Latest news with #Riverkeeper
CBS News
18 minutes ago
- General
- CBS News
New York to reclassify 30 waterways in unprecedented clean water effort
It's been more than 50 years since the passage of the Clean Water Act, but New York City's waterways continue to face contamination from combined sewer overflows. Thirty city waterways are now set to be reclassified by the State Department of Environmental Conservation in an unprecedented effort to expand areas protected for swimming and fishing. On a recent trip along the East River and Gowanus Canal, Riverkeeper's community science manager Sebastian Pillitteri gathered water samples to measure salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH and bacteria that can indicate raw sewage. "One of the things that our data are answering ... is how is the water for swimming?" Pillitteri said. "Prior to the start of our sampling program, there was nobody collecting data [in] a systemic way." The collection effort, covering 247 locations across the state, helps watchdogs identify patterns of contamination and track overall water health. "Our water quality is improving. It's been improving drastically over the last 30 years," said Em Ruby, Riverkeeper's Senior Advocacy and Policy Coordinator. "And this is largely due to improvements that the city has made and up-river communities have made in treating combined sewer overflows." "This is part of a larger effort that the state has been undertaking around all of our water statewide to make sure that we are complying or following or adhering to the goals of the Clean Water Act to make all waters swimmable and fishable," said Stephanie June, DEC's Director of Water Assessment and Management. Still, June noted the challenges of dealing with aging infrastructure. "Trying to address that infrastructure that is underneath all of the development and the businesses and the homes. And also dealing with other utilities like drinking water, transportation and electricity really does complicate the issue at hand here," she said. While cleaner water doesn't always guarantee safe swimming conditions due to rainfall, currents and boat traffic, advocates say the reclassification marks a major step forward for recreation in a city surrounded by water. "There's 520 miles of coastline across New York City, and it's really important to know how the water quality is doing in each of these areas," Ruby said. The DEC plans to file a notice of adoption by Sept. 30, with the new classifications expected to become official about two weeks later. The first batch will cover 30 waterways, though some areas, including Newtown Creek on the Brooklyn-Queens border, are not on the initial list. Officials say additional reclassifications will follow in phases through 2030. Have a story idea or tip in Brooklyn? Email Hannah by CLICKING HERE.
Time Out
16-06-2025
- General
- Time Out
Manhattan has a great new beach—except you can't swim at it
Did you know Manhattan has a beach? Yes, a real one—with 1,200 tons of sand, Adirondack chairs and sweeping views of the Hudson River. The only catch: You can't swim in it. Opened in late 2023, the Gansevoort Peninsula is the newest addition to Hudson River Park, carved out of a once-industrial zone between Gansevoort Street and Little West 12th. The five-acre space boasts boardwalks, a salt marsh, public art, picnic spots and yes, a beach. But swimming remains firmly off-limits thanks to New York's aging sewer infrastructure. Here's the dirty truth: Two nearby sewer outflows dump stormwater and sewage directly into the Hudson during heavy rain, sometimes with as little as half an inch of precipitation. That runoff carries everything from bacteria to pharmaceuticals, rendering the water unfit for humans about one in every three days, according to environmental watchdog Riverkeeper. 'It's our dream that Gansevoort Beach would be the beginning,' Michael Dulong, the legal director at Riverkeeper, told Gothamist. 'It would provide a model to open up beaches elsewhere throughout the city.' The group has been patrolling New York's waterways on a boat named Fletcher, sampling water at over 200 locations between May and October. They're pushing for a common-sense policy: Let people swim when the water's clean, just like we already do at city beaches after rainfall. Their main argument is that Gansevoort is uniquely positioned. It's sheltered from boat traffic and strong currents, sits in a high-foot-traffic neighborhood and has infrastructure already in place. Testing by the Billion Oyster Project found the water safe in over half the samples collected last summer—but that other half underscores the risk. For now, visitors can soak up the scene from dry land, stroll through the peninsula's boardwalks, or dip their toes from a shallow ramp. And there's still plenty to enjoy: a pine grove, a dog run, a fitness area and Day's End, a monumental sculpture by David Hammons that riffs on Gordon Matta-Clark's original 1975 piece. As for actual swimming, that'll require a massive overhaul of the city's sewer system—one with an estimated $36 billion price tag, according to Gothamist —but advocates say the dream is worth it. 'Imagine if you could just walk to where your street meets the water and jump in the water and if it were safe,' Dulong said, 'A place where you could recreate, where you could lie on the beach.'
