Meet your waterfront…

and define New York City’s future by walking its edge

In 2020, while the world locked down, we ventured to the edges. With 520 miles of coastline to explore, New York City edges are as diverse, difficult and deeply moving as the city and its residents….

New York City is defined by its waterways but New Yorkers may see our city as more land than water. Walking the Edge invites New Yorkers to reconnect to the diversity of the city’s shorelines and have a voice in the city planning process.

Walking the Edge launched the Works on Water Triennial 20/21. Artists produced weekly prompts (activity suggestions or questions) that invite city residents to explore their water’s edges and engage in imagining changes for those edges - virtually or on solo walks. Responses from the public help us think boldly and imaginatively about the future of the waterfront and share ideas that will inform the city’s next Comprehensive Waterfront Plan. Walking the Edge was initially envisioned as a participatory non-stop relay walk of all 520 miles of New York City shoreline, but due to COVID-19, the physical event has been postponed to 2021.

Walking the Edge uses walking to encounter, reflect upon, and see places anew. This project defines “walking” as moving through space with attention and intention, and embraces all forms of mobility. Walking is a creative act, and WtE is an opportunity for New Yorkers of all abilities and ages, in every borough, to experience and express their waterfront.

Walking the Edge is a collaboration between arts organizations Culture Push and Works on Water with the NYC Department of City Planning. The project is funded by the Mayor’s Grant for Cultural Impact from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. WtE is a key outreach component of the next Comprehensive Waterfront Plan and kicks off Works on Water’s 2020 Triennial Art Exhibition dedicated to art that is made on, in, and with the water.

Culture Push is an arts organization that creates programs to nurture artists and other creative people who are approaching common problems through hands-on civic participation and imaginative problem-solving.

Works on Water is an organization and triennial exhibition dedicated to artworks, performances, conversations, workshops and site-specific experiences that explore diverse artistic investigation of water in the urban environment. We seek to strengthen and nourish the community of artists working on and with bodies of water and to provide a platform to increase awareness of artists and organizations working on and with the waterways.

The Department of City Planning (DCP) is New York City’s primary land use agency and is instrumental in designing the City’s physical and socioeconomic framework. DCP’s ambition is to make all of New York a better place to live, to maintain what works and improve what doesn’t.

This program Is supported, in part, by public funds From The New York City Department Of Cultural Affairs and the Department Of City Planning (DCP).