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Last week Great Ecology staff boarded a yacht to attend the 2017 Waterfront Conference along New York City’s Hudson Riverfront. The annual event is hosted by the NYC-based non-profit Waterfront Alliance and features a variety of talks and panel discussions. This year’s topics ranged from how current national politics may impact our local waterways and waterfronts, measuring the success of mega projects aimed at restoring New York City’s degraded waterways and strengthening its coastlines, and even looking at whether investments in offshore wind energy benefit the health of the environment and harbor.

The day’s highlight was a speech by New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio, in which he regarded New York City’s 520 miles of coastline–longer than the coastlines of Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco combined–as one of the City’s most valuable assets. He acknowledged years of neglect and poor urban development policy that have led to large portions of the waterfront being inaccessible and cut off from the public. For decades, mayoral administrations have dreamed about a continuous and unbroken public greenbelt around the perimeter of Manhattan. In an effort to make this dream a reality, de Blasio reiterated his recent April 26 announcement that the City has pledged $100 million to revitalize a major stretch of Manhattan’s waterfront along the East River between 41stand 61st Streets.

To measure the quality of waterfront development, including future efforts stemming from the Mayor’s pledge, Waterfront Alliance developed Waterfront Edge Development Guidelines (WEDG), a tool to assess exemplary waterfront planning and design in the New York metropolitan area. WEDG, now in its second year, is doing for the waterfront what LEED has done for buildings; the program formalizes a set of best practices and a voluntary ratings system for waterfront projects that results in more access, better ecology, and increased resiliency amidst the growing threats posed by climate change.

Great Ecology has been providing guidance throughout the advancement of this cutting-edge tool by serving on the WEDG advisory committee. We look forward to watching the WEDG program grow as we all strive for a more resilient New York waterfront that provides valuable ecological habitat and access for all.