Jamaica Bay is an

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

on the southern portion of the western tip of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

, in the U.S. state of New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with

Lower New York Bay Lower New York Bay is a section of New York Bay south of the Narrows (the strait between Staten Island and Brooklyn). The eastern end of the Bay is marked by two spits of land, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and Rockaway, Queens. The waterway ...

to the west, through Rockaway Inlet, and is the westernmost of the coastal lagoons on the south shore of Long Island. Politically, it is primarily divided between the boroughs of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, with a small part touching Nassau County. The bay contains numerous marshy islands. It was known as ''Grassy Bay'' as late as the 1940s. Jamaica Bay is located adjacent to the confluence of the

New York Bight The New York Bight is the geological identification applied to a roughly triangular indentation, regarded as a bight, along the Atlantic coast of the United States that extends northeasterly from Cape May Inlet in New Jersey to Montauk Point o ...

and New York Bay, and is at the turning point of the primarily east-west oriented coastline of southern

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

and Long Island and the north-south oriented coastline of the mid-

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

coast.

Etymology

The name derives from the nearby town of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

, which in turn derives from ''Yameco'', a corruption of a word for "beaver" in the Lenape language spoken by the Native Americans who lived in the area at the time of first European contact. The liquid "y" sound of English is spelled with a "j" in Dutch, the language of the first people to write about the area; the English retained this Dutch spelling, but, after repeated reading and speaking of "Jamaica", slowly replaced the liquid sound with the hard "j" of the English pronunciation of the name today. (In the Caribbean, the aboriginal

Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greate ...

s named their island ''Xaymaca'', "land of wood and water", and the "x" spelling in Spanish was in time transformed to the hard "j" of the modern English name, "Jamaica".)

Ecology

The location of Jamaica Bay, combined with its rich food resources, make it an important habitat for both plants and animals. This geographic location also provides valuable feeding habitat to marine and

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environmen ...

species migrating between the New York Bight and the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

and

Raritan River Raritan River is a major river of New Jersey. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean. History Geologists assert that the lower Raritan provided t ...

estuaries, and to a diverse community of migratory birds and insects that use the Bay for refueling during transit between summer breeding and overwintering grounds. While the resident wildlife of Jamaica Bay are poorly studied, survey data indicate that Jamaica Bay and the

Rockaways The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of th ...

support seasonal or year-round populations of at least 325 bird species, more than 100 species of fish, and more than 80 butterfly species.

Geography

Jamaica Bay aerial from NW 01 - white balanced (9457234768)

Jamaica Bay is a saline to

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estua ...

, eutrophic (nutrient-rich) estuary covering about , with a mean depth of , a semidiurnal tidal range averaging , and a

residence time The residence time of a fluid parcel is the total time that the parcel has spent inside a control volume (e.g.: a chemical reactor, a lake, a human body). The residence time of a set of parcels is quantified in terms of the frequency distribu ...

of about three weeks. The bay communicates with Lower New York Bay and the Atlantic Ocean via Rockaway Inlet, a high current area that is wide at its narrowest point, with an average depth of . Measurements taken during recent surveys in Jamaica Bay indicate average yearly ranges for temperature of , salinity of 20.5 to 26 parts per thousand, dissolved oxygen of 3.5 to 18.5 milligrams/liter, and pH of 6.8 to 9. Loadings of nutrients and organic matter into the bay from

sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding en ...

plants and runoff result in

phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'. ...

blooms and high suspended-solid concentrations which, in turn, result in turbid water and low bottom dissolved oxygen concentrations. Jamaica Bay is in the southern portion of the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

, and the uplands around the bay, as well as much of the Rockaway barrier beach, are dominated by urban residential, commercial, and industrial development. The bay itself has been disturbed by

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...

, filling, and development. About of the original of wetlands in the bay have been filled in, mostly around the perimeter of the bay. Extensive areas of the bay have been dredged for navigation channels and to provide fill for the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

s and other construction projects. This includes John F. Kennedy International Airport (commonly known as JFK Airport) on the northeastern side of the bay, as well as the historic and now-defunct Floyd Bennett Field on the western side. The center of the bay is dominated by subtidal open water and extensive low-lying islands with areas of salt marsh, intertidal flats, and uplands important for colonial nesting waterbirds. The average mean low tide exposes of mudflat, of low salt marsh dominated by low marsh cordgrass ('' Spartina alterniflora''), and of high marsh dominated by high marsh cordgrass ('' Spartina patens''). The extensive intertidal areas are rich in food resources, including a variety of

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning " ...