New York Post
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
NYC fish fanatics go all in on offbeat ‘Migration Celebration,' including paper mache undersea creatures
They had a reel good time. Dozens of fish fanatics went all in for the city's first-ever Fish Migration Celebration — braving wet weather to display homemade designs of undersea creatures and cheer on boats passing by on the Hudson River. Crowds gathered Saturday on the West Side Highway toted massive paper-mache sturgeons, flounder and eels — while they danced to the sound of marching bands. The pelagic party, which preceded a stunning flotilla of marine-themed boats that followed the journey breeding fish along the Hudson River every year. Advertisement 7 Marchers in the city's first-ever Fish Migration Celebration in Chelsea on June 14, 2025. Stefano Giovannini 7 One of the boats traveling up the Hudson River for the migration. Stefano Giovannini 'What better way than a celebration like this to make these invisible creatures and this Serengeti-scale natural event that's happening in our community — the busiest city in the country — visible so people could really appreciate,' Tracy Brown, the president of Riverkeeper, told The Post. Advertisement 'This is like a big natural migratory phenomenon and we should celebrate it. We should understand it, and we should support its continuation by cleaning the waters and removing dams and doing everything we can to let these fish continue their cycle.' The day-long party kicked off with the fish parade in Chelsea, which saw dozens of participants carrying the shimmering school of fishy creations. The party was a send-off for a flotilla of ships that traversed up the Hudson to Croton, following the very same path thousands of sea creatures make every year. 7 A marching band performing in the Fish Migration Celebration. Stefano Giovannini Advertisement 7 Marchers with paper-mache sturgeons and other fish. Stefano Giovannini It was inspired chiefly by the Māori ritual of calling eels back from the sea to the freshwater in their community, Brown explained. The eel was prominently celebrated at the party, with one of the ships decorated to look like the slippery sea critter. Four other ships were made to look like New York's other iconic fish: the striped bass, the shad, the river herring and the Atlantic sturgeon — which was the 'crown jewel' of the event. 'People love them because they were around from the time of the dinosaurs. They're very prehistoric-looking — they have these plates on their skin and they're they grow to be really large,' said Brown, adding that the largest one ever found in the Hudson was 14 feet long. Advertisement 7 Tracey Brown, president of Riverkeeper, and Alexander Sterling, founder and CEO of A Turtle Island Community, at the celebration. Stefano Giovannini 7 Another boat in the migration floatilla at Pier 64. Stefano Giovannini 7 Fish-themed dancers in the parade. Stefano Giovannini 'And they live really long, they live to be like 60 years old — so they're these huge old wise fish of the river. Sadly, they are endangered now.' Riverkeeper is locked in a legal battle against New York, New Jersey and Delaware to take appropriate actions to protect surgeon, which suffer from overfishing and pollution. Organizers said the Fish Migration Celebration was put on in part to raise awareness of the fish's plight, while also celebrating the magnificent feat of nature that occurs beneath the Big Apple's nose from spring to late summer every year.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
New Water Quality Regulations in New York Won't Necessarily Make Water Any Cleaner
Just a handful of relatively short miles upriver from New York City's outer-borough surf breaks, a tiny little sliver of river is the involuntary recipient of about two billion gallons of untreated sewage and polluted storm water per anum. Yes, it should come as no surprise to anyone that when it precipitates on New York City, the Harlem River gets dumped on in every sense of that phrasal verb. And, what with that river being so naturally close to the color of our refuse, who is at all the wiser? Apart from those with an acute sense of smell, probably not many of us, save for when we find out the hard way by entering it and emerging with staph infections, E. coli, and, well, you name it. Still, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has drafted a proposal to update and upgrade water quality ratings throughout the state. A number of bodies of water within New York City are receiving newer, more dignified distinctions, some of which—like the one suggested for the Harlem