GREEN HARLEM: THE MARINE TRANSFER STATION

Harlem Bespoke: As the city's populations grows, being green and sustainable has been a major concern in many communities on the local, industrial or commercial levels.  Green Harlem is a new feature on Harlem Bespoke which will explore various options, plans and main users of the initiative for a more sustainable focus on how we live.  

Walking by the Marine Transfer Station by 135th Street and the Hudson reminded us of some ecological concepts that Community Board 9 has proposed in the past but has yet to come into fruition.  The garbage disposal site has been shuttered since 2001 and aquaculture or hydroponic farming have been mentioned for the site but this might be an issue because of water quality in the Hudson.  Excess nitrogen in human waste from the sewer systems and even fertilizer overspill have frankly killed off much of the vibrant marine ecosystem of the city's main waterway.  There is also the recent industrial PCB cleanup that apparently needs more funding to be affective so quality of life around the water is questionable at best.

With that said, eco aquaculture such as the Billion Oyster Project has been adding bivalves to the local waterways to naturally filter out pollutants and could be a more green option to building another sanitation facility.  Oysters and shellfish are the hardiest of marine fauna and a proliferation of the shellfish will indicate tolerable water conditions which will eventually encourage the return of other types of aquatic species.  Until then, the purity of the water should still be a big concern even though things have definitely improved over the past decade: LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2019