Hudson River Park’s environmental initiatives continue to grow and thrive thanks to community support, benefitting our four miles of green open space and 400-acre Estuarine Sanctuary. 2023 highlights include:
Habitat Restoration
Returning Oysters to the Hudson River
In 2023, the Hudson River Park Trust installed Phase II of the Tribeca Habitat Enhancement Project, adding four million more juvenile oysters to our 400-acre Estuarine Sanctuary. These baby oysters were deployed into the River on two types of habitat structures: reef balls and gabions. Collectively, these habitat structures increase oyster populations in our local waterways and create habitat for River wildlife, including fish and crabs.
OYSTERS:
🦪 35 Million oysters installed since 2021
🦪 245 Students and volunteers
🦪 1,500 Measurements
Salt Marsh
With the opening of Gansevoort Peninsula in 2023, the Park added a new salt marsh. The first of its kind on the Manhattan side of the Hudson River, the salt marsh features native grasses and plantings at the River’s surface and reef balls and gabions seeded with 20 million juvenile oysters below. These new features add valuable habitat, improve resiliency and serve as an educational touchpoint for the public to learn about the environmental benefits of intertidal ecosystems. In addition to the submerged habitat enhancements at Gansevoort Peninsula, the new salt marsh’s native grasses and plantings have become a popular destination for birds; local naturalists have already identified at least one bird species never seen before in the Park, the marsh wren, enjoying this new space.
Community Planting
In 2023, our Volunteer Program participants, sponsors and Corporate Members made an unprecedented impact, devoting more time and effort than ever to the Park across 118 volunteer projects, more than we’ve hosted in any prior season.Â
Community Planting Impact:
🌷 9,400 Hours dedicatedÂ
🌷 6,083 Plants in the ground
🌷 43,340 Flower bulbs planted
Sustainability
Community Compost Program
The Park’s Community Compost Program invites local residents to participate in simple yet effective actions to support sustainability in their neighborhood.
COMPOST:
🌱 120,000 pounds of compost processed in 2023
🌱 500,000+ pounds of compost processed since 2018
Park Over Plastic
Park Over Plastic is an initiative among Park staff, vendors and community members like you to help reduce our plastic footprint and improve the health of the Hudson River. In 2023, we introduced the WasteShark, a remote operated aquadrome that helps us remove marine debris from the river. This new tool, which you can read about in the New Yorker, will help collect plastics at our Blue Team shoreline cleanups.
WASTESHARK:
🦈 Collects about 1 pound per minute total floatable debris
🦈 Collects bout 5 pieces per minute plastic waste / 100 pieces per deployment
