This week, City Limits has examined how New York City’s water renaissance is working out in two places that represent our waterfront past and present: Newtown Creek and Jamaica Bay. Here are images from both:
![Don Riepe of the American Littoral Society navigates the Bay.](/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/20160726CityLimitsBroadChannel2008Web2000X1333-771x514.jpg)
Adi Talwar
Don Riepe of the American Littoral Society navigates the Bay.
![Broad Channel, the neighborhood that sits in the middle of the bay's vastness.](/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/20160726CityLimitsBroadChannel2144Web2000X1333-771x514.jpg)
Adi Talwar
Broad Channel, the neighborhood that sits in the middle of the bay's vastness.
![The A train shoots over the bay, connecting Rockaway Peninsula to the subway system.](/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/20160726CityLimitsBroadChannel2127Web2000X1333-771x514.jpg)
Adi Talwar
The A train shoots over the bay, connecting Rockaway Peninsula to the subway system.
![The Bay is a critical habitat for birds, supporting some 325 species.](/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/20160726CityLimitsBroadChannel2093Web2000X1333-771x514.jpg)
Adi Talwar
The Bay is a critical habitat for birds, supporting some 325 species.
![While the bay sits adjacent to several neighborhoods. access to the water is uneven at best.](/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/20160726CityLimitsBroadChannel1983Web2000X1333-771x514.jpg)
Adi Talwar
While the bay sits adjacent to several neighborhoods. access to the water is uneven at best.
![Willis Elkins of the Newtown Creek Alliance at a point in the creek where its industrial feel gives way to a distant view of Manhattan.](/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/IMG_20160721_112521.jpg)
Guglielmo Mattioli
Willis Elkins of the Newtown Creek Alliance at a point in the creek where its industrial feel gives way to a distant view of Manhattan.
![Active industry lines the creek, and any future recreational use of the water will likely have to coexist with commercial barge and boat traffic.](/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/IMG_20160721_113701.jpg)
Guglielmo Mattioli
Active industry lines the creek, and any future recreational use of the water will likely have to coexist with commercial barge and boat traffic.
![The creek already has a constituency of recreational users, although most observe the water from the shore. Avenues of access to the creek are limited.](/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/IMG_20160721_124444.jpg)
Guglielmo Mattioli
The creek already has a constituency of recreational users, although most observe the water from the shore. Avenues of access to the creek are limited.
![The creek is a federal Superfund site, which offers a complex mix of advantages and disadvantages, but certainly doesn't auger for a quick clean-up.](/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/IMG_20160721_134216.jpg)
Guglielmo Mattioli
The creek is a federal Superfund site, which offers a complex mix of advantages and disadvantages, but certainly doesn't auger for a quick clean-up.
![Like many of New York's once neglected and still polluted waterways, Newtown is something people have typically walked or driven over with little thought.](/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/IMG_20160721_134613.jpg)
Guglielmo Mattioli
Like many of New York's once neglected and still polluted waterways, Newtown is something people have typically walked or driven over with little thought.