With a chorus of “ayes,” the New York City Council passed legislation on August 16 that reconstitutes the Waterfront Management Advisory Board(WMAB), and with the stroke of a pen, Mayor de Blasio made it law on August 31. “As we build more sustainable, resilient, equitable waterfronts across the five boroughs, we’ll be counting on the voices of New Yorkers to help us,” he said before he signed the bill into law.

An important forum for governmental and civic representatives to work together to shape waterfront projects, the WMAB was created in 1977 but then mostly dormant for 30 years. After strong advocacy by the Waterfront Alliance and other groups, it was revived in 2009, but was active only for about four years.