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EVENTS
This is just a sampling of the events taking place at and on the water in New York and New Jersey. Please check the MWA website, at www.waterfrontalliance.org, for more information.
Thurs., Oct. 8
Get Into the Swing of Fall on Governors Island
Governors Island Alliance & the New York Harbor School invite you to their Fall Beach Bash! Join them in honoring the arts and educational partners who helped make this season such a success. At the Water Taxi Beach on Governors Island. Featuring The Stumblebum Brass Band. 5:30pm-8pm. $25. Boats depart the Battery Maritime Building at 5:15; 5:45; 6:15.
www.governorsisland-alliance.org
Sat. and Sun., Oct. 10 & 11
Open House New York
Annual weekend of tours, talks, performances and workshops throughout the five borough celebrating the City's architecture and design. Free.www.ohny.org
Sat., Oct. 10
Enviromedia Mobile at Ikea/Erie Basin Park
Exhibit of the Diving Heritage Museum. 9th Annual
Submerge Art Environment Festival. High Bridge Children Art Show.
Go-Fish, arts
& crafts & nature workshop - all equipment provided. Live
acoustic music & many other activities. Free.
www.urbandivers.org
Sun., Oct. 11
Barrier Island Birding at Robert Moses State Park
Robert Moses State Park, a barrier island off the southern coast of
Long Island, is an ideal location for bird watching in the fall. Bring
lunch, water and binoculars. Limited to 40. $55. www.nycaudubon.org
Sun., Oct. 11
History of the Hoboken Waterfront Slide/Lecture
"On the Waterfront: 1989-2009" Hear Ron Hine, Executive Director of Fund for a Better Waterfront,
relate this history and the tantalizing opportunity to finish the
missing links for the Hoboken Waterfront.
www.hobokenmuseum.org
Weds., Oct. 14
On the Waterfront in New York: A Lecture
This Historic Districts Council panel will
examine the history and future of the waterfront through different lenses, from
the commercial past of its wharves and docks to the adaptive reuse of
structures still lining its edges. 6:30pm, The Seamen's
Church Institute, 241 Water Street
212-614-9107 www.hdc.org
Fri., Oct. 16
Maritime Mysteries
Tales
of unexplained disappearances, devastating disasters and madness are
legendary in the history of seafaring. Learn about bizarre but true maritime mysteries. Free. 5pm-8pm.
www.southstreet-seaportmuseum.org
Sat., Oct. 17
Ederle Swim
Swimmers follow Gertrude Ederle's record-setting 17.5-mile swim course from Lower Manhattan to Sandy Hook, NJ. 9am at North Cove, Battery Park City. www.nycswim.org
Sat., Oct. 17
Canoe the Gowanus Canal
Free.
www.waterfrontmuseum.org
/dredgers/2009season.htm
Sunday, Oct. 18
From the Ferries
to the Fish Market:
A Walking Tour of the South Street Seaport
11am
In-depth
tour with Robert LaValva, founder and director of New Amsterdam Market, of the South Street Seaport. The tour will end at Acqua,
a noted Seaport establishment for a complimentary drink. The exact
location for the tour will be announced upon registration. $35
www.hdc.org
Sun., Oct. 18
Mayor's Cup Kayak Race
Kayakers circumnavigate Manhattan. 8am, North Cove.
www.nymayorscup.com
Sun., Oct. 18
New Amsterdam: The Island at the Center of the World Exhibition Tour
Tour this extraordinary exhibition, the centerpiece of which is the letter mentioning the 1626
purchase of Manhattan for 60 guilders. Rare maps, plans and views of
the early Dutch settlement shed new light on the origins of our city. 1pm. South Street Seaport Museum, 12 Fulton Street.
