New York Harbor: a no-go zone or an aquatic world?
| GOVERNORS ISLAND, N.Y.
It was a short ferry ride from downtown Manhattan to Governors Island, but the noise and hubbub of the Big Apple faded to the background on the trip. The skyline remained looming, but the water lapping at the island鈥檚 shores served as a reminder that the concrete jungle is not so far from nature as some might think. It鈥檚 an ideal site for the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, a public high school that connects its curriculum to the waters surrounding its campus. That ferry serves as an unconventional school bus.
I took a ride out to Governors Island on a breezy spring day to visit the school鈥檚 oyster hatchery. There, teachers and students lead the Billion Oyster Project, an effort to reestablish oyster reefs in New York Harbor. But I quickly learned that the project was also reconnecting New Yorkers to the natural ecosystem that surrounds them. These city kids had discovered an aquatic world a stone鈥檚 throw away from their homes that they鈥檇 previously seen as a no-go zone.
You can read my full story聽. It鈥檚 our second installment of 鈥�,鈥� a coordinated effort among Sparknews and 18 of the world鈥檚 leading news media to highlight local initiatives addressing global issues of waste and pollution to commemorate Earth Day.
This column first appeared in the April 18, 2019, issue of the Monitor鈥檚 Science & Nature Newsletter. Click to subscribe to any of the Monitor鈥檚 free newsletters.
Why We Wrote This
Manhattan is often thought of as a concrete jungle devoid of nature. But a high school on Governors Island is offering New Yorkers a new perspective on their harbor.
