online survey to solicit feedback on how New Yorkers experience the waterfront and what improvements they would like to see. City Planning is also taking advantage of LinkNYC kiosks and social media channels to direct traffic to nyc.gov/waterfrontplan in order to promote public awareness of and involvement with the Comprehensive Waterfront Plan.
The Queens, Manhattan, and Bronx Borough Presidents all offered fulsome praise for City Planning’s initiative to bring members of the public into the process. Council Member Francisco Moya, who chairs the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, encouraged everyone to attend the event and hailed the Commission’s commitment to reimagining the waterfront in ways that ensure “these areas offer so many opportunities for New Yorkers, from rest and relaxation to improving both their physical and mental health, from building environmental resilience and sustainability to housing equity.”
Per NYC law, the Comprehensive Waterfront Plan must be updated every ten years. This plan will be the third iteration thereof when it releases in 2021.
By: Sean Scheinfeld (Sean is a CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, Class of 2021).