Open Space

The Metropolitan Greensward is RPA's vision of a system of protected landscape and water bodies that distinguish the cities and suburbs of the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut metropolitan region. These region-shaping open spaces harbor the region's most critical natural resource systems, its recreational opportunities and its working landscapes of farms, forests, and waterways. Together, these protected open lands will help shape future patterns of growth in the tri-state region by limiting development at its periphery and enhancing the quality of life in its cities and suburbs.

To realize this vision, RPA undertakes landscape assessments and plans that identify critical natural resources and support the establishment of individual parks and regional institutions. Our policy research provides insight on critical issues, especially on how conservation practice and ecosystem services can help sustain other economic uses in these landscapes. We advocate for the long-term stewardship of these places, including creating new coalitions and organizations.

Working together with hundreds of public agencies and civic leaders, RPA has seen considerable success since its campaign was launched. These include establishment of New York State's Third Forest Preserve and the Pine Barrens Commission to protect and manage the 100,000 acre central Pine Barrens of Long Island; Acquisition of the jewel of the Appalachian Highlands, the 18,000 acre Sterling Forest and establishing a 400,000 core preservation area through the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act in New Jersey; The reinvention of the New York Harbor as a major recreational amenity, with political commitments and more than $1 billion of public and private funds invested in Hudson River Park, Riverside South, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Governors Island; and the creation of the 500-acre Keyspan State Park and a commitment to create a Long Island Sound Stewardship System that will help protect thousands of additional acres.

View the Greensward Map

See the links below for more information on current initiatives in three critical region-shaping landscapes

Featured Projects

Housing Changes Key to Long Island's Prospects

January 19, 2012

Long Island is at a tipping point, possessing tremendous innovation potential but hamstrung by a shortage of affordable housing, limited downtown development and gaps in science education, new research suggests.

Three studies issued by the Long Island Index, a 10-year-old research initiative, describe the opportunities and challenges facing the Island. Long Island Profile 2012, written by Regional Plan Association, documents the region's progression from America's poster child of postwar optimism to a place experiencing a midlife crisis of uncertainty. A new poll conducted by the Center for Survey Research at Stony Brook shows Long Islanders concerned about the future but more open to new ways to grow, such as building more apartments in Long Island's downtowns. And the Innovation Index, written by Collaborative Economics, points the urgency of connecting Long Island's research institutions, skilled work force and other assets to restore a high-wage, dynamic economy.

Long Island's economic competitiveness will be on the agenda at a town hall meeting in Hauppauge in Suffolk County on Jan. 31. Everyone is welcome.

Brooklyn Greenway to Get New Park at Navy Yard

December 9, 2011

More green space is coming to the Brooklyn Navy Yard neighborhood.

The Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, an initiative co-led by Regional Plan Association, won a $890,000 New York State economic-development grant to build a long-sought park at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. RPA and Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, a community-based nonprofit, have worked for the past decade to develop a 14-mile landscaped path along Brooklyn's waterfront.

Small neighborhood parks like this one and others in the works will enhance the greenway by creating open spaces and amenities along the route. The Navy Yard park will be built on a 1.7 acre site at the Navy Yard that once housed a hospital cemetery.

A New Collaboration for Jamaica Bay

October 28, 2011

On Thursday, October 27, 2011 Mayor Michael Bloomberg and US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed an agreement to jointly manage over 10,000 acres of federal and city land in and around Jamaica Bay improving parks and water quality throughout the Bay, including Floyd Bennett Field. This collaboration was the key recommendation of the RPA-staffed Floyd Bennett Field Blue Ribbon Panel. City Hall and the US Department of the Interior will now move forward to develop a jointly-managed vision and governance structure, creating a Jamaica Bay master plan that will guide the redevelopment and management of both the Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway National Recreation as well as adjoining city parkland, like Marine Park and Rockaway Beach. One specific goal will be to increase the accessibility of these parks, including improvements to the Jamaica Bay Greenway, where RPA is leading a public -private coalition.

"The parks in and around Jamaica Bay are natural and recreational treasures, all the more so because of their location right in the heart of the Nation's largest metropolitan area" said Robert D. Yaro, President of Regional Plan Association. "We congratulate Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Mayor Michael Bloomberg for establishing the framework that was needed to make this area a premier regional destination."

Click here to see the Floyd Bennett Field Blue Ribbon Panel Report. Click here to see the press release. Click here to see video coverage of the event.

Introducing the User's Guide to the Jamaica Bay Greenway & the 3rd Annual Brooklyn Waterfront Epic

July 26, 2011

User's Guide to the Jamaica Bay Greenway On July 30th RPA and the Jamaica Bay Greenway Coalition will release the Jamaica Bay Greenway Users Guide at the 3rd annual Brooklyn Waterfront Epic Ride. The Jamaica Bay Greenway Coalition, staffed by RPA, advocates for improved and expanded greenway infrastructure around Jamaica Bay to create a cohesive and user-friendly route. The Coalition also works to promote use of the greenway by both encouraging cycling among residents near Jamaica Bay and bringing people from outside the area to visit this unique resource.

The new User's Guide to the Jamaica Bay Greenway, a pocket sized map that highlights the planned completed greenway, access routes to reach it, points of interest, kayak and human powered boat launches, and representative cycling distances. The guide will be distributed free of charge to people throughout New York City aiming both to introduce New Yorkers from all five boroughs to the wonderful recreation opportunities Jamaica Bay has to offer, and to encourage the Bay's closest neighbors to use the Greenway.

RPA is also a co-sponsor of the Brooklyn Waterfront Epic, a 40-mile ride from Newtown Creek in Greenpoint around Brooklyn's 27-mile waterfront and on to Rockaway Beach. The ride will start at the foot of Manhattan Avenue at Newtown Creek in Greenpoint, Brooklyn at 9:00 AM sharp. Riders must arrive at 8:30 to check in. Registration is now open at www.brooklyngreenway.org.

New Report Offers Recommendations for Revitalizing Floyd Bennett Field and Gateway National Recreation Area

June 12, 2011

On June 12, 2011 the Floyd Bennett Field Blue Ribbon Panel released its final recommendations on how to revitalize Floyd Bennett Field and make Gateway National Recreation Area and into an iconic urban national park. Click here to download the full report. Click here to download the full press release.

The Panel released its recommendations in advance of Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Mayor Bloomberg gathering at Gracie Mansion to discuss how best to elevate Gateway National Recreation Area into an urban national park.