Of the 550 acres in Hudson River Park, roughly 400 acres (or 75% of the park) is an Estuarine Sanctuary. The Hudson River Park Trust and its predecessors have made achieving significant environmental gains for the Hudson River and the park’s habitat an important focus of ongoing park planning activities. The Estuarine Sanctuary was established in 1998, under the New York State Hudson River Park Act. This establishment acknowledges the importance of the sanctuary as an official New York State Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat, and highlights the need to provide public access to the river in a manner that promotes and preserves the sanctuary’s marine resources.

Adopted in 2004, the Sanctuary Management Plan endorses conservation planning for marine and upland habitat protection, restoration and creation. Plans call for beach, marsh, and coastal strand restoration at Gansevoort Peninsula and south of Pier 76; unique ecological piers at Piers 32 and 46; and the preservation of pile fields at Piers 32, 49, and 72. Below-surface oyster reefs are being considered to restore some of the extensive beds that once existed and to reduce high-energy currents and ship wakes throughout the bethnic and beach environments.

As part of the Trust’s ongoing responsibilities with respect to the Sanctuary Management Plan, we partnered with Cornell University in 2006 to conduct research on the effects of dredging in Hudson River Park. The dredging was necessary to allow for the removal of materials from the former World Trade Center site after September 11th. Subsequent to the dredging activity, Cornell University Center for the Environment and the Department of Natural Resources studied several park locations over period of time to determine whether and how the activity affected the in-water biological populations. Cornell completed the study in March 2006: Biological Status of Sanctuary Waters of the Hudson River Park in New York.

To help care for the over 400-acres of water in the Hudson River Park’s Estuarine Sanctuary, the Trust has created the “Clean Sanctuary Campaign” to remove debris from the river. Floatables and flotsam have settled on the bottom and arrive daily with the tide and through thirty combined sewage outfalls during heavy rains. Volunteers are needed for this program and for many other tasks in the park, including leading walking and garden tours, and counting and surveying park users. Please join use for a fun filled day on the waterfront in support of the park.