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The Bronx
River runs through two counties,
four towns, four cities, three villages, five New York
City council districts, seven New York City community boards and four
Federal Congressional districts. Eight of its twenty-three miles are
located in New York City
and are now under the purview of the Bronx River Alliance.
Before the creation of the Alliance, however,
the issue of jurisdiction was unclear. DPR, despite owning the majority of
land along the river's banks, did not view the actual river to be under its
purview. Other property owners were mainly other city agencies such as the
Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Department of Business
Services, and Department of Transportation (both city and state). In
addition, there were many agencies (both state and federal) that had
responsibility for the regulation of certain aspects of the river, but no
one agency had the mandate for the overall management of the river. For
example, the US Coast Guard had jurisdiction over safety, the US Army Corps
of Engineers had responsibility for maintaining the channel, and the New
York State Department of Envrionmental Conservation had authority over the
ecological integrity of the land within 150 feet of the waterway.
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