April 3, To whom it may concern,

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1 April 3, 2013 New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission 650 Suffolk Street, Suite 410 Lowell, MA To whom it may concern, Please find attached Ironbound Community Corporation s and the City of Newark s application for the 2013 New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program Public Access and Stewardship Small Grants program. HEP support will allow us to continue our work improving the Passaic River and adjoining land by bringing Newarkers to the river on boat and walking tours. These programs transform residents into environmental advocates and activists by providing critical information on the rivers, its ecology, and history. We feel strongly that this proposal will advance HEP s goal of having local communities adopt their waterfronts. Please contact me with any questions. Sincerely, Joseph Della Fave Executive Director Administration & Community Organizing 179 Van Buren Street fax info@ironboundcc.org Children s Center 1 New York Avenue fax Community Center 432 Lafayette Street fax Family Success Center West 317 Elm Street fax Family Success Center East Cortland Street fax Early Head Start 366 East Kinney Street

2 Title: Project Leaders: Newark Goes Back to the River Boat Tours & Walkshops Ana Baptista, Ironbound Community Corporation Damon Rich, City of Newark Waterfront Planner Contact Information: Ana Baptista Environmental & Planning Projects Director 189 Van Buren St, Ironbound Community Corporation (973) x217 Damon Rich Chief Urban Designer & Waterfront Planner 920 Broad Street Room 407 City of Newark (973) Total Funds Requested from HEP: $10,000 Total matching funds: $12,695 Previous Funding: Received $15,000 in 2011 HEP funding Federal Tax Identification Number: DUNS Number: Project Abstract Back to the River Boat Tours & Walkshops will bring over 700 Newarkers on boat and walking tours of the Passaic River and its environs. Project goals are: (1) Public education and community involvement on on river ecology and restoration [HEP Action Plan Goal 5], (2) Improve public access to the Passaic River, (3) Enhance stewardship of the Passaic River and its upland areas, and (4) Build and strengthen the constituency for the sustainable and inclusive development of Newark s riverfront including public education [HEP Action Plan Goal 2]. Tours will be narrated by the City of Newark s Waterfront Planner and staff of Hackensack Riverkeeper. By bringing participants into direct contact with the river and its uplands, these events will (1) visibly demonstrate the potential community benefits of a revived riverfront, (2) provide physical evidence of the negative impacts of environmental issues including floatable garbage, illegal dumping, and combined sewer overflow, and (3) through group activities, help build a self-aware constituency for the sustainable and inclusive development of Newark s riverfront. Back to the River Boat Tours & Walkshops will help develop and strengthen a city- and area-wide river and watershed coalition. This coalition will help drive: (1) Expansion and strengthening of constituency invested the sustainable and inclusive development of Newark s riverfront. (2) Increased support for public investment in waterfront access, (3) Increased support for requirements for private property owners to provide public waterfront access, (4) increased support for public investment in environmental and green infrastructure, including both end-of-pipe technologies like netting chambers and source control through increased permeable surfaces, and (5) increased usage of the river and its environs by schools and educational programs.

