The Big Oyster

New York City is an iconic place many of us feel we know well—from its towering skyscrapers and sprawling bridges to its streets teeming with traffic, commerce, and cuisine. The “city that never sleeps” is famous for being full of life—on land. Less well-known is that its harbor was once teeming with life too. Until centuries of pollution and misuse turned it into a cesspool. Today, an alliance of architects, restaurateurs, scientists, and high school students is working to restore New York Harbor to its former glory—with the help of a remarkable and tasty creature that fits in the palm of your hand: the oyster. Each one of these filter-feeding reef builders can clean gallons of water a day. So, the plan is to put a billion of them back into the harbor, where they will filter out pollutants, establish reefs that can protect the city from storm surges, and provide habitat for myriad other species that once called New York home.