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Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance
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MWA EVENTS
April 1, 6pm-8pm
City of Water Day 2009 Volunteers Meeting
Urban Center Gallery
457 Madison Avenue
April 1, 6pm-8pm
City of Water Day 2009 Paddlers Meeting
Urban Center Gallery
457 Madison Avenue
OTHER EVENTS IN THE METRO AREA
Mar. 12, 7pm
Long Island City Community Boathouse 2009 Paddle Party
The Foundry
42-38 Ninth Street
Long Island City, NY
Mar. 14, 12pm
Earth Celebrations Hudson River Pageant Puppet Workshop
Manhattan Youth Downtown Community Center, 120 Warren St.
Mar. 14, 3:30pm
World Premiere of
A Sea Change
1228 1/2 31st St. NW
Washington, DC
Mar. 14, 12pm-4pm
Science of Sail
South Street Seaport Museum, 12 Fulton St.
Mar. 14, 9pm
Sustainable South Bronx Comedy for a Cause!
Times Square Arts Center, 669 8th Avenue
Mar. 18, 3pm
8th Annual Water Conference Hosted by The Bronx Council for Environmental Quality
Manhattan College,
Leo Engineering Building, 3825 Corlear Avenue, just north of 238th St., Bronx
Mar. 19, 5:30pm
Oyster Reef Restoration in an Urban Estuary:
Are We Ready?
Pier 84 Classroom
44th Street and the Hudson River
Mar. 19, 6:30pm
Northern Forest Canoe Trail Talk
Arsenal Gallery
64th Street & 5th Ave. (inside Central Park)
Mar, 19, 6:30pm
Monthly Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus Meeting
Behind Smith and Vine, 268 Smith Street, Brooklyn
Mar. 20, 5pm-8pm
Meet the Working Waterfront
South Street Seaport Museum, 12
Fulton St.
Mar. 24, 6pm
Hoboken Boathouse Public Meeting
Maxwell Place Park Boathouse, Frank Sinatra Drive & Maxwell Place, Hoboken, NJ
Mar. 24, 7pm
Connect the Parks: The Jersey City Waterfront Parks Conservancy present a Conceptual Master Plan
Portside Towers
East Lobby
155 Washington St.,
Jersey City
Mar. 27, 12am-
Mar. 29, 4pm
Paddlesport 2009
Garden State Exhibit Center, Somerset, NJ
Mar. 28, 10pm
Time's Up Riverside Ride
Columbus Circle entrance to Central Park, Central Park South and Central Park West
Mar. 30, 9am
WE ACT & CCCEH Children's Environmental Health Conference
Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health,
Mailman School of Public Health,
100 Haven Avenue, Tower III, Suite 25F
Mar. 31, 7pm
Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance VIP Night
TRACE, 8814 Third Avenue, Brooklyn
April 1, 10:30am
Environmental Effects on the Hudson River Population of Atlantic Tomcod
The Hudson River Foundation 17 Battery Place, Suite 915
April 2, 6pm-8pm
Working Harbor Committee Spring Gala Award Reception
The Down Town Association
60 Pine Street
April 11, 10am
Environmental Tour of the South, South Bronx & Randall's Island
Meet at the Bronx Park, 141 Street and Brook Avenue, Bronx, under the cherry blossoms!
Quadricentennial Events
Mar. 13, 7:30pm
Hudson River Quadricentennial Concert
Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chamber Street
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Photo by Carter Craft ACCESS DENIED
Serious Threat to New Jersey Waterfront AccessFor years, it's been hard to get to parts of the New Jersey waterfront, but now, if lawmakers have their way, public access to the water's edge (and idyllic bike rides like the one above along the Hudson River in Edgewater, NJ) may become even more difficult. Concerned? After reading more below, click here to contact the State Senators on the Environmental Committee.