www.southstreetseaport-museum.org
Sun., Oct. 18
The Real Working Harbor of New York & New Jersey
Presented by the Working Harbor Committee. Learn how the working harbor really works and what all those ships and tugs do. See giant container ship ports, tugboat yards, ship repair facilities,
massive graving docks (dry docks), oil terminals, and constant ship,
tug and barge traffic on the water, mixing it up with water taxis,
excursion boats, ferry boats, historic vessels, coast guard, police and
fire boats, giant floating cranes, numerous other official vessels,
recreational power and sail vessels, and even kayaks. $29, $21, $17. Leaving from South Street Seaport.
http://workingharbor.com
Weds., Oct. 21
Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance Gala - Heros of the Harbor
Join us for the 2009 Heroes of the Harbor Awards at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers, beginning at 5:30pm with cocktails, followed by a brief program, buffet dinner and a great deal of fun. This festive evening will honor three heroes who have demonstrated an
extraordinary commitment to our cause, who have worked tirelessly to
make this a truly world-class waterfront region. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund
will be saluted for its unprecedented civic and philanthropic
leadership, recognizing the unmet potential of the New York waterfront
and catalyzing its transformation into a pivotal center for public
recreation and access. Al Butzel will be honored for
his lifelong commitment to fighting for public use of the waterfront
and helping to create remarkable New York parks, including Hudson River
Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park and Governors Island. Frank McDonough,
President of the New York Shipping Association will be saluted for his
extraordinary life-long contributions to our waterways as a passionate
harbor advocate, industry leader and environmentalist.
www.waterfrontalliance.org
Sat., Oct. 24
Bronx River by Rowboat
Get on board a rowboat with experienced coxswains for this guided tour
to see the birds and other wildlife that call the Bronx River home.
Learn about the Bronx River's unique eco-system as well as the social
and cultural history of the area. Limited to 20. www.nycaudubon.org
Thurs., Oct. 29
Brooklyn Greenway Initiative Benefit Party
Drinks, food, music, raffle items and more! Proceeds from this event will support the implementation of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. At FIND Home Furnishings, 59 9th Street, Brooklyn. 7pm. Check web site for details.
www.brooklyngreenway.org
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Join Us in Honoring the Heroes of the Harbor
Extraordinary men and a remarkable philanthropyPlease join us on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers, starting at 5:30pm, as we honor Al Butzel, Frank McDonough and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund for their unwavering commitment to ensuring that this region's waterfront is world-class.
- The Rockefeller Brothers Fund
will be saluted for its civic and philanthropic
leadership in recognizing the unmet potential of the New York waterfront.
- Al Butzel will be honored for championing public use of the waterfront
and helping to create remarkable New York parks, including Hudson River
Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park and Governors Island.
- Frank McDonough,
President of the New York Shipping Association, will be saluted for his lifelong contributions as a passionate
harbor advocate, industry leader and environmentalist.
Click here for details and to download the full invitation, or contact Ian Douglas: 212-935-9831, x291 or idouglas@waterfrontalliance.org
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 $220 Million More in Stimulus Money Flows into NYC for Water Infrastructure Improvements
Jobs will be created, environment will improve
Last month, Governor Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg, NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis and other officials gathered at the Newtown Water Treatment Facility in Brooklyn and announced that NYC had received $220 million in federal stimulus dollars for water quality improvements. New York State has already received $432 million in clean water Recovery Act funding since April.
Most of the funds will be spent on equipment upgrades that will save money and improve water quality at wastewater treatment facilities throughout the City. Among specific projects to be funded are- $119 million for new sludge boats at the Newtown Creek plant. Featuring energy-efficient engines, these new vessels will make a thousand
fewer trips per year, reducing air pollution in the area.
- $20 million to implement a stormwater management program and restore 38 acres of wetlands and grasslands adjacent to the Paerdegat Basin Combined Sewer Overflow Facility in Jamaica Bay. Vegetation will be reintroduced, the shoreline will be restored and a large basin will be built to catch runoff and floating street litter. When the project is completed, five acres of parkland will become Ecology Park, which will offer access to salt marshes and grasslands with walkways and viewing platforms. The project is expected to be completed in January 2012.
