A Clam By Many Other Names

Call them what you will, 'the hard clam,' 'northern quahog,' or 'Venues Mercenaria.'

But up until relatively recently, the of Little Neck Bay was teeming with tons of the edible sea mussels, the likes of which are still commonly referred to as the 'Little Neck Clam.'

"Just imagine—locals could actually walk out into the bay and dig up clams to eat," said Dr. Aline Euler of the Alley Pond Environmental Center.

In fact, according to local lore, there was a time when Little Neck clams were so abundant in the area that prospectors known as began settling here in northeast Queens just to harvest the clamming beds of the Long Island Sound.

Then the outgrowth of the Industrial Revolution began spreading rapidly across New York City, increasing concerns over public health and prompting city leaders to build the city's very first sewer system.

The only problem was that this sewer system would feed all the human waste it collected directly into the East and Hudson Rivers.

"I don't think it occur to people back then that dumping all that sewage into the waters around Manhattan would have such a negative impact on the clamming beds here in Queens," Euler said.

Unintended consequences aside however, soon after the installation of these outflows of human excrement and industrial waste into the waterways surrounding Manhattan, the clamming beds of Little Neck Bay soon became vastly polluted.

"Most people probably still don't realize how fluid water is and how connected the world's water supplies really are," Euler said.

By the turn of the 19th Century, the once vibrant clamming industry of northeast Queens was all but extinct.

And in 1909, Little Neck Bay was officially closed to harvesting the clams which now bares its name.

Still, Euler remains hopeful that one day the waterfronts of Little Neck and the surrounding areas will again be hospitable for clamming.

"It's all about priorities—what is truly important to people?" she asked.

Stressing the necessity of keeping EPA standards tough as well as pointing to several promising water treatment projects currently underway around the area, Euler was quick to point out the importance of being ecological stewards for the bay.

"A great deal of people are saying we should do away with the EPA and throw out all the standards and regulations protecting our watersheds," Euler said.

With grave concerns over the negative impact this could have on the world at large, Euler imagined a world without environmental protectionism.

"People should just look at what happened here in Little Neck and ask themselves what is really important," she said.