East River

As the city industrialized and production became more and more advanced, our commons have become somewhat of an afterthought.  Pollution is rampant in our city and the greatest example of this is quite possibly the East River.  Stretching nearly sixteen miles, the once clean estuary is now ravaged with pollution.  Unfortunately, the East River is just one of many places in the city that have been negatively impacted by the growth of the city as well as the tragedy of the commons.  The tragedy of the commons is a term used to describe how a shared resource—something that everyone uses but itself—deteriorates over time.  This is usually accounted to the fact that since no one owns it, no one bothers to maintain it.  Therefore, the common becomes polluted over time without anyone bothering to help clean up.

While the East River is an extreme example and would be enormously difficult to restore, the tragedy it represents is present with numerous commons throughout the entire city.  Central Park has also been victim to the tragedy of the commons of New York City.  Unlike the East River, however, Central Park has been able to be miraculously restored over time thanks to the devotion of park employees.  Hopefully, we as citizens can learn from the tragedy of the East River and work to conserve our valuable commons.