Waterfront Public Access

To guide decision-making as the City plans for the expansion of waterfront public access and open space over the next 10 years, this plan outlines three key considerations: (1) Ensuring that future investments and strategies to expand waterfront access continue to address inequities in community access and inclusive design; (2) Acknowledging the effects of climate change and the vital role NYC’s waterfront parklands play in adapting to new realities; and (3) Advancing recreational water access opportunities to redefine “waterfront access.”

 

 Interested in Waterfront Public Access?

Read the Waterfront Public Access Study to learn how access varies across the city and what can be done to improve connections.

 

Over the last few decades, NYC has demonstrated its ability to take innovative approaches to building world-class waterfront parks that bring millions of residents and visitors to NYC’s shoreline. Brooklyn Bridge Park and Hudson River Park have grown and thrived over the last decade and are now seen by the public as grand “porches” from which to experience the East and Hudson rivers, respectively. Groupings of parks and open space along the Brooklyn and Queens East River waterfronts — anchored by increasingly popular destinations such as Domino Park, Bushwick Inlet Park, Hunter’s Point South Park and Gantry State Park — are now used as everyday destinations for New Yorkers and tourists who want to play or picnic by the water. Some of the most important neighborhood waterfront parks (like Barretto Point Park in the Bronx and Valentino Pier Park in Brooklyn) connect area residents to their waterfronts. Many are the result of community-led initiatives to reestablish neighborhood waterfront connections that were severed long ago.

 

Expand public access to the waterfront with an emphasis on equity by bridging access gaps in historically underserved areas and supporting growing waterfront communities

+ How can we do it?

  • Advance a citywide waterfront public access framework that addresses systemic access gaps and prioritizes investments in communities underserved by safe waterfront access.
    • Utilize available data and community perspectives to identify waterfront neighborhoods with long-standing, unmet access needs as well as rapidly growing communities lacking open space and waterfront access.
    • Where neighborhood rezoning and other City planning efforts encompass waterfronts, coordinate capital investments and zoning strategies to encourage publicly accessible open spaces that reflect the neighborhood and waterway's context.
    • Incorporate best practices, such as those described in NYCHA's Connected Communities Guidebook that strengthen passive and active open space connections to surrounding communities and utilize physical design solutions (such as recent access improvements across the Sheridan Expressway) to address historic physical impediments to waterfront open space access and connectivity.
  • Identify City-owned waterfront sites and facilities that can support additional public access through investment and coordination among City agencies.
    • Capitalize on opportunities on City-owned waterfront sites, facilities and rights-of-way to provide linear or point waterfront public access on-site where compatible with co-located uses and other water-dependent priorities, particularly where communities have limited alternatives to waterfront public access.
    • Identify priority locations to promote use of underused waterfront street ends for a mix of publicly serving uses where feasible, including access improvements among adjacent public spaces, street end pocket parks, stormwater infrastructure and point access to the water where suitable.
    • Incorporate public access feasibility planning into existing waterfront facility-siting decision processes and interagency coordination.
    • Ensure that consideration of siting accounts for operations and maintenance strategies and expenses, including waterfront infrastructure inspections, necessary repair funding, and ongoing topside cleaning and upkeep.
  • Identify opportunities for expanding applicability of waterfront public access requirements in zoning as waterfront uses continue to evolve, and update requirements and design standards where compatible and appropriate.
    • Consider expanding waterfront public access requirements to a broader set of compatible uses and site conditions, such as self-storage or other light industrial uses, and in WAPs as appropriate to anticipated future land uses.
    • Where industrial uses do not trigger waterfront public access requirements, consider limiting construction for non-water dependent uses within the area adjacent to the shoreline, to ensure that near-term improvements do not foreclose future opportunities for public access and support long-term flood resiliency planning.
    • Develop design guidance for expanding physical or visual access and connection across waterfront industrial sites and between the working waterfront and adjacent neighborhoods in a manner that reflects the varied design and operational characteristics of waterfront industrial sites.
  • Connect and unify public spaces along the water's edge and strengthen connections with upland communities.
    • Plan holistically for waterfront connectivity and promote safer connection to the water for a broader range of users by addressing community access paths extending beyond the first upland street.
    • Use landscaping and planting to signify routes that lead down to the water.
    • Consider updates to public waterfront wayfinding and signage to improve interconnectivity between waterfront parks and other public activity centers, and to incorporate information on ecology and resiliency.
    • Locate transit and other sustainable mobility infrastructure (including bike racks, bike share docking stations, ferry landings and bus stops) around waterfront park and open space entrances to maximize ease of access.
  • Complete planned waterfront greenway improvements that link unique opportunities with community needs along individual stretches of waterfront.
    • Implement the “Closing the Loop” waterfront greenway plan to complete greenway segments along East Midtown, East Harlem and Inwood, and to upgrade other gaps and pinch points.
    • Develop community-supported greenway improvement plans for needed signage upgrades, safety enhancements and street-grid connectivity improvements down to existing greenways.
    • Invest in improved pedestrian and bicyclist mobility along bridges, particularly across the Harlem and East Rivers, to support safer connections between borough greenways.

Promote opportunities to get onto and into the water

+ How can we do it?

