NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Muscota Marsh creates new public access to the Harlem River and provides amenities on the waterfront near Columbia University’s Baker Athletics Complex in Inwood. The project restores and extends the area’s native marshland, building on the site’s latent ecology and restoring wetland habitats by reintroducing a salt marsh and freshwater wetland zones with a diverse palette of native plants. The open space design includes a wooden deck through native water gardens, allowing for wildlife observation and places to sit and picnic.
In addition to providing restored habitats for wading birds like Great Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets, leopard frogs, and ribbed mussels to thrive, the park’s planting creates dramatic colors and textures, seasonal change, and educational programming that builds on the site’s ecology. The freshwater wetland areas are organized into three tiers that progressively receive, treat, and slow down stormwater runoff before it enters the tidal system. Muscota Marsh received a NYC Public Design Commission 2012 Design Award with special recognition for Green Infrastructure.
Photography by Shuo Yan © Field Operations and Julienne Schaer.