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chorda ...

s and macroalgae dominated by

sea lettuce The sea lettuces comprise the genus ''Ulva'', a group of edible green algae that is widely distributed along the coasts of the world's oceans. The type species within the genus ''Ulva'' is ''Ulva lactuca'', wikt:lactuca, ''lactuca'' being Latin ...

(''Ulva latuca''). These rich food resources attract a variety of fish, shorebirds, and waterfowl. In addition, two freshwater impoundments were created on Rulers Bar Hassock in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge; the smaller freshwater West Pond is kept as open water, and the larger slightly brackish East Pond is controlled to expose mudflats. Some of the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

s in the bay have upland communities, including

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

s consisting of little bluestem (''Schizachyrium scoparium''), switchgrass (''Panicum virgatum''), and seaside goldenrod (''Solidago sempervirens''); scrub-shrub containing

bayberry ''Myrica'' is a genus of about 35–50 species of small trees and shrubs in the family Myricaceae, order Fagales. The genus has a wide distribution, including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, and missing only from Aust ...

(''Myrica pensylvanica''),

beach plum ''Prunus maritima'', the beach plum, is a species of plum native to the East Coast of the United States. It is a choice wild edible and its few pests and salt tolerance make it a resilient fruit crop for degraded lands and urban soils. Descript ...

(''Prunus maritima''), sumac (''Rhus'' spp.), and poison ivy ('' Toxicodendron radicans''); developing

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

consisting of hackberry (''Celtis occidentalis''),

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

(''Salix'' spp.), black cherry (''Prunus serotina''), and

tree-of-heaven ''Ailanthus altissima'' , commonly known as tree of heaven, ailanthus, varnish tree, or in Chinese as ''chouchun'' (), is a deciduous tree in the family Simaroubaceae. It is native to northeast and central China, and Taiwan. Unlike other mem ...

(''Ailanthus altissima''); and beachgrass (''

Ammophila breviligulata ''Ammophila breviligulata'' (American beachgrass or American marram grass) is a species of grass native to eastern North America, where it grows on sand dunes along the Atlantic Ocean and Great Lakes coasts. Beachgrass thrives under conditions ...

'') dune. Species introduced in the refuge to attract wildlife include autumn olive (''Elaeagnus umbellata''), Japanese black pine (''Pinus thunbergii''), and Japanese barberry ('' Berberis thunbergii'').

History

Historic seaport proposal

NEW YORK SUBWAY IS ABOVE GROUND WHEN IT CROSSES JAMAICA BAY AREA - NARA - 547843 restored

Some modifications to Jamaica Bay were conducted in the early 20th century as a result of a never-realized plan to develop Jamaica Bay as a seaport. As early as 1886, the U.S. Engineering Department (now Army Corps of Engineers) had created plans to dredge Rockaway Inlet in preparation for constructing a large

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...

in Jamaica Bay. These plans were scrapped because there was not enough commercial traffic to justify the construction of the seaport. Over the next two decades, commercial activity in New York City increased. New proposals for the Jamaica Bay seaport emerged in the 1900s. By 1905, the value of the city's manufacturing sector was assessed at $1.5 billion, a figure cited by supporters of the Jamaica Bay project. In 1910, developers unveiled a plan to convert Jamaica Bay to a seaport district as part of the New York State Barge Canal project, which would connect

to the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

by way of a new canal in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York (state), New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upsta ...

. The new seaport would convert existing inland creeks into barge canals with lengths of up to , and the area of the bay was to be dredged. An aggregate of marshlands in the bay would be converted to land that could be built upon, while residential communities would be built on Long Island for port workers. Railroads would be built to collect cargo from these ports, and a canal would extend northward across Long Island to the Long Island Sound. The project began in 1911, despite doubts about the feasibility of the project. Some engineers believed that shifting sand dunes and the tides in Jamaica Bay might make it impossible to construct the seaport district. The next year, developers began dredging ports within Jamaica Bay in order to make it navigable for the large vessels that were supposed to use the bay. Significant progress on the dredging had been completed by 1918, and the city allowed the construction of several piers. However, only one pier was built near Barren Island. The pier, which was built in order to receive landfill for the other proposed piers, stretched northeast and was wide. A total of six such piers were planned for this area. In June 1918, a municipally owned pier was opened at

Mill Basin Mill Basin is a residential neighborhood in southeastern Brooklyn, New York City. It is on a peninsula abutting Jamaica Bay and is bordered by Avenue U on the northwest and the Mill Basin/Mill Island Inlet on its remaining sides. Mill Basin is ...