  • Expand physical in-water access across NYC's waterfront parks and open spaces to promote recreational boating and opportunities to touch the water where appropriate and feasible.
    • Continue to expand and improve the NYC Water Trail for human-powered boating, with emphasis on areas lacking formal or secure in-water access points or launches.
    • Incorporate safe exits, emergency landings and other infrastructure intended to support human-powered watercraft, improve egress from the water, and meet the growing public interest in use of the water when planning for in-water access.
    • Provide space, awareness of grant opportunities, and expanded partnerships that link educational and ecological initiatives with community boathouses and marinas.
  • Expand swimming opportunities where appropriate safety, ambient water quality, and routine monitoring and reporting can be demonstrated.
    • Examine the feasibility of a range of practicable alternatives or options for water recreation that incorporate land use and transportation issues, open space and marine resources, coastal erosion and floodplain conditions, water body classifications, and critical water quality determinants such as waste treatment discharge points and major outfalls.
    • Continue to develop innovative approaches to pilot safe swimming solutions that complement traditional beaches, including floating pools and engineered coves, where appropriate safety and water-quality monitoring can be demonstrated.
    • Study existing global precedents and innovative solutions for seasonal in-water pools or other swimming facilities that can safely and sustainably expand swimming opportunities in revitalized urban waterways.
    • Coordinate public safety with the City's on-water emergency response teams, including the New York Police Department's (NYPD) Harbor Patrol and the Fire Department of the City of New York's (FDNY) Marine Unit, in addition to ensuring that adequate lifeguard services are provided on site.
    • Target initiatives to areas lacking direct in-water or pool access and those facing greater heat vulnerability while ensuring that locations meet tidal, water quality and vessel traffic limitations or standards.
    • Study more frequent “special event” swimming days in waterways where designated uses and physical conditions support safe swimming and where lifeguards and demarcated swimming areas can be provided.
    • Expand outreach and logistical accommodations to broaden community participation and geographic distribution of organized swimming events.
  • Develop in-water safety and swimming education programs to equip get more New Yorkers into the water.
    • Provide free learn-to-swim and water safety instruction to schools and educational groups to promote swimming and to build youth connections to the water by expanding Making Waves and other swimming education programs, particularly in communities with disproportionately high incidences of drowning.
    • Target water safety education through direct delivery to students and by incorporating safety swimming curriculum into ecological and boating enrichment programs.
    • Expand and focus lifeguard recruitment and training to underrepresented and underserved communities.
    • Identify strategic partnerships with State and federal partners managing in-water access and programs across parks and other public lands to expand outreach, engagement and best practices.
    • Work with the State to expand collaboration with DOHMH in licensing and permitting for summer camp swimming and Aquatic Instructor and Director programs.
 
 

Shape design and programming of public waterfront open spaces to reflect public use needs

+ How can we do it?

  • Promote flexible and inclusive processes for designing waterfront open spaces to address community needs across different shoreline and water quality conditions.
    • Encourage community engagement that incorporates a diversity of voices and community open space needs in the design and activation of public spaces undertaken by the City as well as other waterfront property owners.
    • Continue incorporating universal design principles into design practice and guidance and improve interagency coordination to ensure greater accessibility for all waterfront open space users.
    • Within WPAAs, build on design principles that encourage varied treatments, activities and uses reflective of local conditions at the waterfront's edge.
  • Ensure that waterfront parks and other public open spaces are designed and operated in a manner that addresses climate resiliency challenges.
    • Use and promote new flexibility provided under recent waterfront zoning amendments to ensure that public waterfront open spaces remain accessible and in good repair as sea level rise increases tidal flood risks.
    • Using best practice guidance (such as NYC Parks' Design and Planning for Flood Resiliency, MOCR's Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines and the New York City Waterfront Revitalization Program's (WRP) Climate Change Adaptation Guidance), encourage waterfront property owners to design public open spaces along the waterfront to withstand both storm events and increasing high tide elevations caused by sea level rise.
    • Develop design guidelines for street ends that support coordination with adjacent waterfront property improvements to address flooding from rising sea levels and tidal inundation while maintaining accessibility.
  • Expand access to key public facilities and user infrastructure within waterfront open spaces.
    • Identify strategies on-site and off-site that facilitate ready access to important public amenities (such as restrooms, drinking fountains, and boat storage or rental) to make open spaces more accommodating and practical for a wider range of users.
    • Study community partnerships and pilot opportunities for deploying “off the grid” solutions, such as composting toilets, to resolve common utility issues.

Promote good stewardship of public spaces on the waterfront

+ How can we do it?

  • Encourage formation of community-based organizations, particularly in underserved areas, that help to plan, activate and sustain inclusive community connections to waterfront open spaces.
    • Engage with community-based organizations and other stakeholders to design and activate waterfront open spaces on City-controlled sites.
    • Identify organizational and administrative support that the City can provide to create and provide resources for community groups that can serve as partners, advocates and local ambassadors for waterfront open space.
    • Encourage collaboration between community-based organizations and waterfront property owners that maintain open space to improve the programming, accessibility and maintenance of public spaces.
    • Explore workforce development and training opportunities linked to waterfront open spaces that can connect people to jobs in ecology, resilience and in-water safety.
  • Improve publicly available resources and information that connect communities with their waterfronts.
    • Continue to update and expand NYCDCP's Waterfront Access Map as an interactive, digital public portal with information and resources about waterfront parks and open spaces.
 

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