Water, water everywhere—let’s make enjoying waterways more accessible! Recreational boaters have long wanted and have made steps toward getting more public access. Housing on the waterfront should be designed with access in mind, not just pretty views—though those views also are important. Waterways are a dynamic resource from which we can get so much enjoyment! Touch it, boat on it, and play in it. There are supervised swim events around Manhattan, and Coney Island has fun events and the beaches there, on Long Island, and on the Jersey shore are cleaner than ever. When you are in the water, you want it to be clean.

Waterways have been traditionally used for transportation and also for sewage. There is less dependence on the rivers for commerce than in than previous generations, and most sewage goes to treatment plants—but CSOs—combined sewer overflows—are still with us. There is a long way to go to fix the problem of raw sewage after a big rain storm. There are ways to mitigate that. We'll discuss these issues and more

A clean river can be enjoyed by more of the public accessible when there is more access. More and more people are discovering water sports and need that access to the waterways, and in many places, not just a few. Another reason for more access is safety: recreational boaters need to be able to get ashore in case of emergency. Water-sport enthusiasts refer to NY's waterways as the 6th borough!

As Owen Foote, a long-time advocate for designing waterfronts with public access, says, “Access should mandate opportunity to touch and get on our estuary so a real connection is made. A boring, vegetated shoreline without joy does not smell like an amenity”.

Michele Langa of Hackensack Riverkeeper is our other guest and she says that everyone needs to know that the public have rights to the water, it's part of the Commons, and bulkheads blocking access do not legally give property owners control.

We at Eco-Logic not only want to protect, preserve, and improve air, water, and wildlife, but we would like all of you to enjoy nature, too. This episode is to help all of us enjoy rivers, lakes, oceans, and other waterways. Being in nature lowers blood pressure, lowers stress levels, and reminds us of why we're environmental activists in the first place.

Our guests will teach you how to get into and onto natural waterways and give you information on how to keep public access public and increase accessibility and stop those who would try to privatize access, sometimes illegally. We don’t want anyone to be deprived of emergency services because the shoreline has been privatized. Just as sidewalks along a roadway are public property, so should shoreline property have mandated public access.

We'll talk about going to the seashore, the beach, swimming in lakes, kayaking on rivers, bird-watching, hiking—many different ways to enjoy nature, getting to know everything Indigenous people refer to as our relatives.

There's been a lot of attacks on the Commons—those resources that are owned by we the people and managed by the government in trust for us. We believe that the Commons should be protected and expanded.

The news we have for you on this episode is about legal protection for bison in Colorado, right to repair, and the 15th anniversary of BP’s Deepwater Horizon blowout.

The music we have for you is Hudson Vally musician Fred Gillen Jr.’s “River of Money”

Tune in on radio or internet to get more details.

And
Join us on Wednesday, June 18th, 2025 at 10 am EDT.

Listen live anywhere in the world.

Stay tuned,
Ken Gale, Donna Stein & Sally Gellert

When the air or water are clean, thank an environmentalist. If not, become one. 'Nuff Said!

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