With its 578 miles of waterfront, New York City has about 17% of the state's total coastline, and 38% of the total coastal population. The Division of Coastal Resources has a long partnership with the City, the five Boroughs, and a variety of community based organizations, working together to increase public access to the waterfront, revitalize neighborhoods and improve the environment. These partnerships have resulted in many success stories.

The Division of Coastal Resources is involved with city agencies and boroughs on more than 40 active projects totaling over $7 million through the Environmental Protection Fund and Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act. These involve planning, design and construction projects, including waterfront redevelopment, access enhancements, public outreach and education and habitat restoration.

Highlights include: the Fresh Kills: Lifescape redevelopment project; shoreline and habitat restoration at Randall's and Wards Island; new, innovative shoreline infrastructure designed for Harlem River Park as part of the multi-partner Designing the Edge project; conceptual planning for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway; pier development on the West Harlem waterfront; the Sunset Park waterfront park design; and a series of habitat restoration projects throughout the City.

Other partners are advancing the Waterfront Revitalization Program policies by increasing public access and water-dependent recreation at locations citywide, including: Hudson River Park along Manhattan's Hudson River waterfront; Stuyvesant Cove and Queens West on the East River; and the parks and recreational resources at Battery Park City.

NYC Local Waterfront Revitalization Program
New York City has long been a partner with the Division of Coastal Resources as part of the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. The original New York City Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) was approved in September, 1982. In the early 90's, the City recognized that the LWRP needed to be updated to reflect changing conditions along the city’s shoreline.

To update its waterfront vision, the city completed a Comprehensive Waterfront Plan (1992) and the companion Borough Waterfront Plans (1993-1994). These plans identified four types of waterfront activity areas - natural, public, working, and redeveloping and promoted natural resources protection, public access and landmark preservation, water-dependent and other working waterfront uses, and development in appropriate waterfront areas. They expressed the city’s long-range vision for the waterfront and proposed strategies to guide land use change, planning and coordination, and public investments for each of the waterfront functional areas.

The waterfront vision expressed by the comprehensive plan has been incorporated into city policy through new waterfront zoning text adopted in 1993 and in revisions to the LWRP.

The New Waterfront Revitalization Program
Approved in 2002, The New Waterfront Revitalization Program (WRP) is the city's principal coastal zone management tool. As originally adopted in 1982 and revised in 1999, it establishes the city's policies for development and use of the waterfront and provides the framework for evaluating the consistency of all discretionary actions in the coastal zone with those policies. It defines a pattern of land and water use that protects the city’s sensitive environmental areas, while encouraging development and economic activity in suitable locations.

Special areas were identified based on the detailed evaluation of the city’s coastal area conducted as part of the Comprehensive Waterfront Plan to ensure a balanced and wise use of the city's finite resources and more efficient use of limited local, state, and federal dollars. The intensity of development in New York City and the limited sites that are available for port and maritime support uses and natural resource protection makes identification of special areas to foster growth of economic activities at appropriate locations, while protecting and restoring sensitive areas a critical issue. The New WRP identifies Significant Maritime and Industrial Areas and Sensitive Waterfront Natural Areas as locations where this can be achieved.

The Significant Maritime and Industrial Areas (SMIA) are particularly well-suited for maritime and industrial development. The SMIAs include: South Bronx, Newtown Creek, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Red Hook, Sunset Park, and the north shore of Staten Island. Waterfront activity which furthers the industrial or maritime character of these areas would be consistent with coastal policies for these properties. The SMIAs were determined by identifying concentrations of existing water-dependent uses and areas where the physical capacity of the lands, water, and infrastructure, and zoning accommodated these uses.

The Special Waterfront Natural Areas (SWNA) areas have particular natural features that should be considered in connection with any waterfront activity. Within these areas, the assemblage of various significant natural resources, such as wetlands and forested areas, indicates that resource protection is the priority. The SWNAs are: East River-Long Island Sound, Jamaica Bay, and Northwest Staten Island-Harbor Herons. In the natural coast areas, resource protection policies are of heightened importance. The zoning resolution defines acceptable uses in these areas, which are focused on parkland, trails, natural and open spaces, and lower intensity uses. Management plans prepared for these areas will highlight resource restoration and enhancement opportunities, including consideration of erosion management, as appropriate.

Activities proposed in the SMIAs and SWNAs which do not directly foster the goals for these areas may be allowed, but would be analyzed to ensure that the special characteristics of these areas are not substantially impeded or destroyed.

The New WRP, based on the Comprehensive Waterfront Plan and the City Zoning Resolution, provides guidance for achieving other important coastal management goals, such as public access and redevelopment of abandoned waterfronts.

Under the WRP, local discretionary actions, including those subject to the city’s land use review (ULURP), environmental (CEQR) and variance procedures, and other 197-a plans, are reviewed for consistency with the WRP policies. Review of local actions is coordinated with existing regulatory processes and in most instances occurs concurrently. For local actions requiring approval by the City Planning Commission, the Commission acting as the City Coastal Commission makes the consistency determination. For federal and state agencies within the city’s coastal zone, such as dredging permits, the Department of City Planning, acting on behalf of the City Coastal Commission, forwards its comments to the state agency making the consistency determination.