Driving Smooth Operations, Teamwork, and Community Every Day

Casey Fogarty, Operations Manager, New York Harbor School Alumni Class of 2017
A Billion Oyster Project Staff & Harbor Alumni Feature

A Staten Island local, Casey Fogarty, Harbor School Alumni Class of 2017, describes himself as the “behind-the-scenes guy” at Billion Oyster Project, ensuring that “everything is running smoothly.” His time at Harbor School was central to his decision to work with us:

“It’s a gem of a high school experience,” Casey remarks. “It helped me open my eyes to the fact that the waterways are active and flowing.”

The school’s marine ecology education programming pushed Casey to engage with New York Harbor “in many different ways, whether for commuting, studying on the island, or recreational after-school sailing.” At the start of his time at Harbor School, Casey was a student in the Vessel Operations program and intended to pursue a career as a boat captain, starting with obtaining a 100-ton license. But in 10th grade, Casey realized he was colorblind.

“I realized that I couldn’t get a captain’s license, and I decided to change career paths,” shares Casey.

After attending SUNY Maritime College and pursuing an International Transportation and Trade degree, Casey worked at a local shipyard for a few years. But when a friend mentioned a job opening at Billion Oyster Project, he felt as though he had finally found what he was searching for. With a background in logistics and procurement, Casey fulfills various organizational roles as Operations Manager: managing our transportation and vehicles, running weekly meetings with the Operations Team, and providing cross-departmental support.

Within his first few months with us, Casey immediately noticed key parallels between our mission and Harbor School––in particular, our shared values of open-mindedness and inclusivity, both internally and within our coastal community outreach initiatives. Lucky for us, our community immediately felt different than any other workplace he had previously experienced.

“For me, the community at Billion Oyster Project is a loving and accepting team with like-minded individuals who are all extremely passionate about restorative environmental justice,” Casey says. “We have cross-industry professionals all in one organization, and it's nice to see both Harbor and non-Harbor School alumni alike.”

Casey believes Harbor School is similarly conducive to various forms of cross-collaboration and inclusion.

“Kids from every city neighborhood collaborate on this hidden island in their shared pursuit of environmental stewardship and marine science education,” says Casey.

A highlight of Casey’s work at Billion Oyster Project has been working behind the scenes on operations and planning for Billion Oyster Projects new office location in historic nolan park on Governors Island, as well as assisting in everyday operations across departmentally ensuring all 6 departments at Billion Oyster Project can work efficiently. Casey also enjoys joining the CE team on all hands events that encourage BOP staff to be immersed with local communities through tabling events, which are open to all staff and promote coastal community engagement. On a recent City of Water Day, Casey supported a tabling event at SUNY Maritime College and was inspired by community members’ excitement as they learned about the Harbor’s complex ecosystem, including oyster reef biodiversity.

Another highlight has been the opportunity to carry on a family tradition. Casey’s grandmother worked on Governors Island in the ‘60s and has since visited the island only once before Casey graduated from Harbor School—but another visit is in the making.

“I plan to take her to Governors Island on my birthday so she can see what it’s like now,” says Casey. “It's such a pivotal experience to say that I work exactly where my grandmother worked at a similar age.”

Learn more about Harbor School and how our education initiatives support the next generation of environmental stewardship. Read our 2024 10th Anniversary Impact Report and how you can support our efforts to raise $1 Million for 1 Billion Oysters by December 31st!