A new bill --S.1921 (read it here)-- would prohibit the Dept. of Environmental Protection from requiring public
access to waterfront areas adjacent to transportation, military, industrial, and energy sites. What's more, the bill, which already glided easily through the NJ State Assembly and will be considered by the State Senate in Trenton on March 16, would relax requirements for security-sensitive facilities near the water's edge to provide public access to the waterfront elsewhere. To . "The NJ Business and Industry Association is exerting enormous lobbying pressure on the Senate," warns Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society. The ALS has joined with other environmental, waterfront and business groups, as well as a number of unions, to argue that such restrictions go far beyond what is necessary to protect facilities where national security may be an issue. "Vote NO on S.1921," trumpets their alert (read it here). Contact members of the NJ Senate Environmental Committee to voice your opinion here. |
Get on Board at Battery Park City
The Port Authority's new $50 million ferry terminal on the Hudson River -- planned since 2000 and towed into place off the Battery Park City esplanade last summer -- will open on March 18. Ferries and water taxis will have their choice of six slips that accept side-loading and end-loading vessels. Passengers will be able to relax in the 33,000 square foot waiting area. The structure features a swooping, high-tech roof made of fabric, glass walls for unobstructed views, a concession stand, public restrooms and two wide entrance/exit ramps to the esplanade. Three ferry operators will start using the facility immediately: NY Waterway, New York Water Taxi and Liberty Park Water Taxi. Usage and ridership is expected to grow through the years. "Ferries are an
important part of our efforts to spur more public transit ridership and reduce
highway congestion," PA chairman Anthony Coscia said last year. "We believe our investments in the region's ferry system will
pay dividends by encouraging more commuters to leave their cars at
home." |
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Residents Say "Bring Back the Bay Ridge Ferry!"
Since the end of 2006, the Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance (SRWA) has advocated the reinstatement of the much-beloved commuter ferry
service at the Veteran's Memorial Pier (below) at 69th Street in Bay Ridge,
Brooklyn.
After collecting more than 2,000 signatures both in print and
electronically, the SRWA is now quantifying the need
for this service with an online survey. (Click here for the survey.) The data will be sent to the Economic Development Corporation to help determine the feasibility of releasing $500,000
for a spud barge at the Bay Ridge Pier. This money has been allocated since
2004 (FY).
The history of ferry service to this
borough dates back to the late 1800's. The last commuter service in Bay Ridge, however, was suspended in the
1980's due to the deterioration of the pier. The pier has since been rebuilt,
but without the necessary landing equipment (i.e. a spud barge) to allow
access for ferry service, kayaking, or emergency landings.
City Council member Vincent Gentile is encouraging Bay Ridge residents and residents in neighboring communities to weigh in on the issue via the online survey. "Last fall, a major non-profit regional planning organization
highlighted high-speed ferry service in Bay Ridge as one of the best
ways to make up for our neighborhood's poor transit options,"
Councilman Gentile said, citing an October 2008 report released by the
Regional Plan Association (www.rpa.org).
For more information, visit the Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance web site. Note the organization's upcoming "VIP Night"
on March 31, at which programs and events for 2009 will be unveiled,
and the documentary "City of Water" (created by Municipal Arts Society
and the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance) will be screened.
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 Big Windfall for the Mary Whalen
The Mary Whalen, a vintage tanker rescued by waterfront advocates about ten years ago and now hosted by American Stevedoring in the Red Hook Marine Terminal, is a dignified workboat in need of major repair work. Unfortunately, engine parts for an old boat are not only scarce but can be expensive.
Negotiations with a Seattle shipyard, however, concluded recently with very positive results and 49,000 lbs of engine parts arrived at the Brooklyn waterfront in early March. PortSide NY administrators are thrilled. "We have scored most of the
parts needed to fix the Whalen's engine!" wrote director Carolina Salguero on the PortSide web site. "Plus some extra
parts we can sell to defray costs of the project. It is a coup to score so much stuff
in one whallop for such little money ($5,705 for most of an
engine, plus shipping). One dealer I spoke to during this
process is asking $7,500 for one piston for this engine!" Read more on the PortSide NY blog.
The parts search is not over. Still needed are five connecting rods and assorted odds and ends. "Anyone with information on a Fairbanks Morse 37E12 engine should get in touch," said Ms. Salguero. She added, "The crank is an open question. Also, the truck from Seattle was overloaded and we have two more pallets to ship." If you'd like to help defray the costs of these engine parts and shipping, please call Ms. Salguero at 718-852-0821.
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Will New Report Lead to Bold Action on Ecosystem Issues?
Ecosystem-based management is recommended as coastal regions face troubling economic and environmental declinesOn Monday March 2, the MWA hosted the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council (NYOGLECC) for a discussion about the recently issued draft report "Our Waters, Our Communities, Our Future - Taking Bold Action Now to Achieve Long-term Sustainability of New York's Ocean and Great Lakes." (Read the draft report here.)