. At the time, there were proposals to fill in between Mill and Barren Islands so 14 more piers could be built. With the United States' entry into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the project was abandoned. The plans were revived by 1927. At the time, the docklands were expected to gain a connection to the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average week ...

. Planners wanted to create a spur of the Bay Ridge Branch south to Flatlands, with two branches to

Canarsie Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Ave ...

and Mill Basin. A connection to

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

would be built via the planned Staten Island Tunnel, which would in turn allow freight to be delivered and shipped to the rest of the continental United States. By 1928, the Barren Island Airport was being constructed on the bay's west shore, and advocates for the seaport project were pushing the city to construct the docklands simultaneously. The

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

offered to build the new railroad link for $2 million and lease it to the city. In 1930, the city approved of a report recommending the acquisition of a

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

for a proposed LIRR branch to Paerdegat Basin. The railroad would connect to the New York Connecting Railroad, which would then connect to the national railroad system at large. Dredging Paerdegat Basin was a key part of the plan, as it would allow easier access for ships headed to Canarsie. As part of the updated proposal, two artificial islands for shipping operations would be built in Jamaica Bay. In January 1931, the New York City Board of Estimate approved a plan to build railroads on both sides of Paerdegat Basin, connecting the LIRR to

Canarsie Pier Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Ave ...

to the east and to Floyd Bennett Field to the west. By that time, the city had spent $10 million, and the federal government $2 million, toward improving the bay for a proposed seaport district. Supporters of the new proposal included Mayor Jimmy Walker, President of Aldermen

Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fr ...

, City Comptroller Charles Berry, and Brooklyn's and Queens' borough presidents.

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

opposed the Jamaica Bay project, since it wanted to build the competing Port of Newark. There was enough federal money for both projects, though. However,

Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...

, the New York City Parks Commissioner at the time, was critical of the seaport project. He instead proposed a series of parks and parkways around New York City, including

Belt Parkway The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of connected limited-access highways that form a belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt Parkway comprises three of the four parkways in what is known as ...

along the northern and western shores of Jamaica Bay. Under Moses's leadership, the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolo ...

moved to convert much of the Jamaica Bay area into a city park. In 1949, the New York City Board of Estimate approved Moses's proposal, ending all plans for the seaport project. The only thing that was completed was the dredging of Paerdegat Basin to a depth. In the 1950s and 1960s, much of the city-owned land around the basin was sold off to private developers.

Incidents

On March 1, 1962, American Airlines Flight 1, a

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 2 ...

, crashed on takeoff from JFK Airport after its rudder jammed. It crashed into Pumpkin Patch Channel, a remote area of

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found ...

land on Jamaica Bay that is part of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. All 95 people on board were killed, including 87 passengers and 8 crew members.
(Navigate: Historical Aircraft Accident Reports (1934-1965)→ 1962→ American Airlines)

Environmental conditions

The

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

es of Jamaica Bay offer prime

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

for migratory birds and other

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...

. Most of the waters and marshes have been protected since 1972 as part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. Though much improved, pollution is still a problem, and after once enjoying a worldwide reputation for

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...

s and supporting a vigorous fishing industry the area has been closed to shellfishing since the early 20th century as one result. The marshlands are also fast diminishing. As of Spring 2003, marshland is being lost at the rate of approximately per year. The reasons for this loss are still unclear, but one hypothesis is that the loss is the result of rising

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...

s. To test this, in the hope of preventing further losses, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

plans to dredge a small area of the bay in order to build up the soil in about of marsh. Opponents are concerned that the dredging may be harmful, perhaps leading to greater loss of marshland than the area saved. Other scientists suggest that the of

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

pouring into the bay every day, 92 percent from four sewage treatment plants ringing the bay, may be partly to blame. They hypothesize that the high levels of nitrogen may stimulate the growth of sea lettuce, smothering other plants. The excess energy may also cause smooth cordgrass to reallocate energy from its roots to its shoots, making it harder for marsh soil to hold together. In an effort to reduce the amount of nitrogen being discharged into Jamaica Bay, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection announced the installation of enhanced treatment measures that will cut nitrogen discharges by 4,000 pounds a day. An innovative technology, called the Ammonia Recovery Process, is now being designed by ThermoEnergy Corporation, which will further reduce nitrogen discharges from the bay by 3,000 pounds per day by 2014.

Ownership and protection status

National Park Service WTC and Jamaica Bay

The majority of land and water within this complex is owned by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

federal government, and the city of New York. Most of Jamaica Bay proper and portions of the uplands and

barrier beach Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a ...

are part of the Gateway National Recreation Area's Jamaica Bay Unit. Administered by the National Park Service, the Jamaica Bay Unit includes the of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, as well as Breezy Point Tip, Fort Tilden, Jacob Riis Park and Floyd Bennett Field. There are two State Parks at Jamaica Bay,

Shirley Chisholm Shirley Anita Chisholm ( ; ; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional distr ...

