"A Liquid Evaluation of the Waterfront"
A project and waterfront tour of and about
The Brooklyn Waterfront
between Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek

the project entry
You can enter through the hole in the fence, ignore the no trespassing signs. A Liquid Evaluation of the Waterfront is intended to incite curiosity, provide a few tools to combat the prevalent notion "there is nothing there" and hopefully encourage each and every individual that enters the space to consider their own "PUBLIC RIGHT" to access their river! Waterfront properties are too often auctioned off to the highest bidder and become nothing more than potential view portals for overpriced real estate owners that never physically interact with the water. The East River is currently cleaner than it has ever been, significant birdlife both indigenous and migratory have returned*1. There are endless miles of empty buildings and piers, the remnants of tidal creeks, estuaries and wetlands provide potential for small harbors and a return to the historic practice of affordable boating on the rivers*2.

the cardboard extruded map
As you step through the hole in the fence, the first element is a small scale cardboard extrusion of the land/water-scape between Gowanus Canal and Newtown creek. The implication being that you are-in-the east river. Run your hands over the piers and docks, probe the inlets. On the surface is bottles holding the maligned but ever present "Tree of Heaven" (Ailanthus). Considered a weed, a closer look however reveals a modern invasive that was once prevalent before the ice age! Highly esteemed in different cultures around the world; principal food plant to the very large and beautiful Cynthia moth larvae and often the sole indicant of the power of nature in the city.

the terrarium
Further into the space on the left is a glass box with a clear plastic helmet inside. Crouch down carefully and view the project from the inside. The sound of water, and Reiko's voice admonishing you quietly that "there is nothing there" despite the fact that your viewing a miniature moss garden, the beginnings of a natural foothold along a constructed shore? Pursuing the notion of "being in the east river" implied by the map......you are physically emerging from the water.

On the outside, your actions have activated a light revealing to your companion or maybe a stranger a text visible in water droplets of the Laws of the State of New York Pertaining to Tidal Wetlands. Laws, like this experience are meaningless without somebody to activate them.

the cart
The final element of the project, is a wooden cart, filled with water, two separate video images are projected on a screen in the middle. Moving ever so slowly, the cart is intended to mimic the transportation nature of the cities relationships to the rivers. Initially a source of transport, then an impediment to transport, now in the age of Airplanes and land hungry container shipping every major port city in the world is faced with what to do with these once grand artificial estates? Principally public property however public access is minimal at best. Most cities seem hamstrung by the economic impetus to restore their grand industrial functionality but it is quite possible that the industrial and municipal practices that have enclosed the water front and soiled the rivers, may give way to a generation of people re-discovering a love for the rivers.

Is the cart coming or going? It's hard to tell, the video images alternate between a video tour of the area between Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek and a textual piece that addresses basic water law and public access rights as delineated by common law.

A Liquid Evaluation of the Waterfront is intended to raise questions, provide an alternative view and hopefully get you talking amongst yourselves about the myriad possibilities this much maligned ("it's industrial....nothings there!") stretch of water front provides. During our boat trip, every imaginable access point was filled with people on a hot summers night. Fisherman, boys swimming, families enjoying the cool air linked arm and arm. We provide a variety of documents for your perusal.

When asked what we do as artists, we always pause and say "We have an active sense of curiosity......Tim's is driven by water, Reiko's is driven by animals and habitat.." We hope our Liquid Evaluation has incited some curiosity in YOU!

Text visible in water droplets on the terrarium.