NYOGLECC is made up of nine state agencies managing human activities that impact natural ecosystems. Since its formation in August 2006, NYOGLECC has been focusing its efforts on the implementation of ecosystem-based management as the statewide approach to future planning. Ecosystem-based management considers the entire, dynamic, complex ecosystem of plants, animals
(including humans), microbes and physical environmental features that
interact with one another. Using ecosystem-based management, the efforts of various state agencies are coordinated, including those that address issues including land use, water quality, building capacity and research goals.
The March 2 meeting was the final in a series of 14 meetings around the state to get feedback from the public on the draft report and to brainstorm strategies for implementing ecosystem-based management in local communities. It was an opportunity for local stakeholders to voice concerns and ideas as this innovative new approach is applied to environmental policy in NYC. The MWA looks forward to seeing the final report when it is sent to Governor Paterson at the end of March.
According to Joel Barkin, Deputy Secretary of State for Public Affairs, there is still time to submit feedback (even though the web site says otherwise). Click here to read the report and comment. While you're on the WNYGLECC web site, be sure to check out the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Atlas, a comprehensive and fascinating mapping initiative.
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SPOTLIGHT
From the paddlers of the Sebago
Canoe Club on Jamaica Bay to the International Shippers of the New York
Shipping Association, nearly 400 organizations dedicated to a healthy,
shared and vibrant harbor make up the Waterfront Alliance. Together
these hundreds of organizations and hundreds of thousands of people
create a diverse and powerful voice for a better waterfront. Below, read about the Working Harbor Committee. If you'd like to see your waterfront group in the WaterWire Spotlight, email info@waterfrontalliance.org
Working Harbor Committee
Want to know where your Toyota
came in? How the ingredients for your chocolate bar got here? How your
trash is removed? Welcome to the maritime industry of New York Harbor
- The Working Harbor Committee is proud to be a member of the Waterfront Alliance's Action
Agenda for the Working Waterfront. We seek to make people aware of the vital importance of New York and New Jersey's
maritime and port industry, both in terms of its
contribution to our economy and quality of life, as well as its ability
to deliver products to the region in an environmentally sound way.
 Our primary program consists of Hidden Harbor Tours to parts of the NY/NJ working waterfront that most people never see. Tours are narrated by WHC members who know the harbor intimately -- tug captains, maritime historians, other experts. We see container ports, breakbulk ports, tug yards, drydocks and myriad other maritime industry sites. Since the program was founded, we have taken more than 14,000 people out on these unique tours. Ticket prices have stayed nominal in furtherance of our mission. We offer regularly scheduled tours all summer long, plus special tours and charters. Click here for information about the Hidden Harbor tours of 2009.
- The WHC is committed to educating older youth on the working waterfronts of NY/NJ and the job opportunities afforded in this great industry. In 2007, we introduced a new program for public high schools comprised of four parts: in-school workshops, site visits to port terminals and maritime companies, a mentoring program, and a database of jobs and their requirements. This program serves to educate our youth -- who are often unaware of the impact of the maritime industry -- and give them options for their future.
- Every year, on the Sunday before Labor Day, a gaggle of powerful tugs gathers for the annual Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition, sponsored since 2006 by the Working Harbor Committee. Conceived 16 years ago by former Intrepid Sea*Air*Space Museum curator and current WHC member Capt. Jerry Roberts, this event includes a parade of tugs, a one nautical mile race, nose-to-nose pushing challenges, an exciting tug-to-pier line-toss competition, plus prizes for best tattoo, best dressed crew and decorated tug, best tug mascot and more. The event takes place on the North River ending at Pier 84 (54th Street). In addition to viewing from the pier, WHC offers a special spectator boat.
For more information on any program, go to www.WorkingHarbor.org or call 212-757-1600. Photo above by Bernie Ente.
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Recent Waterfront News
Historically Speaking: Bridges to Brooklyn
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 11, 2009
Rail tunnel dollars among millions earmarked for N.J.
NJ Biz, March 11, 2009
Local officials call for major revamp of city's Coney Island plan
New York Daily News, March 11, 2009
Don't sink island's season, demonstrators plead
Downtown Express, March 6-12, 2009
Stakeholders Weigh in on Coney Island Plans
WNYC, March 4, 2009
Coney's future collides with current realities at hearing
The Brooklyn Paper, March 4, 2009
A Governors Island save
Crains New York, February 27, 2009
Queens Chronical, February 26, 2009
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