Healthy harbor update: Billion Oyster Project hosts informative fundraiser in exclusive Williamsburg setting

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April 18, 2024 Wayne Daren Schneiderman

Oysters three ways. Photo: Billion Oyster Project

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WILLIAMSBURG — The average fully-grown oyster can filter 50 gallons of water a day. That’s just one of several reasons illustrating the importance of bivalves to New York Harbor. And, if one oyster can play such a role, imagine what a billion could do.

On a recent evening at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, a group of 40 supporters were given a front-row seat to a program on oysters that included a feast courtesy of the Billion Oyster Project (BOP).

Guests enjoying a cocktail while awaiting their first oyster course. Brooklyn Eagle photos by Wayne Daren Schneiderman — Guests enjoying a cocktail while awaiting their first oyster course. Brooklyn Eagle photo by Wayne Daren Schneiderman

The BOP is a New York City-based nonprofit organization created in 2014 with the goal of restoring oyster reefs to New York Harbor in collaboration with New York City communities. They are hoping to restore one billion oysters by 2035.

Because oysters are filter feeders, they serve as a natural water filter, with a number of beneficial effects for the ecosystem. The reefs they form increase habitat and subsequent marine biodiversity levels and help protect the city’s shorelines from storm surges.

BOP’s annual event, the Billion Oyster Social, was held in the Wythe Hotel’s Penthouse Loft, with sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline and a private rooftop terrace.