The Laws of the State of New York

Pertaining to Tidal Wetlands

Laws 1973, ch 790, §1
Section 1. The legislature hereby finds and declares that tidal wetlands constitute one of the most vital and productive areas of our natural world, and that their protection and preservation are essential. Among the many and multiple values of such wetlands are the
following:

(a) Marine food production-tidal wetlands are an essential area of retention, conversion and availability of nutrients for crustaceans and shellfish; they are the nursery ground and sanctuary for many fin fish; they sustain microscopic marine organisms and vegetation which are essential in other food chains; two-thirds of sport fish depend on the marsh-estuarine system of the tidal wetlands at some point in their life cycle;
(b) wildlife habitat-tidal wetlands are necessary as the breeding, nesting and feedingg grounds and as cover to escape predators for many forms of wildlife, waterfowl and shorebirds; flood and storm control-tidal wetlands are valuable and provide essential and irreplaceable protection in both flood and storm or hurricane
(c) flood and storm control-tidal wetlands are valuable and provide essential and irreplaceable protection in both flood and storm or hurricane weather conditions; Their hydrologic water absorption and storage capacity minimizes erosion and floion and flooding damage; their hydraulic and hydrographic functions serve as a natural buffer protecting upland and developed areas from storm tides and waves; recreation-tidal wetlands provide hundred of square miles and millions of days of recreation, hunting, fishing, boating, hiking, bird watching, photography and camping for many thousands of citizens of the state and visitors to the state; the location of many tidal wetlands fronting on the eastward expansion of human population in Long Island makes them the "last frontier" for certain of the state's valuable natural resources, underscoring the necessity for their preservation in parks and reserves.
(e) treating pollution-tidal wetlands serve as an invaluable and irreplaceable biological and chemical oxidation basin in which organic run-off and organic pollution are oxidized, metabolized and converted into useful nutrients; the vast quantities of oxygen necessary for the process must come from the open, living tidal marsh and it's photosynthesis;
(f) sedimentation-tidal wetlands are an essential settling and filtering basin, absorbing silt and organic matter which otherwise would obstruct channels and harbors to the detriment of navigation;
(g) education and research-tidal wetlands afford a wide range of opportunity for scientific research, outdoor biophysical laboratories, and living educational classrooms; their training and education value is enormous, and they offer unbounded opportunity for the imparting of environmental values in our youth;
(h) open space and aesthetic appreciation-tidal wetlands comprise a large part of the remaining natural and unspoiled areas along the crowded coastal reaches of the state; the benefit to the public of these natural open areas in a region of rapid population growth is significant; such wetlands offer unique open space and aesthetic qualities while at the time permitting full play to their other natural values. The legislature further finds that vast acreage in the tidal wetlands in the state of New York has already been irreparably lost or despoiled as a result of unregulated dredging, dumping, filling, excavating, polluting, and like activities; that the remaining tidal wetlands are in imminent jeopardy of being lost or despoiled by these and other activities; that if the current rate of loss continues, most of the state's tidal wetlands will be entirely lost before the end of this century; and that presently many creeks and tidal wetlands are so polluted that shellfish harvesting is banned. Accordingly the legislature finds that it is in the interest of the state, consistent with the reasonable economic and social development thereof, to preserve as much as possible of the remaining wetlands in their present natural state and to abate and remove the sources of their pollution.

Definitions

1. "Tidal Wetlands" shall mean and include the following:
(a) those areas which border on or lie beneath tidal waters, such as but not limited to, banks, bogs, salt marsh, swamps, meadows, flats or other low lands subject to tidal action, including those areas now or formerly connected to tidal waters;
(b) all banks bogs, meadows, flats and tidal marsh subject to such tides, and upon which grow or may grow some or any of the following: salt hay (Spartina patens and distichlis spicata), black grass (Juncus Gerardi), saltworts (Salicornia ssp.), sea lavender (Limonium carolinianum), tall cordgrass (Spartina pectinata and Spartina cynosuroides), hightide bush (Iva frutescens), cattails (Typha angustifolia and Typha latifolia), groundsel (Baccharis halmilifolia), marsh mallow (Hybiscus palustris) and the intertidal zone including low marsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora).
2. "Commissioner" shall mean the commissiooner of environmental conservation.
3. "Pollution" shall mean the presence in the environment of conditions or contaminants in quantities or characteristics which are or may be injurious to human, plant, or marine life, wildlife, or other animal life, or to property, or which unreasonably interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property throughout such tidal wettttlands as may be affected thereby.
4. "Person" shall mean any individual, public or private corporation, political subdivision, government agency, department or bureau of the state, bi-state authority, municipality, industry, co-partnership, association, firm, trust, estate or any other legal entity whatsoever.
5. "Municipality" shall mean a village, town, city or county.

