Opinion: When It Comes to NYC’s Waterways, Don’t Let Oysters Do All the Dirty Work

['View All Posts', 'Audrey Li', 'Written By', 'Jeanmarie Evelly', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img'] City Limits 2025-09-23 21:58:33

(Adi Talwar)When I first learned about oyster restoration in New York Harbor, I was amazed. These small, craggy creatures could filter water, support biodiversity, and even help stabilize shorelines. That’s the water oysters are expected to filter. Oyster reefs show us what recovery might look like, but only if we stop asking them to filter out everything we haven’t yet faced. Audrey Li is a Scarsdale High School student who volunteers with oyster restoration projects in New York Harbor and Long Island Sound.