| City of Water | |
|---|---|
 Poster for film | |
| Distributed by | Municipal Art Society |
Release date |
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Running time | 33 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
City of Water is a documentary about the future of the New York City waterfront by the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and the Municipal Art Society.
The film was two years in the making. [1] and explores the aspirations of public officials, environmentalists, community activists, and working water-front advocates for a diverse, vibrant waterfront at a time when the shoreline is changing faster than ever before. The documentary contains interviews with the following people: NYC Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff, "green" economic consultant Majora Carter, author Phillip Lopate, US Representative Nydia Velázquez, CUNY Professor William Kornblum, Director of the Mayor's Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability Rohit Aggarwala, environmentalist Cathy Drew, historian Richard Melnick, founder of the Long Island City Community Boathouse Erik Baard, and others. Velazquez and Carter "present compelling cases for getting communities involved in reclaiming the waterfront, so that luxury condos — or sheer neglect in the case of the Bronx — do not limit their access" while Baard "points out the folly of placing guard rails all along the water’s edge, thus limiting open water access to boaters" [2]
Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance President Roland Lewis has described how the documentary "encapsulates the fulcrum issues that face the waterfront right now. Our generation has been presented with a unique opportunity to change the waterfront. The decisions that are facing us right now will affect our grandchildren." [3]
The film premiered on the Brooklyn waterfront on June 21, 2007 [4] and has since been screened at the National Arts Club, Socrates Sculpture Park, Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park and Water Taxi Beach in Queens, where it "played to an enthralled crowd of residents interested in the river." [3] The film was also screened at the Center for Architecture, New York County Lawyers' Association and other venues in 2007, and at the Downtown Alliance and Gotham Center in 2008. The film was broadcast on Channel Thirteen WNET in April and will be screened at the Brooklyn Arts Council International Film Festival in May.
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, with the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, from Manhattan Island, and from the Bronx on the North American mainland.
Brooklyn is a borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelve original counties established under British rule in 1683 in the newly formed Province of New York upon seizing the colony of New Netherland from the Dutch. As of the 2020 United States census, the population stood at 2,736,074, making it the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City, the most populous county in the State of New York, and the ninth most populous county in the United States. In 2022, the population density of Brooklyn was recorded at 37,339.9 inhabitants per square mile (14,417.0/km2), making it the second most densely populated county nationwide, behind only Manhattan. Had Brooklyn remained an independent city, it would today be the fourth most populous American city after New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood on the western tip of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to the south.
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New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is a public-benefit corporation that serves as the official economic development organization for New York City. NYCEDC gives its mission as strengthening business confidence in New York City, diversifying the city's economic sectors, and delivering sustainable infrastructure.
The geography of New York City is characterized by its coastal position at the meeting of the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean in a naturally sheltered harbor. The city's geography, with its scarce availability of land, is a contributing factor in making New York the most densely populated major city in the United States. Environmental issues are chiefly concerned with managing this density, which also explains why New York is among the most energy-efficient and least automobile-dependent cities in the United States. The city's climate is temperate.
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a 25-mile (40 km) radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.
The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that compose New York City. The boroughs are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New York: The Bronx is Bronx County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.
The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway is a waterfront greenway for walking or cycling, 32 miles (51 km) long, around the island of Manhattan, in New York City. The largest portions are operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is separated from motor traffic, and many sections also separate pedestrians from cyclists. There are three principal parts — the East, Harlem and Hudson River Greenways.
Ridgewood Reservoir is a decommissioned 19th century reservoir and freshwater wetland on the border between the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, within what is now Highland Park. Although the reservoir was originally built to secure a reliable water supply for the City of Brooklyn, it is positioned on the Queens side of the border in the neighborhood of Glendale. The reservoir and park are bounded on the north by the Jackie Robinson Parkway, on the south by Highland Boulevard, on the west by Vermont Place and on the east by Cypress Hills National Cemetery.
The Waterfront Alliance or Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance (MWA) is a nonprofit organization that works to influence the development and use of the waterfront, shoreline, and connected upland areas of the Port of New York and New Jersey and the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary. It was created as a project by the Municipal Art Society in 1999 and in 2007 it became an independent nonprofit organization.
The East 34th Street Ferry Landing provides slips to ferries and excursion boats in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located on the East River in New York City east of the FDR Drive just north of East 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The facility, owned by the city, received Federal Highway Administration funding for improvements for docking facilities and upgrading the adjacent East River Greenway in 2008. A new terminal was built and completed in 2012.
Pier 11/Wall Street is a pier providing slips to ferries and excursion boats on the East River in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located east of South Street and FDR Drive just south of Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The ferry terminal has five landings, each with two berths, and is used by four privately owned companies.
The Water Club was a restaurant and event venue on two barges moored on the East River at East 30th Street in Kips Bay, in Manhattan, New York City. Located on the stretch of waterfront between the East 34th Street Heliport and Waterside Plaza, the venue served classic American cuisine and seafood; it overlooked Long Island City, Queens and Greenpoint, Brooklyn across the river. In the mid-1980s, The Water Club was the tenth largest grossing restaurant in the United States.
The North Brooklyn Community Boathouse (NBCB)] is a Brooklyn-based, volunteer run, 501(c)(3) nonprofit community organization. It is dedicated to enabling safe, responsible, human-powered boating, and educating residents to be stewards of the history, ecology and sustainability of the waterways of Newtown Creek and the adjacent East River.
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Studio V Architecture, styled as STUDIO V Architecture, founded in 2006, is a New York City-based architecture and planning firm led by Jay Valgora. The firm executes projects across New York and throughout the tri-state region. Studio V has been highlighted for its adaptive reuse design of important New York City sites, including the $400 million renovation of Macy's Herald Square, named by Architectural Record the largest retail project in North America in 2012 and 2013, and the Empire Stores on the Brooklyn waterfront.
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