The Rise and Ruin of Jamaica Bay Oysters
Jamaica Bay’s oyster beds once helped define its economy, but pollution, disease, and urban growth turned one of the bay’s richest resources into a public-health hazard.
Before the Airport: The Many Lives of Jamaica Bay
Excerpt: Long before airports and parkways, Jamaica Bay was a productive estuary shaped by Indigenous use, colonial settlement, fishing, and maritime life. This article introduces the deeper history of one of New York’s most transformed landscapes.
Jamaica Bay: Nature, Industry, and the Lost Edge of New York
A five-part series on the environmental history of Jamaica Bay, tracing its transformation from productive estuary to recreational frontier, oyster economy, dumping ground, and restoration landscape.