Vision 2020: New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan

New York City's waterfront stretches 520 miles. Vision 2020: New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan creates a strategic framework for the city's waterfront, waterways, and water for the next 10 years. One of the plan's goals is to make the water part of New Yorkers' everyday lives.

The city has been making great strides in connecting New Yorkers with the water's edge over the past several decades. Vision 2020 expands upon previous efforts to provide site-specific strategies to improve the waterfront in all five boroughs. The plan is organized around eight goals: expand public access; enliven the waterfront; support the working waterfront; improve water quality; restore the natural waterfront' enhance the Blue Network (the waterways themselves); improve government oversight; and increase climate resilience. Short-term implementation of Vision 2020 is being led by the New York City Waterfront Action Agenda, a set of 130 projects totaling $3.3 billion. The city is also in the process of reinstating the Waterfront Management Advisory Board to oversee the implementation of Vision 2020 and the Action Agenda, as well as advise the city on waterfront policy.

The city's marine cargo terminals and tug and barge operators play an important role in the Port of New York and New Jersey, the 3rd largest port in the country, and the largest on the East Coast. Photo NYC Department of City Planning.