''City of Water'' is a documentary about the future of the New York City waterfront by the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and the
Municipal Art Society
The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) is a non-profit membership organization for preservation in New York City, which aims to encourage thoughtful planning and urban design and inclusive neighborhoods across the city.
The organization was ...
.
Production
The film was two years in the making.
and explores the aspirations of public officials, environmentalists, community activists, and working water-front advocates for a diverse, vibrant waterfront at a time when the shoreline is changing faster than ever before. The documentary contains interviews with the following people: NYC
Deputy Mayor
The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments.
Duties and functions
Many elected dep ...
Daniel L. Doctoroff
Daniel Louis Doctoroff (born July 11, 1958) is an American businessman and former government official. He is the chief executive officer of Sidewalk Labs, a startup company developing technology focused on city life. Previously, he was the CEO an ...
, "green" economic consultant
Majora Carter
Majora Carter (born October 27, 1966) is an American urban revitalization strategist and public radio host from the South Bronx area of New York City. Carter founded and led the non-profit environmental justice solutions corporation Sustainable S ...
, author
Phillip Lopate
Phillip Lopate (born 1943) is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate.
Early life
Phillip Lopate was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated with a BA degr ...
, US Representative
Nydia Velázquez
Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano (born March 28, 1953) is a politician serving in the United States House of Representatives since 1993. A Democrat from New York, Velázquez chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus until January 3, 2011. Her ...
,
CUNY
, mottoeng = The education of free people is the hope of Mankind
, budget = $3.6 billion
, established =
, type = Public university system
, chancellor = Fél ...
Professor William Kornblum, Director of the Mayor's Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability
Rohit Aggarwala
Rohit T. "Rit" Aggarwala is an American environmental policy adviser, transportation planner, historian, and civil servant who is New York City’s Chief Climate Officer as well as the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental ...
, environmentalist Cathy Drew, historian Richard Melnick, founder of the
Long Island City Community Boathouse Erik Baard, and others. Velazquez and Carter "present compelling cases for getting communities involved in reclaiming the waterfront, so that luxury condos — or sheer neglect in the case of the Bronx — do not limit their access" while Baard "points out the folly of placing guard rails all along the water’s edge, thus limiting open water access to boaters"
Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance President Roland Lewis has described how the documentary "encapsulates the fulcrum issues that face the waterfront right now. Our generation has been presented with a unique opportunity to change the waterfront. The decisions that are facing us right now will affect our grandchildren."
Release
The film premiered on the Brooklyn waterfront on June 21, 2007
and has since been screened at the
National Arts Club
The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the ''New York Times'' to "stimulate, foster, and promote public ...
,
Socrates Sculpture Park
Socrates Sculpture Park is an outdoor museum and public park where artists can create and exhibit sculptures and multi-media installations. It is located one block from the Noguchi Museum at the intersection of Broadway and Vernon Boulevard in th ...
,
Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park
Brooklyn Bridge Park is an park on the Brooklyn side of the East River in New York City. Designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park is located on a plot of land from Atlantic Avenue in the south, und ...
and
Water Taxi Beach
Water Taxi Beach was an artificial temporary beach operated from 2005 to 2010 on a wharf on the East River in the Hunters Point section of Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens. It was operated by the New York Water Taxi Compa ...
in Queens, where it "played to an enthralled crowd of residents interested in the river."
The film was also screened at the
Center for Architecture
The Center for Architecture is located in the neighborhood of Greenwich Village at 536 LaGuardia Place, between West 3rd Street and Bleecker Street in Manhattan, New York City. The center was designed by architect Andrew Berman and completed i ...
, New York County Lawyers' Association and other venues in 2007, and at the Downtown Alliance and Gotham Center in 2008. The film was broadcast on Channel Thirteen
WNET
WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...
in April and will be screened at the Brooklyn Arts Council International Film Festival in May.
References
External links
Official Screening Schedule*
New Film Details Possibilities For the New York Waterfront (Queens Ledger)Water, water everywhere - Brian Lehrer Show on City of Water, WNYCRollin' on a river - The Hudson Reporter{dead link, date=August 2017 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
2007 films
American documentary films
Documentary films about New York City
2007 documentary films
Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in the United States
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
English-language documentary films