City of Water

It was international wetlands day. The South Street Seaport Museum screened the “City of Water,” the Municipal Water Association’s documentary about the future of New York’s waterfront. Thirty people arrived thirsty for the topic. A woman who used to work on sustainable water issues at the U.N. sat down next to me and we got to chatting, realizing that our paths had crossed before. I guess I’ve been getting my feet wet in this field for a while now.

The movie made its point: there hasn’t been a better time in the history of New York to rethink and redevelop the waterfront so that its viable/

However, it made me question how this is going to happen. Will it take small groups of New Yorkers trying to save their neighborhoods from the influx of expensive condominiums and storefronts? Or could there be a mass movement across New York to save the waterfront?

One woman, I believe Cathy Drew of the River Project, said in the movie that “the best thing to do in your back yard is jump in.” What she was discussing that federal law requires water to be as clean as its use. So, if people are swimming in the Hudson or East River, they should be clean enough to swim in.

It’s a little chicken or egg though. For who really wants to jump into a slime induced toxic puddle in order to help clean up the water? Does the jumping have to happen first, or the cleaning? And even though the Clean Water Act was implemented in 1972, why are the rivers around New York Still polluted. Why can’t the waste treatment facilities handle a rainy day? Why are millions of gallons of sewage still spewing into our rivers after it rains?

I’ll keep looking into these and many more of my questions.