City and Federal Officials to Manage Jamaica Bay New York City and the National Park Service on Tuesday formalized a partnership to jointly manage more than 10,000 acres of parkland in and around Jamaica Bay, which stretches across south Brooklyn to Queens. The agreement will mean that city and federal officials will for the first time work together to improve access, foster research, run education and recreation programs, and plan restoration projects for the bay, which is an important estuary and a migratory stopover for hundreds of birds. The move followed an announcement last fall that sketched out the vision for such a partnership. "The United States and New York City have joined forces to establish a single seamless park that is readily accessible to New Yorkers," said Ken Salazar, the interior secretary, who, with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, was to sign the agreement in a news conference at City Hall. Jamaica Bay is an unusual patchwork of private, city and federal lands. City parks in the bay area total 3,300 acres and include Marine, Canarsie, Paerdegat Basin and Spring Creek Parks, as well as Rockaway Beach. The federal holdings, which span 7,300 acres, include Floyd Bennett Field, Fort Tilden, Jacob Riis Park, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and a smattering of salt-marsh islands, all making up part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. The announcement comes after years of efforts - sometimes sputtering - by environmental advocates, city officials and nonprofit groups to protect Jamaica Bay. Intensive development, industry, sewage treatment plants and Kennedy International Airport have all hampered water quality and caused erosion. But last year, the Natural Resources Defense Council signed an agreement with state and city officials that would cut in half the amount of nitrogen discharged into the bay from four treatment plants, improving the health of the bay. The agreement also calls for the creation of a conservancy or friends group dedicated to the bay in order to encourage philanthropy. Similar conservancies have helped other large parks in New York City, including Central Park in Manhattan and Prospect Park in Brooklyn, find new streams of revenue, but they tend to be in affluent neighborhoods. Given that the bay is ringed by largely working- and middle-class neighborhoods, however, it is uncertain how successful that effort will be. In addition, the agreement will invite proposals from academic and science-based institutions for a new research program - and potentially a new science center - that will focus on the bay's restoration. The mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability released a "request for expressions of interest" on Tuesday; responses are due in early November. The Rockefeller Foundation also committed $1.5 million to establish a center for the study of the resilience of coastal environments in the face of climate change. Last fall, the foundation pledged $250,000 to develop a Jamaica Bay parks master plan. "This historic partnership will improve our city's great natural treasure - Jamaica Bay - by creating restored, resilient natural landscapes, more outdoor recreation, new and cutting-edge research collaborations, and an improved, sustainable transportation framework," Mayor Bloomberg said. This is an important example of the great things that can happen when different levels of government work together.