Video Text on the water cart

Water quality in the New York - New Jersey Harbor is BETTER than ever

By the early 1900's nuisance and health conditions related to untreated sewage brought about an increasing demand for effective wastewater management. Treatment plants were constructed in the harbor area through out the century, leading to improvements in environmental conditions.. Nevertheless at the time the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, water quality in the harbor was still poor. There were low levels of dissolved oxygen and high concentrations of coliform, toxic metals, and organics. The regions sewage treatment plants were discharging nearly half a billion gallons per day of raw sewage in the harbor; in addition, half of the sewage treatment plants were discharging effluent with only primary treatment. A high percentage of combined sewers were not operating properly, allowing additional outpourings of raw sewerage to the harbor during dry weather.

In the two decades since the passage of The Clean Water Act, investments on water pollution control programs have resulted in significantly improved water quality in the region. these improvements have occurred despite an ever increasing number of people and activities. obvious sources of pollution are now regulated through permit programs and tidal wetlands are protected. new and expanded treatment plants are providing better treatment; only two sewage treatment plants still operate below secondary treatment levels (along the East River). More recently, agencies have begun to focus on the ecosystem as a whole and on previously inadequately controlled sources.

Landowners bordering a waterway are considered Riparian, their location gives them certain rights to access and enjoy the water under law.

80% of Brooklyn is publicly owned

There is a lack of public access.

There are two issues associated with restricted public access: physical blockage of the shoreline and private ownership of the shoreline. The need for public access to the shoreline was rarely a consideration in the early development of New York City; consequently, the harbor shoreline is dominated by industrial and commercial uses. In the less developed regions of the harbor, public access is restricted by private ownership of the shoreline. Nevertheless, according to public trust doctrine, the STATES HOLD ALL UNDERWATER LANDS UP TO THE TIDELINE FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL CITIZENS. In the urban harbor area water access is frequently constrained by the placement of fill and privately owned shoreline structures, such a bulkheads, piers, pile supported platforms, even railroad tracks and highways.

A population expanded and maritime uses declined, the waterfront was viewed as the greatest open space opportunity in the region. Initial efforts to provide public parks or open space offer visual amenities, but few provide boat launches, fishing piers, or other facilities which enable direct contact with the water.
Video Text on the water cart continued

Water Law and You

It is unusual for an area of law to be defined by a particular resource. But water is unique in the diversity and importance of needs it fills. It quenches our thirst, gives life to essential food crops, furnishes habitat to fish resources, satisfies recreational and aesthetic needs, and purifies the air. Water is necessary to survive. It is one of the most plentiful substances, yet it is often considered precious because there is not always enough water of the right quality in the right place at the right time.

The study of water law is, at one level, the study of property concepts. the fact that WATER IS A MOVING RESOURCE necessarily limits the appropriateness of traditional concepts of ownership. Although water laws differ widely, notions of substantial public rights in the resource cut across allocation regimes. One result is that lawmakers have superimposed administrative systems to enforce and regulate private water rights based on perceptions of broader public interest.

Public Rights to the Waterfront

WATER IS LEGALLY AND HISTORICALLY A PUBLIC RESOURCE. Although Private property rights can be perfected in the use of water, it remains essentially public; private rights are always incomplete in subject to the public's common needs. The earliest expression of these needs, still viable , was for navigation. Navigable water remains subject to public use and access for uses such a s boating, bathing, fishing, hunting, and more recently, recreational and aesthetic interests. Throughout the study of water law, it is evident that private activity affecting the quantity and quality of water cannot lawfully interfere with the overriding public interest. Public rights to use the surface of non-navigable waters have also been recognized based on their capacity to support recreational uses, the public trust doctrine and various state statutes. Access to and from water bodies where public surface rights exist, including oceans have been implied by courts.

