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Overview
The
Borough Waterfront Plans, issued in conjunction
with New York City's Comprehensive Waterfront
Plan, present detailed analyses of 22 waterfront
"reaches", or study areas. For planning purposes,
the city's waterfront is divided into 22 reaches,
reach being a nautical term for a continuous expanse
of water. The reach designations are based on
common land use patterns and natural features,
physical boundaries and community district lines.
In most cases, the depth of the study area is
limited to blocks fronting on or near the waterfront.
However, wherever significant land use changes
are considered, the studies examine broad upland
areas to assess the implications of change on
the waterfront. Each study describes the history
of the reach, examines existing conditions, identifies
waterfront planning issues, and recommends actions
for achieving the goals articulated in the waterfront
plan.
The
waterfront plans balance a broad policy perspective
with local conditions and aspirations. Concurrent
analyses of citywide waterfront issues, such as
maritime industry trends, and local waterfront
concerns, such as the suitability of a particular
site for redevelopment, ensure that the plan benefits
from an understanding of broad policy objectives
and local realities. In this respect, the local
waterfront studies both inform and are informed
by the citywide policies articulated in the Comprehensive
Waterfront Plan. They provide the necessary building
blocks for developing a comprehensive understanding
of the city's entire 578-mile waterfront.
The
borough plans, like the Comprehensive Waterfront
Plan itself, are organized around, and seek to
balance, the goals associated with the four principal
functions of the waterfront:
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- Protect
and enhance the Natural Waterfront,
comprising beaches, wetlands, wildlife habitats,
sensitive ecosystems and the water itself.
- Reestablish
the public's connection to the Public
Waterfront, including parks, esplanades,
piers, street ends, vistas and waterways
that offer public open spaces and waterfront
views.
- Facilitate
water-dependent uses and ensure sufficient
manufacturing-zoned land to accommodate
the Working Waterfront, where water-dependent,
maritime and industrial uses cluster or
where various transportation and municipal
facilities are dispersed.
- Promote
new uses on the Redeveloping Waterfront,
where land uses have recently changed or
where vacant and underutilized properties
suggest potential for beneficial change.
FOR
INTRODUCTIONS TO THE PLANS PLEASE CHOOSE A
BOROUGH:
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