Official website: http://waterfrontalliance.org/
Mission
The Waterfront Alliance
works to protect, transform,
and revitalize our harbor
and waterfront.
Start
The Waterfront Alliance began as a project of The Municipal Art Society of New York. It became an independent organization in 2007 when a group of leading activists, businesses, foundations, and civic organizations came together with the goal of making the New York and New Jersey harbor a shared, resilient, and accessible resource for all.Since then, the Waterfront Alliance has grown into a coalition of more than 900 organizations working together to bring about real change to their region’s waterways and 700 miles of shoreline.
Vision
They believe the harbor and waterways of New York and New Jersey should reflect the vitality and diversity of the great metropolis that surround them. They envision a harbor and waterways alive with commerce and recreation: where sailboats, kayaks, and pleasure craft share the waterways with commuter ferries, barges, and container ships; where parks and neighborhoods are connected by affordable waterborne transit; where exciting waterfront destinations reflect the vitality and diversity of a great metropolis; where the waterfront is no longer walled off by highways and rails or by private luxury residences, but is a shared resource for all; and where the coastal city—a city of islands—intelligently and resolutely prepares for the reality of sea level rise.
What They Do
Whether we live, work, or play where the water meets the land, we have the shared responsibility to ensure the waterfront is accessible for boating and recreation, ecologically healthy, resilient to climate change, and a source of good-paying jobs. Through our annualWaterfront Conference, City of Water Day, and Harbor Camp, they bring together and open the eyes of today’s and tomorrow’s generations of waterfront stewards.They are at the forefront of building consensus and influencing waterfront policy and planning through providing public testimony and producing white papers. Their programs include serving as an early advocate for five-borough ferry service, building neighborhood docks for educational and recreational use, and helping communities create better waterfront design using the Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines.