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New York Harbor is a sprawling network of tidal bays, inlets, channels, and creeks set within both the broader Hudson Estuary and the urban matrix of New York City. Many natural habitats may be found in the Harbor, from freshwater and brackish wetlands, to boulder and bedrock shores, to sand beaches, that together with strong seasonal temperature swings results in high biodiversity. This diversity includes odd tropical fishes that arrive via the Gulf Stream, local fish and shellfish of high historical or contemporary importance for food and sport such as oysters, sturgeon, eels, and striped bass, and recovered populations of wading birds such as herons, egrets, and ibis. With the great immigrant waves at the end of the nineteenth century New York's population swelled, but with no sewage treatment, all human wastes entered the Harbor's waters in raw form and accreting to as much as ten-feet thick, overwhelming the Harbor's animal life. This ecological and human health crisis led to slow actions and improvements in controlling pollution, but none more so than the Clean Water Act of 1972. New York Harbor has experienced profound physical alteration since the Colonial era, including dredged channels, filling of wetlands, creation of artificial islands, construction of piers and sea walls, and the blasting of reefs hazardous to navigation, such as in Hell Gate in the East River. A recent emphasis on habitat restoration is partly the product of cleaner water allowing the return of life. The state of the environment of New York Harbor is very different from its pre-Colonial condition but it has recovered to a reasonable level of ecological functionality. Its legacy of polluted sediments remains but is slowly improving, as are other indicators of overall ecological health, but it still faces concerns such as climate change, sea level rise, alien species, combined sewer overflows, and lingering chemical contamination. The Harbor also has been rediscovered as a recreational and educational amenity.

This book is the definitive history of the largest ever waterborne evacuation. The book reveals the dramatic story of how the New York Harbor maritime community heroically delivered stranded commuters, residents, and visitors out of harm's way. Even before the US Coast Guard called for “all available boats,” tugs, ferries, dinner boats, and other vessels had sped to the rescue from points all across New York Harbor. In less than nine hours, captains and crews transported nearly half a million people from Manhattan. Anchored in eyewitness accounts, the book weaves together the personal stories of people rescued that day with those of the mariners who saved them. The book describes the inner workings of New York Harbor and reveals the collaborative power of its close-knit community. This chronicle of those crucial hours, when hundreds of thousands of lives were at risk, highlights how resourcefulness and basic human goodness triumphed over turmoil on one of America's darkest days.

Why on earth would anyone want to float a pool up the Atlantic coastline to bring it to rest at a pier on the New York City waterfront? This book recounts the author's triumphant adventure that started in the bayous of Louisiana and ended with a self-sustaining, floating swimming pool moored in New York Harbor. When the author decided something needed to be done to help revitalize the New York City waterfront, she reached into the city's nineteenth-century past for inspiration. The author wanted New Yorkers to reestablish their connection to their riverine surroundings and she was energized by the prospect of city youth returning to the Hudson and East rivers. What she didn't suspect was that outfitting and donating a swimming facility for free enjoyment by the public would turn into an almost-Sisyphean task. As the book describes, the author battled for years with politicians and struggled with bureaucrats to bring her “crazy” scheme to fruition. The book retells the improbable process that led to a pool named The Floating Pool Lady tying up to a pier at Barretto Point Park in the Bronx, ready for summer swimmers. Throughout, the book raises consciousness about persistent environmental issues and the challenges of developing a constituency for projects to make cities livable in the twenty-first century. The story functions as both warning and inspiration to those who dare to dream of realizing innovative public projects in the modern urban landscape.