River—deem that with the exception of 'wet weather' events due to combined sewer (storm runoff and raw sewage), once unfathomably foul waterways are now suitable for recreational fishing and even bathing. The newly introduced measure comes under a sweeping measure to improve water quality in and around New York City and is a celebration of how far our waterways have come, particularly since the Clean Water Act of 1970. But as is often the case in bureaucracies, 'The devil is in the details,' as Dan Shapley, Senior Director of Advocacy, Policy, and Planning at Riverkeeper, a veteran (and storied) nonprofit environmental-watchdog organization founded shortly after the Clean Water Act with the Hudson River's interests in mind. 'And unfortunately,' Shapley explains, 'the details here would allow for all of the currently programmed pollution for the Harlem River to continue indefinitely. Further, and where surfing and surf-bathing interests are concerned, he says '...that will set the benchmark for what we will see elsewhere in the city as other waterways come up next for their spotlight. And so that means Coney Island Creek and the East River and Bronx River, several tributaries of Jamaica Bay'—just around the corner from our usually small and gutless but nevertheless beloved surf zone—'and other places that are likely to have a similar prescription.' 'Riverkeeper is calling on NYC and NYS to take real, lasting action to fix this,' the organization wrote in an Instagram post. 'The Harlem River deserves better. So do the people who live, work, and play along it,' it continued. And play we do, even on surfing sticks along beaches here in the Big Apple, however septic and fetid it may be on any given day. Granted, it could stand to get a little less septic and fetid. Downriver in the Rockaways, where it could well be firing during, say, a tropical storm or hurricane, which, yes, is about the only source for summer swell in the Northeast and tends to bring rain—lots and lots of it, as a matter of how are surfers and surf-bathers to take caution? One could suppose that, like our cousins in Southern California, we might be best behoven by staying out of the water when it rains. But would be no testament to our eastern seaboard grit, would it? Not in the least. Regardless of new labeling, New York's water quality standards are sure to stay the same for the time being, which, with more than 21 billion gallons of raw sewage and polluted runoff flowing annually, cannot and should not stand. Riverkeeper has drafted a letter on behalf of one and all entitled 'Don't give up on the Harlem River,' which you can edit and sign here. After all, today's Harem River, Coney Island Creek, and Jamaica Bay are tomorrow's Rockaway jetties.A virtual hearing will be held on Monday, June 16 at 2:00 p.m. (EST), and an in-person hearing will take place on June 18, 2025 2:00 p.m. at the below address: NYS DEC – Region 2 Office8th Floor Conference Room 83447-40 21st StreetLong Island City, NY 11101More details on the DEC DEC events calendar.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘A pandemic-level shock to the system': RFK Jr's old environmental group weighs EPA cuts
Donald Trump's push to repurpose the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amid funding cuts and staffing losses poses a huge threat to water safety and environmental advances in one of the big environmental success stories in the US in recent decades: the clean-up of the Hudson River. Once a byword for environmental degradation, the Hudson River is now recovering, in part due to the work of Riverkeeper, a non-profit environmental organization that established a model of legal activism for water protection and inspired more than 300 programs globally. It is also where Robert F Kennedy Jr cut his teeth as an environmental lawyer, before becoming a senior member of Trump's rightwing cabinet. The political threat to America's environment generally and more specifically the work of Riverkeeper has shocked the organization's president, Tracy Brown, who spoke to the Guardian from its headquarters in the Hudson River commuter town of Ossining. She was mulling the impact of EPA administrator Lee Zeldin's latest salvo: the termination of $14bn in Biden-initiated grants to three climate groups, now blocked by a federal judge, alongside plans to eliminate 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists, and other scientists from the EPA's office of research and development. 