Ribbon cutting ceremony for the first ADA-compliant bait station in East Harlem. Credit: Paul Focazio, NYSG

A NYSG partnership helps anglers with special needs; installs first ADA-compliant bait station in East Harlem

Contact:

Antoinette Clemetson, NYSG Marine Fisheries Specialist, P: 631-632-8730, E: aoc5@cornell.edu

New York, NY, March 2, 2020 - Anglers require designated areas where they can prepare bait, clean fish, and remove tackle from their catch.  While several municipalities provide bait stations for anglers, these structures do not meet the special needs of anglers in wheelchairs.

It is extremely rare to find ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)-compliant structures for anglers in New York City.  To address this need, New York Sea Grant funded a project to fabricate and pilot an ADA-compliant bait station prototype. This unique bait station design was possible through a partnership between private sector, NGO, and government entities.    

The Friends of the East River Esplanade designed and developed the prototype in consultation with anglers and an architecture firm. Funding was provided through the New York State Marine and Coastal District Small Grants Program, which is supported by sales of a custom license plate.
   
Funds were used to fabricate this prototype for a bait station that allows anglers in wheelchairs to cut bait and clean catch. A fish identification guide is provided to educate anglers about common species in the area.

This prototype was erected along the esplanade in East Harlem at a prime fishing spot where  residents use the waterfront for recreation.    
       
This new bait station installation enables anglers from East Harlem’s diverse immigrant neighborhoods and low income households improved access to the waterfront, and establishes a designated space for anglers at this popular fishing access point. 


An angler tests the first ADA-compliant bait station in East Harlem. Credit: Chris O’Brien, Friends of the East River Esplanade

Constructing ADA-compliant structures for anglers reduces concerns about safe handling, increases accessibility, and enhances the waterfront environment for all users.

The bait station is made of weathering steel and requires little to no maintenance. Other important features of the station include:

• solar panels
• lighting
• battery and inverter access panel
• street identification
• manual non-potable water pump
• measuring device for catch
• polyethylene cutting surfaces
• fish illustrations.



Above: The universal symbol for wheelchair accessibility is painted on the new bait station. Below: A fish identification guide at the station educates anglers about common species in this prime fishing area along the esplanade in East Harlem. Credit: Chris O’Brien, Friends of the East River Esplanade



Learn about New York State Marine and Coastal District Small Grants: www.nyseagrant.org/marinesmallgrants.

This bait station project was funded through New York State Marine & Coastal District custom license plate sales.


The New York State Marine and Coastal District Small Grants Program is supported by a partnership between New York Sea Grant, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Marine and Coastal District of New York Conservation, Education, and Research Grants Program. Funding is supported from the NYS Marine and Coastal District License Plate program administered by the Marine and Coastal District of New York Conservation, Education and Research Board, and authorized through NYS Environmental Conservation Law Article 13, Title 5 Section 13-0503.


The Sea Grant Focus Area for this project is Resilient New York Communities and Economies.


Project Partners: 
 
• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 
• Friends of the East River Esplanade
• New York City Parks
• El Barrio Fishermen
• New York State Marine and Coastal District Small Grants Program (funding)


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly. Our program also produces an occasional e-newsletter,"NOAA Sea Grant's Social Media Review," via its blog, www.nyseagrant.org/blog.