ShareThe National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy has spearheaded a substantive array of new programs, projects and activities in anticipation of the upcoming centennial of the National Park Service in 2016. Since 2005, over 80% of the Harbor Conservancy's contributed support has been used for programming and projects.
Gateway to America Official Tours
More than 400 years of New York City and American history can be traced through New York Harbor and sites on or near the waterfront. The Harbor Conservancy with the National Park Service has distilled five major interpretative themes through which this story can be told. The themes: immigration, commerce, harbor defense, harbor ecology and the birth of our nation, form the basis of a series of water and walking tours that illustrate why New York Harbor is the gateway to America.
Water Tours
- America's Frontline: The Military History of New York Harbor
- America: Who We Are
- Gateway to America
- Jamaica Bay Kayak Trails
- Harbor Eco-Tour (coming Spring 2010)
Walking Tours
- George Washington's New York
- The New Amsterdam Trail
- The New York Freedom Trail (coming Spring 2010)
- This Hallowed Ground Trail (coming Spring 2010)
Federal Hall National Memorial
The Harbor Conservancy secured a major grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to repair damage done to Federal Hall on 9/11 and to install a fire suppression system. A long-range project to create a museum at the site is underway and is a partnership between the National Park Service, the National Archives & Records Administration, the National Archives Foundation and the Harbor Conservancy. In 2008, the Harbor Conservancy and the National Archives Foundation retained renowned exhibition firm Ralph Appelbaum & Associates to create the vision for the museum.
Manhattan Sites Archives
The Harbor Conservancy and the National Park Service begun a multi-phase project to improve storage conditions, catalogue and then ultimately make accessible online to visitors and scholars, the collection of the national park sites in Manhattan. This project is made possible through a generous grant from the Leon Levy Foundation.
National Parks of New York Harbor Transportation Plan
In 2006, the Harbor Conservancy retained Jonathan Rose Company to execute an Inner-Outer Harbor Transportation Strategy. The team which included Sam Schwartz Engineering, studied waterfront parks, historic sites and existing and potential waterborne transportation hubs, to create an Inner-Outer Harbor Transportation Implementation Plan- a critical mass of transport options, cultural, historical, and natural resource attractions that would result in a more vibrant, marketable New York Harbor for not only National Park Service sites, but also other destinations.
National Parks of New York Harbor and NYC & Co. Visitor Information Center
The Harbor Conservancy collaborated with NYC & Company, the tourism marketing organization for the City of New York, to create the official Lower Manhattan Visitor Information Center at Federal Hall. Launched in 2006, it welcomes over 200,000 people annually.