$2
million to reduce flooding and manage stormwater runoff in the boroughs of Staten
Island, the Bronx, and Queens. Rain-absorbing infrastructure in the
form of trees, street planters, and rain swales will be built to capture water during heavy rains. Construction is expected to begin next January and be completed in January 2012.
"The
infusion of stimulus dollars for water projects will bolster our
aggressive programs and help us improve water quality in our rivers and
bays, reduce flooding in areas that have long suffered from stormwater
flooding - particularly in Southeast Queens - fund open space and open
street greening projects and create jobs quickly with projects that
will all begin in the next few months," said the Mayor. Then he diverted from his prepared speech and said, "To those people in southeast Queens that have been suffering for decades, help actually finally is coming."
In another unscripted comment, the Mayor remarked that he and Commissioner Grannis had spotted sailboats in Newtown Creek on their way over to the press conference. "Never used to see that before," he said. |
Peter Davidson, Friend to the Waterfront, to Head the Empire State Development Corp.
Peter W. Davidson has been named the new Executive Director of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC). For the past nine years, Mr. Davidson has been chairman of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, a New York-based family foundation. "In our hometown of New York," he writes in a letter posted on the Kaplan Fund website, "we've taken the lead in expanding public access to the waterfront and the development of new parklands along the shore; in working for public spaces and public transport throughout the five boroughs; and in helping New York's new immigrants enjoy the rights and amenities of a great city. On a bigger canvas, we have taken on the task of helping to inventory and protect the biological wealth of the world's ocean, particularly those parts that lie beyond the lines of national sovereignty, and in helping restore important historical sites throughout the world."
A long time media executive, Mr. Kaplan was most recently owner and publisher of El Diario/La Prensa.
As Executive Director of the ESDC, Mr. Davidson will work to "spur economic growth and foster job creation in New York State through large-scale urban development projects, such as the development of Governor's Island, the revitalization of Erie Canal Harbor, the expansion and renovation of the Jacob Javits Convention Center, and the construction of Brooklyn Bridge Park," according to the ESDC. He will also manage the State's Tourism Division.
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EPA Proposes Adding
Newtown Creek to Superfund Site List
The Environmental Protection Agency has recommended the addition of Newtown Creek to its National Priorities List for Superfund status.
Dividing Brooklyn and Queens, Newtown Creek is a tributary of the East River. A thriving industrial hub in the 19th century, the Creek teemed with commercial vessels that served the factories, chemical plants, refineries and mills along its shores. In 1856, the City added to already severe pollution problems when it began dumping raw sewage into the water.
The largest coastal oil spill in American history -- a 17-million-gallon, 55-acre spill discovered in 1978 and traced to oil companies based in Greenpoint -- contaminates the Creek and the land around it.
In 1990, the State ordered "rudimentary cleanup," according to Riverkeeper, but that was hardly enough. Fourteen years later, Riverkeeper and six residents of Brookyn and Queens sued ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco and the other smaller companies responsible for the contamination. In 2007, the NY State Attorney General in 2007 filed a similar suit.
The public may submit comments
in writing on this matter to the EPA until November 23, 2009. For instructions on how to submit comments, go to www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/pubcom.htm or contact Dennis
Munhall, Region 2 NPL Coordinator at (212) 637-4343 or
munhall.dennis@epa.gov.
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Global Ferry Group Names Tom Fox President
This year's conference is in Istanbul; next year the gang comes to BrooklynWith the theme of "At the Crossroads -- Choosing the Best Route through Challenging Times," InterFerry is hosting its annual conference this year in Istanbul, October 14-17. InterFerry is the only shipping association that represents the worldwide ferry industry, with 220 members from 26 countries including the US, Netherlands, England, Australia, Finland, Greece, Oman, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and many other parts of the world.
