To protect New York City's remaining wetlands and restore their natural functions, New York City has just released a new Wetlands Strategy and is welcoming public input on it. 

New York City has at least 5,500 acres of tidal and freshwater wetlands.Wetlands are some of the most productive ecosystems on the planet, providing critical habitat and nesting grounds for aquatic and avian species. But in the past century, roughly 85% of the coastal wetlands have been lost in the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary and well over 90% of the freshwater wetlands in the five boroughs have been lost.

Nonetheless, there are still significant wetland areas in Jamaica Bay, Staten Island, and the Upper East River and Western Long Island Sound. 

Three years ago, the Bloomberg administration published "New York City Wetlands: Regulatory Gaps and Other Threats," which described the gaps in federal and state regulations and recommended the exploration of policy options for the City to fill those gaps.

This new Wetlands Strategy builds on that effort by examining all threats to wetlands and proposing policies to address them.

The city will accept public comments on this draft strategy through Feb. 18 at planyc@cityhall.nyc.gov.