A century ago, nearly half of the world’s oysters
came from New York Harbor. They were a staple
in the city—vendors sold them from rolling carts
long before they hawked hot dogs or pretzels.
But greed (in the early 1900s, more than a billion
oysters a year were pulled from the water) and
rampant pollution put an end to that. The conse-
quences were both epicurean and environmental.
Oysters had been an essential part of the es-
tuary’s ecosystem. They’re famous for their abil-
ity to fi lter water, extracting nitrogen—a pollutant
that largely comes from fertilizer runoff and can
lead to marine “dead zones”—and using that
nitrogen for food and to build their shells. Just
one oyster can fi lter up to 50 gallons of water
each day. And the reefs the bivalves create by
aggregating together provide habitat for a mul-
titude of underwater species, and help protect
the coastline from fl ooding and erosion by acting
as a buff er against waves from strong storms.
Pete Malinowski wants to take us back to the
old days. In 2014, he launched the Billion Oyster
Project with the goal of restoring the harbor’s
protective reefs and water quality. “New York
City is one of the most vulnerable places in the
country because of climate change. Ten million
people live here and we’re surrounded by water
that’s right at our doorstep,” says Malinowski,
who grew up on an oyster farm on Fishers Island,
in Long Island Sound. “If we are to continue liv-
ing on this planet, we have to completely change
how we interact with the natural world. We can
no longer live separate from nature. Nature is
here, and fi ghting back.”
The nonprofi t collects oyster shells from local
restaurants—about half a million of them a week,
most of which would be destined for landfi lls—
and uses them to provide temporary homes for
baby oysters in its hatchery. One to two dozen of
these spats attach to a single half shell by a sticky
“foot,” where they mature until they grow shells
of their own and can be placed in the harbor. Theshells themselves are also used to build reefs
in New York Harbor to shelter the young oys-
ters (and the shoreline). With the help of nearly
8,000 students from schools in all fi ve boroughs
and over 1,000 adult volunteers, 30 million oys-
ters have been restored to the harbor. To date,
more than 1.2 million pounds of shells have been
up-cycled and the new oysters have fi ltered an
estimated 19.7 trillion gallons of water, removing
literally tons of harmful nitrogen.
For Malinowski, the biggest obstacle to reach-
ing the billion mark, surprisingly, is getting per-
mits to plant the oysters. (Health offi cials worry
that someone will eat one from the still-sullied
water and get sick.) But in the wake of Hurricane
Sandy, when areas of New York suff ered severe
fl ooding, public offi cials are starting to see the
wisdom of having oysters back in their waters.
“It’s about restoring the natural ecosystem, but
also about making the harbor part of the culture
of New York City again,” says Malinowski. “We
may never get to where we were 500 years ago.
But we’re bringing them back.”Restoring Healthy Waterways
Pete Malinowski, Executive Director, The Billion Oyster Project