Session 4 Wed. April 28, 2010 Reviving the Estuary: Science, Politics, and Education Moderator: Dr. John Waldman, Queens College Speakers/Panelists Deborah A. Mans, Executive Director, NY/NJ Baykeeper Christopher J. Collins, Executive Director, Solar One Cortney Worrall, Director of Programs, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance Murray Fisher, Urban Assembly New York Harbor School William Kor

1. Moderated by: Dr. John Waldman
Panelists: Deborah A. Mans • Christopher J. Collins• Cortney
Worrall • Murray Fisher • William Kornblum

2. Deborah A. Mans
New York/New Jersey Baykeeper

3. Turning the Tide:
New York’s Waterfront in Transition
Reviving the Estuary: Science and Education
Debbie Mans, NY/NJ Baykeeper

4. PROTECT

5. PRESERVE

6. RESTORE

7. Scientific Research in the Oyster Program
Research Targets for Urban Restoration:
• Survival of oysters
• Restoration design in altered systems
• Optimizing design for larval recruitment
Policy Research: How do we create a working
relationship with regulators?

8. Oyster Survival
Staten Island
• Growth/Mortality field
study in Raritan Bay, 2007-
2008, and 2008-2009
• Test cages placed in Fall,
monitored in Spring and
Summer
• Western Raritan Bay vs. Appx 4.5 miles
Keyport Harbor
• High mortality in WRB, Low
mortality in KH
• Oysters in WRB also did
not reproduce. (no eggs
found)
• Survival and Fitness is very
site specific!

9. Urban Restoration Design
2001: Shell mounds 2009: Reef Ball • Keyport Reef 2001, built by
Chesapeake Model: shell
mound with live oysters on
top
• Over winter, storm and
wave activity dispersed the
entire ¼ acre reef.
• Keyport Reef 2009,
experiment with Rutgers
testing three structures to
hold oysters in place:
Reefblk; Reef Ball; Rutgers
Arch (designed specifically
2009: Rutgers Arch 2009: Reefblk™ for this project)

10. Larval Recruitment
Spat-on-shell, aquacultured
• Spat settlement study: to
determine where larvae are
settling, relative to current
restoration sites.
• Restrictions on restoration
permits due to water quality
prevent adding live oysters in Bags of “blank” clam shell will
be placed in radius around
certain areas. reef sites & aquaculture facility
• Identify areas of larval settling
and acquire permits to build
structure only; oysters will
settle there “naturally”.

11. Science Education: Oyster Gardening
Oyster gardening is a critical part of Baykeeper’s
restoration effort:
• Gardeners grow reproductively mature adults
to be placed on reefs and populate the
waterways with oyster larvae
• Gardeners collect monthly growth and
mortality data and observations about water
quality, weather, and organisms growing on
their float.
• Many schools participate in gardening for an
excellent hands-on learning experience.

12. Interdisciplinary Science
Oyster gardening experience provides opportunities for
education in many disciplines:
– Math & Statistics: measuring and calculating averages, percentages, change in
rate over time
– Biology: observation of oyster health, anatomy and function of oysters, oyster life
cycle
– Ecology: observing interactions of organisms within the garden, identifying
predators vs. prey, symbiotic/parasitic relationships
– Chemistry: water quality monitoring can be conducted in addition to the growth
and mortality measurements
– Engineering & Physics: some locations require innovative ways to set up the
garden and/or protect from vandalism, fast water, or other risks
– History: oysters played a vital role in the history of New York City and Northern NJ
– Economics: comparing the value of reefs as an industry vs. a natural
resource; supply & demand; crash of the oyster industry in the HRE

13. Christopher J. Collins
Solar One

14. Solar One Presentation
April 28, 2010

15. DDC Solar 2 Building Aerial View Site Location
Kiss and Cathcart, Architects 03/02/2009

16. DDC Solar 2 Building Site Photo Looking North East from Roof of
Peter Cooper Village
Kiss and Cathcart, Architects 03/02/2009

17. DDC Solar 2 Building Site Photo Approach from south in
Stuyvesant Cove Park
Kiss and Cathcart, Architects 03/02/2009

18. DDC Solar 2 Building Site Photo Current Building and
related Events at Site
Kiss and Cathcart, Architects 03/02/2009

19. Solar One Programs
Education - 20000 students from 65 schools
• K-12 enrichment program: renewables, sustainable design,
estuary, horticulture
• Green Innovator HS curriculum (180 teachers trained);
• Green Design Lab Partnership with DOE
• Green Collar Workforce Training: Building performance,
PV installation, horticulture, deconstruction and green
youth entrepreneurship (2009 – 380 students participated;
2010 projected 1000+)

20. Solar One Programs Cont’d
Outreach
• Solar Advocacy and Education Program
• Energy efficiency public awareness programs – Green
Renter
• Solar One Energy Connections S1EC
Arts
• Solar Powered Film, Dance and Music Festival
• Citysol and Citysol Kids Day
• SunToStars

21. Solar 2
• NYC’s first carbon neutral, net zero energy building –
building generates all of the energy it uses from the
92.6kW PV solar array on its roof
• First building of its kind in the Northeast
• Addresses the issues of climate change, energy
independence and CO2 emissions
• Living building
• A place to articulate the goals and aims of the City’s
PlaNYC
• Expanded programs
• Cutting edge exhibits

29. Solar 2 Timeline – “Shovel
Ready” Project
• Completed schematic design January 2009
• Design development completed March 2009
• Construction drawings completed Q1 2010
• Bidding and contracts negotiations - Fall 2010
• Start construction – Early 2011
NOTE: Project will generate 100-120 construction related
union jobs for one year. Working with DEC for
accelerated site remediation by Con Ed which will create
yet additional jobs.

30. Broad Political Support
Solar 2 has secured broad political support with
funding from:
• Mayor Bloomberg (PlaNYC Initiative)
• Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney
• State Senator Tom Duane
• Borough President Scott Stringer
• NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn
• NYC Council member Dan Garodnick

31. Cortney Worrall
Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance

32. Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance

65. Murray Fisher
Urban Assembly New York Harbor School

72. Marine Science

73. Marine Technology

76. Governors Island

78. Building 550

79. William Kornblum
Author, At Sea in the City: New York at the Water’s Edge

80. Four views of the New York Waterfront
Sailor
citizen
Environmentalist
Professsor/Sociologist

81. A Sailor’s View: Please, a quiet spot to tie up for half an hour. The idea
of town Docks – An MWA Initiative - Community Eco Docks are floating
docks that rise and fall with the tide, making them accessible to all
types of vessels at all times during the day and night.

82. I don’t think there was a better way to see
this installation than from a small boat
under the Brooklyn Bridge. Olaf Eiasson’s
Waterfalls, 2008

83. Citizen Activists are Key Players
• Most of the waterfront park and open space initiatives we
have been hearing about during this series would not have
been possible without the dedication of engaged citizens
• In the post Master Builder era of waterfront planning, many of
the most creative initiatives have been the work of citizen
visionaries
• Don’t Mourn, Organize!

84. An Environmental Question: How should global warming and the
likelihood of rising water levels inform current plans for the waterfront
and its parks?
New Urban Ground
ARO and dlandstudio
Instead of beating back
the waters with
impermeable walls,
lower Manhattan could
erect a defense line of
giant grassy sponges.
One of the projects at
the current MOMA
exhibit, Rising Currents

85. Not just an academic problem: The legacy of historic structures,
a need for creative community-based approaches to use