Hi Friends! Did you know that NYC harbor used to contain half of the world’s oysters.?!?! HALF! Can you believe that? For thousands of years, oysters were superheroes: they kept the rivers clean by naturally filtering sediment, their beds provided habitats for a diversity of aquatic life and protected the shoreline from erosion, and they kept people (poor and rich alike) fed and happy. New York’s fishing industry was a major reason for the city’s economic and cultural growth. But in just a few hundred years, through a combination of overfishing, harbor dredging and sewage pollution, the entirety of oysters were wiped out by the occupants of Manahatta/New Amsterdam/New York.
Salty Folk is a new musical one act written all about these superheroes and their adventures restoring the waterways of New York! I’m so thrilled to be on this oyster-riffic journey!