3 Goals and Rationale Since the early 1960s when the decline of water-based industry was imminent, Newark has seen no fewer than 17 plans produced by public and private initiatives to revitalize and heal its waterfront and the Passaic River. These plans have produced very little for the residents of Newark and the region: today there are extremely limited points of public access to the riverfront, and many life-long Newark residents have never visited their city s riverfront nor traveled by boat along it. One cause for the failure of these previous planning efforts was the lack of an educated and involved citywide constituency. Instead, plans were produced that would serve only a select stakeholder vision, such as waterfront office development or one neighborhood s desire for open space. The Newark Goes Back the River Boat Tours & Walkshops will help build the capacity and motivation for stewardship of the entire riverfront s urban legacy to ensure its development as a citywide and regional resource and amenity. Project goals are: (1) Public education and community involvement on on river ecology and restoration [HEP Action Plan Goal 5], (2) Improve public access to the Passaic River, (3) Enhance stewardship of the Passaic River and its upland areas, and (4) Build and strengthen the constituency for the sustainable and inclusive development of Newark s riverfront including public education [HEP Action Plan Goal 2]. Work Plan a. Course of Action Ten boat tours will take place over each summer, with 2-3 tours each in the months of June, July, August, and September. Each tour will last approximately two hours. Due to limited space and overwhelming demand, a nominal ticket price of $5 per person will be charged to prevent no-shows. The boat tours and walkshops will take place along Newark s Passaic Riverfront, passing through the city s Ironbound, Lower Broadway, and North Broadway neighborhoods and downtown. The project will be publicized with a printed palmcard advertising tours and walkshops. Palmcards will be distributed at community meetings, government offices, local businesses, religious institutions, schools, and community centers. Events will also be marketed with phone calls and direct inquiries to local groups and organizations including summer school programs, Boy and Girl Scouts, block associations, etc. Many of these groups have been previously involved in Newark riverfront activities and have active relationships with the City of Newark through Damon Rich. Project information will be posted on and will listed in local English, Spanish, and Portuguese newspapers. June 2013: Project start-up & Outreach. ICC & City of Newark design and produce palmcard to advertise tours and walkshops, and distribute at community meetings, government offices, local businesses, religious institutions, schools, and community centers. Events are marketed to local groups and organizations including summer school programs, Boy and Girl Scouts, block associations, etc. City of Newark finalizes arrangements with Hackensack Riverkeeper and Rutgers University for provision of boats and vans. City of Newark posts tour information on ICC and City of Newark issue press advisory. June September 2013: Tour Season 1 Ten public River Tours and two Walkshops take place. These events bring participants into physical proximity with the riverfront, its natural systems, its history of development, and current improvement initiatives. Events will combine aspects of traditional tours with more interactive visioning activities. For example, Walkshops will feature cameo appearances by guest speakers who have been involved in the riverfront in various ways, from residents to business owners to boaters, as well as concluding debriefing sessions where participants

4 will share their observations and thoughts for the future. Tours and Walkshops will take two hours. Boat tours will launch from the Passaic Valley Sewarage Commission facility near Port Newark or Newark Riverfront Park and travel to the north boundary of Newark. Each boat tour accommodates 30 participants on two boats. Boat tours will be scheduled primarily on weekends, with a morning and afternoon tour. As seats are limited, a nominal ticket price of $5 will be charged to prevent noshows, with group discounts available. Walkshops will focus on limited territory, with one Walkshop devoted to each of three riverfront sections: the Ironbound, the Downtown, and the North Ward. Walkshops will be free of charge. October-November 2013: Season 1 Evaluation Exit surveys and participation demographics compiled and analyzed to improve program design for Tour Season 2. January April 2014: Planning Season 2 Tour dates and outreach plan determined. May August 2014: Tour Season 2 Ten public River Tours and two Walkshops take place. August 2014: Completion and evaluation. City of Newark contacts community-based organizations to reinforce constituency collects documentation and media hits for project to determine how well the project met expectations, what worked well, and what could be improved. b. Environmental Monitoring or Data Collection The project includes only exit surveys for participants only for educational purposes. c. Personnel Ana I. Baptista, Ph.D. Environmental and Planning Projects Director Ironbound Community Corporation Dr. Baptista has been working for the Ironbound Community Corporation for over four years overseeing Environmental Justice, Community Development and Land Use Planning programs. Ana is a member of the statewide New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and is the Vice-Chair of Newark s Environmental Commission. She sits on the NJ DEPs Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Ana received her BA in environmental science from Dartmouth College and an MA in environmental policy from Brown University and completed her Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Public Policy at the Bloustein School at Rutgers University. Ana also currently serves as an adjunct at Milano, the New School for Urban Policy. Damon Rich Chief Urban Designer & Waterfront Planner City of Newark Damon Rich is the Chief Urban Designer and Waterfront Planner for the City of Newark, New Jersey. Damon is overseeing the design and development of Newark s first true riverfront park on the Passaic, the second segment of which is schedule for 2013 completion. He is also leading the planning and rezoning of 250 acres of riverfront land across the City. As Urban Designer, Damon works with the public and private development community to improve the public spaces of the City, including the launch of the This is Newark! Mural Program in In 2007, he was named a Loeb Fellow in Advanced Environmental Studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He has taught design, architecture, and planning at Syracuse University, Pratt Institute, Parsons the New School for Design, and Cooper Union. He has contributed articles to Architecture, the Village Voice, the Nation, and Metropolis.

