Another 270 feet of Greenpoint waterfront would open to the public

August 21, 2026Long Island Sound Coastal Lowland

A permit application under review at the DEC would rebuild roughly 270 feet of shoreline at 2 Noble Street on Greenpoint's East River waterfront, between Noble and Oak Streets, and carry a public waterfront walkway along with it.¹ Alongside reconstructing the bulkhead and riprap revetment, the project would open a stretch of tidal shoreline that has been closed off to the public.

Greenpoint's waterfront has been opening up gradually, parcel by parcel, as old industrial sites are rebuilt and each one adds its own segment of public edge. This is another step in that sequence: 270 more feet of a shoreline that is slowly becoming reachable.

What that offers is a chance for people to reconnect with the estuary at their doorstep. Most residents here live a block from tidal water they can only see through a fence, and there is a good deal on the other side of it. , and , , , , , , and have all been recorded around this part of the harbor in the past two months, cormorants among them on Quay and Franklin Streets, a few blocks from the site.² A walkway is what turns all of that from something happening out of sight into something people can watch, learn and speak up for.

The DEC is accepting comments through August 27.¹ Comments go to Jeanette Rodriguez at DEC Region 2 (dep.r2@dec.ny.gov, 718-482-4997).¹ This is the window to shape how the space gets built: where the walkway meets the water, whether the edge invites people to stop and look at the river or just pass by it, and what habitat the new bulkhead and riprap offer below the waterline.

The Newtown Creek Alliance, a watershed group based nearby at the Newtown Creek-East River confluence, works this exact stretch of shoreline and would be a natural voice on how the access is designed. Anyone who uses this waterfront has until August 27 to weigh in.¹

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