Lessons Learned
Less than a quarter-mile off Staten Island’s southernmost shore, eight rocky structures rise from the ocean and run parallel to the beach. Called Living Breakwaters, the project brings together natural processes and constructed techniques to weaken waves before they crash ashore and to lessen coastal erosion.
The Concept
The structures, made of stone and special concrete, have nooks and crannies to foster habitats for fish and other marine life. The Billion Oyster Project will install oyster larvae on the Living Breakwaters as part of a citywide effort to restore New York Harbor’s once-thriving oyster population. The idea is that the reef will grow, attracting other creatures and adding to the buffer effect of the breakwaters.
A Decade in the Making
After a decade of work, the project is complete, a dozen years after Hurricane Sandy’s storm surge brought 14 feet of water to Tottenville, a quiet South Shore neighborhood of beachfront condos and vinyl-and-brick detached homes. The 2012 storm, which led to the deaths of 43 New Yorkers and was the most destructive in the city’s history, battered the area’s already eroded coastline. The jetty-like mounds serve to prevent as much destruction next time.
Lessons Learned from Hurricane Sandy
"It’s not taking all the risk out of the equation, but it’s reducing the most damaging impacts," said Pippa Brashear, resilience principal and partner at SCAPE Landscape Architecture, the firm behind the project. "People have been building breakwaters for hundreds of years as a principle of breaking waves, but this really leverages the knowledge and technology of understanding how waves work and working with nature."
Tottenville’s Take
Many locals think they might be onto something. "I don’t doubt for a second that this is gonna really hold fish. Maybe it has to develop," said Jim Manning, a local fisherman and retired fire lieutenant who exercises on an overlook across from the breakwaters multiple times a week. "Everything that’s on all this structure here, the fish live on that. The small fish, the crabs, and the tiny stuff eat the moss, and then the bigger fish eat the crabs and the bigger fish eat those fish, and it’s just the whole ecosystem."
Funding and Maintenance
The state Department of Environmental Conservation will maintain the $111 million project, which was funded by the state and through a HUD grant. The state Office of Resilient Homes and Communities within the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal managed the project over the past 10 years.
Future Plans
The East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project on the Lower East Side, for instance, has only reached its halfway finished point, while other protection efforts — including one in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and several around Lower Manhattan and on the eastern shore of Staten Island — are in the works. A massive federal plan to protect the region is not yet finalized and still decades away from completion.
Conclusion
The Living Breakwaters have been a decade in the making, and it’s exciting to see the project complete. It’s a testament to the power of collaboration and innovative thinking. As Hurricane Sandy taught us, there’s always more work to be done to protect our communities and infrastructure from the impacts of climate change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the purpose of the Living Breakwaters?
A: The Living Breakwaters are designed to weaken waves before they crash ashore and to lessen coastal erosion.
Q: How was the project funded?
A: The project was funded by the state and through a HUD grant.
Q: Who maintains the project?
A: The state Department of Environmental Conservation will maintain the $111 million project.
Q: What’s next for the project?
A: The Billion Oyster Project will install oyster larvae on the Living Breakwaters as part of a citywide effort to restore New York Harbor’s once-thriving oyster population.