Access to the Waterfront

The public right to use surface of waterways whether they are navigable or are otherwise considered open to the public, often cannot be exercised without crossing private land or touching the banks, sides, or bottom of the beds. The problem with public access to beaches is closely related. States are free to take land by eminent domain to provide public access to the waterways. Though there may be disputes over the amount to compensation due, there is little question that governments have the power to condemn easements and other rights of public access to waterways that are open to public use. the more difficulty cases involve legislative and judicial decisions that such rights exist without the need to compensate land owners. Some courts have held that riparian property bordering waterways that are open to the public is burdened with an easement of public access. Oregon has held the riparians can be prevented from fencing the dry sand areas adjacent to the oceans. State legislation declared the area between high and low tide lines to be a state recreation area the court found that the public has an easement t to use the dry sand area (above the high tide line) based on the customs of the people going back to earliest times. Custom has also been cited as the source of beach access rights in Florida and Hawaii.

New England statures dealing with public use of great ponds allow public access across private land but have been interpreted to apply only to unimproved or unenclosed lands. These laws were based on colonial practice and are arguably rooted in custom.

Clean Water

The Clean Water Act was passed in 1972 to replace ineffective state regulation of polluters with a comprehensive national system involving federal and state cooperation. the goal of the act was to eliminate discharge of pollutants by 1985 and to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nations waters..., with an interim goal of swimmable, fishable waters by 1983. the act allows enforcement by citizen suits, provides for monitoring and record-keeping, and subjects violations to criminal penalties and the loss of government funding.

All information has been provided by either the;

New York New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program Comprehensive conservation and Management plan

WaterLaw, 2nd edition [In a Nutshell] by David H Getches

"There is Nothing There"

A guided tour of the Bush Terminals

led by internationally known

Artist / Naturalist

John C. Yrizarry

and Special Guests!

Neil Walsh

Naturalist/Volunteer for the Manomet Observatory for Conservations Studies New York Harbor Study

Tony Giordano,

President of the Sunset Park Restoration Committee

Chairperson of the Waterfront Steering Committe

Educator and local resident

Introductory Statement by Collins/Goto

Why We Are Here?

We are here to raise questions, explore "alternative views" and identify opportunity both creative and civic.

Five years ago little notice was taken of the flora and fauna of the these piers. Today people like Tony, Neil and John are changing that. Our visit today is part of an "EVOLUTION" of value.

It is interesting to take a moment and think through this notion of evolving waterfront value. In the past "value" has been strictly defined by increases in economic activity. The city embraced common law issues of "public access" and navigable water rights to secure what is probably the largest artificial estate in the city of New York. Brooklyn has over 80% of it's waterfront in the public trust; the highest percentage of the five boroughs. The best "public use" of a waterfront, it's highest value; was an economically productive mix of industrial and shipping concerns.

In the last 30 years industry and shipping have disappeared from the waterfront. The notions of value and best public use are in transition. All along the waterfront, local community groups are producing -contextual- revitalization plans and proposals while the City and Port Planners wrestle with the classic solutions to retain the great estates. Meanwhile time, nature and human curiosity begins it's own subtle but determined revolution.

The Revolution at hand is an aesthetic one. In one morning the perception of "nothing there" evolves into a primary experience of a threshold between human construct and nature. Where value was once based in human use, it now evolves into a value based on the absence of humans and the presence of nature.

The "PRESENCE" of nature has taken great strides in the last 30 years of industrial slumber. The courts have begun to recognize aesthetics as a reasonable element of the public access equation. The NY State legislature has embraced a statement pronouncing wetlands habitat and the land-water interface and important value of the state and worth of defense and at time promotion. Despite these legislative and legal acts; the common urban design process is devoid of a representative willing to embrace nature and natural phenomenon as a primary client.

The Absence of Humans and the Presence of Nature
As you walk about today lets give a little thought to this statement and what it means to you as an individual. "How would you define BEST USE" ? of a site like this? Who are the advocates of "aesthetics" in the human political process? How do we begin to define the artists role in this aesthetic realm ? As we evaluate and appreciate a waterfront site how many points of view can you identify? On a formal level which ones are essential and how can their reality be reinforced?