Reviving the Hidden Reef at Manhattan's Edge: The Billion Oyster Project

When we speak of islands, our minds drift to remote atolls, places we imagine as quiet, disconnected. But one of the busiest islands in the world - Manhattan - is far from that. It pulses with commerce, culture, power - and sits surrounded by waters that hide a quiet battle for ecological renewal.

Off New York's shores lies the Billion Oyster Project (BOP): a bold, community-driven attempt to bring back something many thought was lost forever.

A Lost Legacy, Now Reckoned

New York Harbor was once legendary for its oysters. The estuary held an estimated 220,000 acres of native oyster reefs - teeming with aquatic life: seahorses, herring, dolphins. As Mark Kurlansky writes in The Big Oyster:

Over time, as the waters darkened and life receded, the harbor became less a living estuary and more a cautionary tale. Yet in the 21st century, a movement began: to treat the harbor not as a dumping ground but as a living ecosystem again.

The Billion Oyster Project: Ambition Meets Community

Founded in 2014, the Billion Oyster Project set out with a bold goal: to restore one billion oysters to New York Harbor by 2035. Alongside that, its vision includes creating 100 acres of oyster reef habitat and engaging one million people over time.

To date:

These numbers, however, only tell part of the story.

How the Restoration Works (And Why It Matters)

Oysters are ecosystem engineers: each adult can filter as much as 50 gallons of water per day, cleansing sediments and pollutants. Their reefs create structural habitat, supporting biodiversity and buffering wave energy - helping to reduce erosion and soften storm surges.

But rebuilding reefs in a dense urban environment is no small feat. The BOP's process has multiple components:

1. Shell collection & recycling

Restaurants across New York donate used oyster, clam, and scallop shells. These shells are cleaned, "cured" (left in open air to neutralize pathogens), and used as the hard surface on which baby oysters (spat) attach.

2. Hatcheries & larval deployment

Larvae are cultured or sourced in hatcheries, then seeded onto the cleaned shells in tanks or "remote setting" facilities before being transported to restoration sites.

3. Site-specific reef construction

Depending on depth, current, and substrate, BOP uses structures like gabions (steel cages), mesh bags, or engineered reef units to host oysters.

4. Monitoring, adaptation, and science

Each site is monitored for survival rates, growth, recruitment (wild larvae settling), and water quality parameters. The BOP publishes annual monitoring reports to refine methods and scale best practices.

In one telling phrase, BOP treats New York Harbor as a living "laboratory" where restoration is iterative, adaptive, and scientifically grounded.

But industrial expansion, pollution, overharvesting, and shoreline development laid waste to that reef network. By 1927, the last commercial oyster bed in New York Harbor had closed.

From Local Reef to Global Symbol

We often imagine islands as distant. But Manhattan, an "island" of cement and skyscrapers, is also intimately tied to the tides. The Billion Oyster Project shows that even the busiest island must reckon with its watery edges, its ecological context, and the currents that flow through.

At a time when small island nations face existential threats from sea-level rise, their stories of adaptation often ask the world: How much value do we place on nature's defenses? In New York Harbor, oysters are not just wildlife - they are assets in climate resilience.

As New York Climate Week passes, the story we carry is this: we are never truly separated from the sea. An island as central as Manhattan is investing in restoring a reef, rebuilding connection, and carrying forward a living legacy.

Cover photo:  Aerial view of New York Harbor where the Billion Oyster Project is restoring oyster reefs