Randall's Island Park Alliance Hosts the First Annual Waterfront Festival
NEW YORK, June 19, 2019 (Newswire.com) - The Randall's Island Park Alliance (RIPA) will host the first annual, free Waterfront Festival on June 23, 2019, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Harlem River Picnic Area (near the ferry dock). Come celebrate the Park’s vibrant waterfront and the opening of the new Living Shoreline Recreational Area, which helps to connect and enhance the island’s miles of coastline and waterfront pathways. The Festival has something for everyone, including live performances by Arm-of-the-Sea Theater, hands-on science activities with Bubbledad, nature crafts, games, face painting, food, live music and more.
The Festival debuts the new 2.2-acre Living Shoreline Recreational Area, designed to improve local water quality and create an appealing shoreline adaptable to sea level rise. The site includes a scenic, wheelchair-accessible picnic area, educational pathways to explore, and tide pools to foster RIPA’s urban ecology programs. It can be reached from Manhattan by public transportation or by a short walk over the RFK/Triborough Bridge.
“The new multifunctional Living Shoreline offers an unprecedented opportunity for Park patrons to relax in a beautifully enhanced picnic area and engage in community science. Through RIPA’s “Park-as-Lab” (PAL) program, students and the general public can study life in the estuary through the site’s 10 tide pools. Additional on-site research involves how plants and their associated microbes can help improve soil, air and water in the city,” says RIPA Natural Areas Manager Chris Girgenti.
The Living Shoreline Recreational Area was created by NYC Parks and RIPA to serve as a demonstration project, thanks to an Environmental Protection Fund Local Waterfront Revitalization Program Grant from the New York State Department of State. In the coming years, RIPA and local partners in the PAL urban ecology program will study the potential to improve soil quality through phytoremediation or treatment by plants. The site’s native grasses, shrubs and trees have been selected specifically for this purpose. The project has the potential to guide more sustainable, healthy approaches to shorelines in New York City and beyond.
To find out more about the Waterfront Festival, or to learn more about Randall’s Island Park, please visit https://randallsisland.org.
About the Randall's Island Park Alliance:
The Randall's Island Park Alliance (RIPA), founded in 1992, is a public-private partnership with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation that seeks to realize the unique potential of 330 waterfront parkland acres anchoring Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens. RIPA works with the City and local communities to provide an innovative and exciting destination through a wide range of sports venues, cultural events, and environmental exploration. As the dedicated steward of Randall's Island Park, the Alliance sustains, maintains, develops and programs the Park to support the well-being of all New Yorkers. The Park offers miles of waterfront pathways, almost nine acres of wetlands, an urban farm, a track and field stadium, a golf center, a 20-court tennis center, and over 60 new playing fields, as well as the Harlem River Event Site. For more information, please visit http://www.randallsisland.org.
Media Contacts for RIPA:
Jennifer Wainwright
Randall's Island Park Alliance
212-830-7722
jennifer.wainwright@randallsisland.org
Melissa Sheer/Sarah Roberts
Kent Place Communications
917-690-2199
melissa@kentplacellc.com/sarah.roberts@kentplacellc.com
Source: The Randall's Island Park Alliance (RIPA)