'No one at the EPA was prepared to be so attacked and cannibalized by their own leadership and they don't have a playbook on how to cope. It's hard to get one's head around what we're losing here in terms of resources, momentum, knowledge and trust. It's a pandemic-level shock to the system, and the effects could last for decades,' Brown said. The game of cat-and-mouse between the administration and the courts will take time to play out, but the implication is clear: reliance on federal government environmental research is in jeopardy and with it the efficacy of groups such as Riverkeeper that rely on EPA data to direct their efforts, including climate change and industrial contamination assessments. 'We're in a moment where the environment is changing. We're seeing climate changing the conditions we're living in and need to be leaning into science to find out what is changing and how we do better to be prepared for the changes,' Brown said, palpably frustrated. 'But right at that moment we're trying to understand what's changing, we're losing research.' For Riverkeeper and other groups, this means building up scientific knowledge to move from Hudson River restoration work toward adaptation work, including the measures to mitigate the impact of flooding from the increased frequency of heavy rain events that cause the loss of habitat and property. One of those areas is the removal of industrial-era dams from tributary rivers and streams to allow fish to reach spawning grounds they have been cut off from and slow flooding. But removing old paper and textile industry dams also risks releasing PFA pollution in sediment behind the dams. Dam removal has already proved to be a contentious issue when Trump blamed the removal of dams in northern California on water shortages to fight the Los Angeles wildfires in January. Brown fears that federal funding for dam removal along the 315-mile (500km) Hudson is now under question, along with that the hopes of stalling or reversing the loss of freshwater fish stocks. 'The whole program of doing infrastructure-level adaptation projects is in jeopardy,' Brown said. 'Those dams weren't designed for heavy storm events and the kind of pounding they're taking now, so there is urgency or we could see unplanned dam failures.' While the proposed rollbacks have hit groups like Riverkeeper, there have been attendant fears of retribution over speaking out among environmentalists. 'You're starting to hear a general sense of fear and paranoia among people doing this work,' Brown said. In May, Riverkeeper has its big annual river cleanup. 'I'm hoping that even if federal support goes down, local community, putting-our-shoulder-to-it support will rise up. People, I think, realize that we're more on our own and we can't leave it to government to do the basics,' Brown said. 'There's been historically an over-reliance on the hand of God perception, people thinking, 'Oh well, people are swimming, the beaches must be clean.' The perception of how much the government was doing was already a little overblown in people's minds and this is a wake-up call.' Her organization, she said, will have to spend more time on research, publishing data and doing watchdog work. Becoming more aware and active in local environmental responsibilities could at least reduce the sense of powerlessness inherent in divisive national politics and the government's ability to come to grips with the climate crisis when it is locked in what Brown called a 'zero-sum death battle every four years'. 'Broadly the upside to the climate disaster is that we all come back into right relationship with Earth. We think we have dominion over all things, and clearly we don't, and that delusion is one of the reasons for the trouble we're in,' Brown said. 'When we have disasters brought about by poor governance it brings us back to a hyper-local place.' If any environmental organization has shown the promise of self-organization, it would be Riverkeeper, an organization founded by commercial fishers and with a significant conservative gun-and-rod membership. Nearly 60 years after its founding, the Hudson River is one of the healthiest estuaries on the Atlantic coast. Zeldin, the EPA's administrator, called the extraordinary series of rollbacks the 'greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen'. But the characterization of Republicans as all anti-environment is also wrong, Brown said. 'It's corporate manipulation – a false choice between jobs and clean environment, and it's tearing us apart.' But the actions of the Trump administration are confounding. 'I was holding out hope for Zeldin, who lives on an island, to acknowledge in his confirmation hearings that climate change is real and state his care for water,' Brown said. But now those hopes have dimmed.