, and Bayswater Point. There are several

city parks An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...

within the bay complex, including Marine Park, Spring Creek Park and

Rockaway Community Park Edgemere Landfill is a former municipal landfill located in Edgemere on the Rockaway peninsula in Queens, New York City. It is located on a man-made peninsula on the Jamaica Bay shoreline, at the eastern end of the Rockaway peninsula. A portion ...

, and numerous smaller parcels of city-owned land such as Tribute Park and Sunset Cove at Broad Channel. Portions of the wetlands and uplands are part of JFK Airport, owned by the city of New York and operated by the

. Occasionally the airport becomes a route of migration of some wildlife species disrupting the traffic. Small areas in the upland buffer around the bay and on the Rockaway Peninsula remain in private residential or commercial ownership. Jamaica Bay has been designated and mapped as an otherwise protected beach unit pursuant to the federal

Coastal Barrier Resources Act The Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA, Public Law 97-348) of the United States was enacted into law by the 40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan on October 18, 1982. The United States Congress passed this Act in order to address th ...

, prohibiting incompatible federal financial assistance or flood insurance within the unit. The New York State Natural Heritage Program, in conjunction with

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

, recognizes two Priority Sites for Biodiversity within the Jamaica Bay and Breezy Point habitat complex: Breezy Point (B2 – very high biodiversity significance) and Fountain Avenue Landfill (B3 – high biodiversity significance). Jamaica Bay and Breezy Point have been designated as Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitats by the

New York State Department of State The New York State Department of State (NYSDOS) is the department of the New York state government under the leadership of the Secretary of State of New York. Executive Law § 90. "There shall be in the state government a department of state. The ...

, and the bay up to the high tide line was designated as a Critical Environmental Area by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. Jamaica Bay was also designated as one of three special natural waterfront areas by the

New York City Department of City Planning The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...

. A comprehensive

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

management plan for the bay was completed in 1993 by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection in order to better protect and restore habitats and improve water quality. Wetlands are regulated in New York under the state's Freshwater Wetlands Act of 1975 and Tidal Wetlands Act of 1977. These statutes are in addition to federal regulation under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, Section 404 of the

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...

, and various Executive Orders.

Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay

In 2012, the City of New York and the National Parks Service signed an agreement to jointly manage Jamaica Bay and restore its parkland and greenspaces. Hurricane Sandy hit the city in force in October 2012, causing billions of dollars of damage, and inundating coastal regions, including Jamaica Bay, with a storm surge estimated at close to 2.5 meters. The impact of Hurricane Sandy revealed the vulnerability of the city's coastal infrastructure to storm surges, and with projections suggesting that the frequency of such storms is likely to increase over the coming century, New York City released "A Stronger, More Resilient New York" in June 2013, an extensive report outlining a plan to reinforce and rebuild NYC infrastructure in order to create a city better able to withstand future storms. Later that year, Mayor Bloomberg, together with the then Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, announced the establishment of th
Jamaica Bay Science and Resilience Institute
a multidisciplinary consortium of academic, governmental and community partners coordinated by the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges and seven pro ...

. The Institute, subsequently renamed the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay (SRIJB), is currently housed at

Brooklyn College , mottoeng = Nothing without great effort , established = , parent = CUNY , type = Public university , endowment = $98.0 million (2019) , budget = $123.96 m ...

, but will be relocating to a permanent home at Floyd Bennett Field within the next 3 years..

References

Notes Sources * * * A c. 1910 plea to develop a harbor at Jamaica Bay. * Hartig, Ellen K. and Gornitz, Vivien (1981)
"The Vanishing Marshes of Jamaica Bay: Sea Level Rise or Environmental Degradation?"
(New York: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Institute for Space Studies). * U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Charlestown, RI (1997)

Southern New England – New York Bight Coastal Ecosystems Program.

External links

— ''Visitor Information from National Parks of the New York Harbor Conservancy''.
Official Gateway National Recreation Area website

Jamaica Bay Research and Management Information Network
— ''Community-driven knowledge base of past, present, and future activities in Jamaica Bay''. {{authority control Bays of Kings County, New York Bays of New York (state) Bays of Queens County, New York Bodies of water of Brooklyn Bodies of water of Nassau County, New York Bodies of water of Queens, New York Estuaries of New York (state) Gateway National Recreation Area Jamaica, Queens Lagoons of New York (state) Rockaway, Queens