On-the-Water, A Buoyant Life on NYC's Urban Waters [Jamaica Bay/ Rockaways]

On the Water: A Buoyant Life on NYC's Urban Waters is a community-driven research project exploring how residents of Jamaica Bay and the Rockaways can adapt to rising seas while staying in their neighborhoods. NOAA projects that 14% of NYC's land and 1.5 million New Yorkers will be affected over the next century, and most of the Rockaway Peninsula could be permanently submerged. The team sees this as both a challenge and an opportunity, and asks where, how, and with whom floating communities could work.

The project is led by Pratt Institute School of Architecture faculty Gita Nandan (thread collective) and Zehra Kuz (Oasis Design Lab). Their partner is RISE (Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability and Equity), a Far Rockaway organization advancing community resilience, environmental justice, and climate education.

The team will build GIS maps from about 30 open data sets, including sea level rise, zoning, and critical infrastructure. With RISE and its Shore Corps youth program, they will host workshops and walking tours, interview residents, and lead a participatory mapping session with youth, NYCHA residents, elders, and artists. Community stories will be layered onto the data maps to identify opportunity areas for on-the-water living, then shared at a public exhibition at RISE in May 2027.

The work is guided by New York State's Climate Justice Working Group criteria for disadvantaged communities, the NYC Charter's Fair Share criteria for transparent community consultation, and the Jimenez Principles, which call for equitable, non-extractive relationships with residents.

The project supports RISE's mission by strengthening community capacity through place-based learning, giving Shore Corps students hands-on exposure to urban planning, and ensuring residents' knowledge shapes future resilience planning.