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  October 5, 2003
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Revitalizing New York City’s Waterfront
By Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

New York City has nearly 580 miles of riverfront and coastline; they constitute one of our most precious, and, for too long, one of our most neglected treasures. Once, our waterfront made New York one of the world’s great seaports; as that role faded, much of the waterfront was abandoned. Cut off from the rest of the city, it fell into disrepair.

Now that’s changing. Our Administration, working with New Yorkers in all five boroughs, is bringing the waterfront back, and giving it new life as a place for public recreation and enjoyment. And we’re starting to see the results.

For example, last Tuesday, we opened an interim “Manhattan Greenway,” a continuous hike and bike “Circle Line” around that borough. It’s a 32-mile pathway that goes through more than 1,500 acres of parkland and along 23 miles of waterfront. Parts of this greenway—like the Harlem Speedway, where horse-drawn carriages once raced along the Harlem River—have been re-opened for the first time in years, and can now be used by cyclists, joggers, in-line skaters and walkers. And in the future, even more of the Greenway will be moved off Manhattan streets and onto newly developed waterfront esplanades.

Two weeks ago, we also opened Ocean Breeze Pier on Staten Island’s Midland Beach. It’s a fisherman’s paradise stretching 835 feet into the Atlantic Ocean, making it one of the largest recreational piers in the New York area. A new waterfront park is also growing in Brooklyn. The day after Ocean Breeze pier opened, Governor Pataki and I dedicated the newest addition to the planned Brooklyn Bridge Park on the East River shoreline. With pedestrian paths, benches, shoreline plantings and a children’s playground designed around a nautical theme, it offers a preview of what the entire 70-acre park will look like. It’s a real waterfront gem; take some time this fall to go out and experience it.

The neighboring community is going to have a big hand in developing Brooklyn Bridge Park. And citizen involvement will also be crucial to the process of creating the largest new park in New York in more than 100 years, at Fresh Kills on Staten Island. Last week, I helped launch the process that over the next two years will solicit comments from Staten Islanders, and all New Yorkers, on developing a master plan for a Fresh Kills park.

There could be opportunities for waterfront recreation, like boating and kayaking, in a future park at Fresh Kills, reclaimed from the closed 2,200-acre landfill at that site. And there will be room for a wide range of other activities as well. In fact, Fresh Kills is so large that the process of developing the park will take decades—but the first portions of it could be open in as little as five years from now. Call the citizen service hotline at 3-1-1 to find out how you can get involved. It’s a chance to be a part in reclaiming our waterfront, and leaving a great, green legacy to our children.

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