On probably the most humid and foggiest days of the summer, The Billion Oyster Project was installing reef balls into the East River. It was day one of three as they plan to introduce ten million new oysters into New York Bay. I had the opportunity to speak with Shinara Sunderlal, Direct Student Services Manager of The Billion Oyster Project about the process and what’s involved.
Swelter is an understatement of how it felt this day but it was pretty captivating watching them drop reef balls into the water. There was a lot of driving in circles and turning the boat around to get the exact placement. I was only planning to go one day but I’m curious what the next two days will have in store.
This biggest story for me was asking about a statement that The Gothamist made about The Billion Oyster Project in a recent article and Instagram post. Many in the comments of the IG post said that this was “textbook bad reporting with an inaccurate and sensationalist headline”. In the video from 5:15 - 6:00, Shinara clarifies where The Gothamist reporting went wrong.
image from The Gothamist Instagram account.
I decided to go capture this story as a follow up to a video I made a few years ago when The Billion Oyster Project held a volunteer session where people took out oysters, measured them and put them back in the water. I’ll stay updated on New York City water ways and oysters over the coming months and report back if anything new unfolds. This is turning into a fascinating story.