5 d. Location & Community Connections The boat tours and walkshops will take place along Newark s Passaic Riverfront, passing through the city s Ironbound, Lower Broadway, and North Broadway neighborhoods and downtown. The Ironbound Community Corporation has worked in the Ironbound section of Newark for over 40 years. Its social and educational services bring it into sustained contact with a wide swath of the neighborhood s 50,000 residents. Since 2008, the City of Newark has operated Newark Riverfront Revival (NRR), an initiative to revive Newark s riverfront to bring concrete benefits to the City of Newark and its residents. NRR s programs have involved over 2000 residents and visitors in the revival of the Passaic Riverfront through community-based planning and design, youth education, and public programs. The project will target residents of Newark, NJ to build and strengthen a citywide constituency for the city s Passaic Riverfront. The City of Newark is home to 273,546 residents. Newark is a majority nonwhite City, with 84% of residents self-reporting as African-American or Latino in the 2000 Census. Many of Newark s residents struggle economically, with over one-quarter of residents (74,263) living below the federal poverty line, and with a citywide median household income of $34,521. In terms of educational attainment, 58% of Newark residents hold high school diplomas, but only 9% hold a bachelor s degree or higher. Events will be planned with this audience in mind. Participants will be recruited with a printed palmcard advertising tours and walkshops. Palmcards will be distributed at community meetings, government offices, local businesses, religious institutions, schools, and community centers. Events will also be marketed with phone calls and direct inquiries to local groups and organizations including summer school programs, Boy and Girl Scouts, block associations, etc. Many of these groups have been previously involved in Newark riverfront activities and have active relationships with the City of Newark through Damon Rich. e. Expected Results Outputs: Newark Goes Back to the River Boat Tours & Walkshops will bring 720 participants onto the Passaic River and along its shores (600 on boat tours, 120 on walkshops) and produce 6000 palmcards, photographic and narrative documentation of boat tours and walkshops, and expanded and mailing lists for riverfront events and organizing. By bringing participants into direct contact with the river and its uplands to see it with their own eyes, these events will (1) visibly demonstrate the potential community benefits of a revived riverfront, (2) provide physical evidence of the negative impacts of environmental issues including floatable garbage, illegal dumping, and combined sewer overflow, and (3) through group activities, help build a self-aware constituency for the sustainable and inclusive development of Newark s riverfront. The take-home message is that Newark s riverfront holds immense potential benefits for the city and its residents, including open space and recreational facilities, environmental education, and improve environmental health, and that the realization of these benefits depends upon an energized and organized citywide constituency. The tours will not only show participants the extent and condition of Newark s riverfront, but will focus on stories of how past accomplishments have depended upon organized and vigilant

6 communities, including saving Riverbank Park and catalyzing the development of Newark Riverfront Park, currently in construction. The conclusion of every event will focus on what individuals can do: bring the message to politicians, volunteer for riverfront clean-ups, and attend riverfront and watershed-related meetings such as the Community Advisory Group. Outcomes: Newark Goes Back to the River Boat Tours & Walkshops will help develop and strengthen a city- and area-wide river and watershed coalition. This coalition will help drive: (1) Expansion and strengthening of constituency invested the sustainable and inclusive development of Newark s riverfront. (2) Increased support for public investment in waterfront access (3) Increased support for requirements for private property owners to provide public waterfront access. (4) Increased support for public investment in environmental and green infrastructure, including both end-of-pipe technologies like netting chambers and source control through increased permeable surfaces. (5) Increased usage of the river and its environs by schools and educational programs f. Evaluation Several factors will be used to evaluate project success: (1) Number of participants brought to and on the river to evaluate success towards goal of promoting public access to the Passaic River (2) All participants in Riverfront Tours and Walkshops will be asked to complete exit questionnaires examining how the experience changed their perceptions and knowledge of Newark s riverfront, and their willingness to participate in ongoing river-related activities. This will help evaluate success towards goal of enhancing stewardship, building constituency, and providing environmental education. (3) Demographic information on participants will be used to evaluate the breath and reach of the project, and degree of success in involving participants that represent the diversity of Newark. This will help evaluate success towards goal of building and strengthening a citywide constituency for Newark s riverfront. The following metrics will be used to measure progress towards these goals: a. Number of names of Newark Riverfront and mailing lists. b. Number of visitors to the Newark Riverfront c. Number of students participating in riverfront-related activities. d. Number of attendees at public meetings on planning and design of Newark s riverfront. g. Partnerships Ironbound Community Corporation will administer the grant funding and lead outreach and constituency building in the Ironbound neighborhood. The City of Newark will coordinate logistics including van and boat transportation, provide tour guidance including visual aids, and coordinate citywide outreach, including the production of a palmcard for each summer season.

7 h. Timeline Activity and responsible person/entity Time Period Design and produce palmcard to advertise tours and walkshops (ICC June 2013 & City of Newark) Distribute palmcards at community meetings, government offices, June 2013 local businesses, religious institutions, schools, and community centers (ICC & City of Newark) Programs are marketed to local groups and organizations including June 2013 summer school programs, Boy and Girl Scouts, block associations, etc. (ICC & City of Newark) Finalize arrangements with Hackensack Riverkeeper and Rutgers June 2013 University for provision of boats and vans. (City of Newark) Project information posted on June 2013 (City of Newark) Lead ten boat tours (City of Newark) June September 2013 Lead two walkshops (City of Newark) June September 2013 Exit surveys and participation demographics compiled and analyzed October November 2013 to improve program design for Tour Season 2. (ICC & City of Newark) Season 2 tour dates and outreach plan determined (ICC & City of January April 2014 Newark) Lead ten boat tours (City of Newark) May August 2014 Lead two walkshops (City of Newark) May August 2014 Exit surveys and participation demographics compiled. Communitybased organizations contacted to reinforce constituency. Documentation and media hits collected. (ICC & City of Newark) August 2014

8 i. Budget j. PROJECT BUDGET BUDGET CATEGORY (Add/remove itemizing lines below major categories as necessary, but do NOT delete major categories) MATCH* GRANT REQUEST A. PERSONNEL (list individual names and titles below) TOTAL: $7500 $1000 Damon Rich, Newark Waterfront Planner, Logistic Coordination & Tour Guiding, 10% of time Ana Baptista, ICC Program Director, Outreach & Grant Administration, 40 hours B. FRINGE BENEFITS 15% of 8500 (e.g., 10% of total personnel costs) TOTAL: $1275 $7500 $0 $0 $1000 $1125 $150 C. TRAVEL (estimate number/purpose of trips below) TOTAL: $0 $0 D. EQUIPMENT** (itemize below) TOTAL: $0 $0 E. SUPPLIES (itemize below) TOTAL: $350 $0 Visual aids $150 $0 Drinking water $200 $0 F. CONTRACTS (identify & itemize below) TOTAL: $2618 $7982 Hackensack Riverkeeper: Provide boats and pilots $2018 $7982 Rutgers University: Van transportation $600 $0 G. OTHER (identify & itemize below) TOTAL: $0 $0 H. TOTAL DIRECT COSTS (SUM OF A-G) $11,593 $9132 I. INDIRECT COSTS 9.5% of $9132 (e.g., 10% of total direct costs) TOTAL: $1969 $1102 $868 J. TOTAL PROJECT COST (SUM OF H+I) $12,695 $10,000 * Please list the source(s) of these funds and if they are in-hand, expected, or will be sought. $12,695 of matching funds has been secured from the Newark Riverfront Improvement Fund administered by the Brick City Development Corporation. **Equipment refers to items that cost $5,000 or more each. Items of lesser cost are considered supplies.

9 Newark Department of Economic & Housing Development Division of Office of Boards Cory A. Booker Mayor Adam Zipkin Director 920 Broad Street, Room 112 Newark, New Jersey Tel: Fax: April 2, 2013 New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission 650 Suffolk Street, Suite 410 Lowell, MA To whom it may concern, On behalf of the City of Newark, I enthusiastically endorse the joint application with the Ironbound Community Corporation to the 2013 New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program Public Access and Stewardship Small Grants program. For decades, residents of Newark and the region have advocated for the health of the Passaic River and the creation of public spaces along the water s edge. When Mayor Cory Booker was first elected in 2006, he endorsed the vision of reconnecting Newark to its river. Recently, those years of labor have finally borne fruit in the form of new parks and trails, and the first steps towards remediation of the river itself. Our proposal seeks HEP support to make sure these triumphs touch every Newarker. Since their founding in the early 1970s, the Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) has taken a leading role in advocating and planning Newark s return to the river. ICC has demonstrated passion and stewardship for the complex cultural life of the Ironbound neighborhood and Newark in general. Through patient and long-term community organizing, ICC has built the reputation and capacity to serve as a capable partner with the City in this endeavor. Please contact me with any questions. Thank you, Damon Rich Chief Urban Designer & Waterfront Planner