"As you can tell the theme has a double meaning," Dr. Ahmet Paksoy wrote on the InterFerry website. Dr. Paksoy is the president of InterFerry and general manager of IDO, a major ferry operator based on the Bosphorus. "Throughout its long history Istanbul has been at the geographical, cultural and trade crossroads between Europe and Asia. At this particular moment the ferry industry and shipping industry in general is at a crossroads, too. Not only do we face the normal business challenges but now we are staring at the unknown in terms of the credit crisis and a global recession. The innovative spirit of ferry operators and their suppliers in the face of ever-changing political, financial and technological demands will be examined in full." Sessions include presentations on Urban Innovations, Environmental Issues and Managing Risk.
On October 16, Dr. Paksoy will hand over the presidency of InterFerry to Tom Fox, president of NY Water Taxi.
"The great thing about going to these InterFerry conferences is you get to see the greatest harbors of the world," Mr. Fox said. "Hong Kong was a real experience. Stockholm, too. Blew me away."
Next year, Mr. Fox will bring the international conference to Brooklyn. NYC-based InterFerry members who are helping plan the event include Jim DeSimone, chief operations officer of the Staten Island Ferry, Roberta Weisbrod, owner of Partnership for Sustainable Ports, Captain Justin Zises, and Gretchen Ferenz of the Cornell University Cooperative Extension. "We're going to show them the best harbor in the world!" Mr. Fox said.
Click on http://interferry.com/confwebsite/confindex.html for information about the conference, as well as a welcome video with Turkish music that gives a sense of Istanbul (not Constantinople).
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Riverkeeper Goes After
Polluters Along the Gowanus Canal
On September 16 Riverkeeper announced an
enforcement campaign targeting polluters of the Gowanus Canal. In the crosshairs of the first round of enforcement actions are
6th Street Iron and Metal, a scrap yard, for dumping metal, and debris into the Canal -
Ferrara Brothers Building Materials Corp., a cement plant discharging liquid cement and stone into the Canal -
107 Sixth Street LLC and 36-2nd-J Corp., for operating an open dump and filling the Canal from a parking lot on their property - NYC Department of
Transportation for a dark plume of water coming from a
stone barge at the DOT Asphalt Plant on Gowanus Bay
Riverkeeper filed a Notice of Intent to Sue the first three and sent a warning letter to the fourth.
Like its fellow Brooklyn waterbody, Newtown Creek, the Gowanus Canal is heavily polluted from more than 150 years of industrial use and the dumping of raw sewage. The Canal is being considered by the
Environmental Protection Agency for designation as a federal Superfund site (as is Newtown Creek).
"The Gowanus Canal apparently exists in an alternate universe where the
progress we have made in halting pollution since the passage of the
Clean Water Act never happened," said Joshua Verleun, Riverkeeper staff
Attorney and Investigator. "Our efforts today are the first step on a
long journey to return the Gowanus to a naturally functioning waterbody
that can be a benefit rather than a burden to Brooklynites living near
its banks."
All three photos showing scenes from the Gowanus Canal are courtesy of Riverkeeper. From top to bottom: illegal dumping, cement plant waste and dirty water photographed on September 2, 2009.
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Vessels as Venues: Commemorative Registry of Working and Historic Vessels is launched
Consider NY State's Historic Boats for Your Next Event
New York's historic and working maritime vessels are a living legacy of this state's extraordinary maritime heritage. Now you can find them online grouped in one handy registry called "Vessels as Venues." 
A commemorative registry of historic boats, this listing is a project of the 2009 Hudson Fulton Champlain Quadricentennial Commission in cooperation with the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Maritime Historical Society, North River Historic Ship Society, Working Harbor Committee, Working on Water Tour - An Empire State Maritime Alliance Venture, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, PortSide NewYork. The goal is to bring arts and cultural organizations seeking venues for events -- such as tours, educational workshops, performances and exhibitions -- together with historic tugs, barges, fireboats and sailing ships. Pictured above is the Tug Pegasus.
The vessels listed so far (and the regions they traverse) are the Tug Pegasus (New York Harbor and the Hudson River), the 1914 Lehigh Valley Barge No. 79 (Hudson River and Long Island Sound), the 1921 Day Peckinpaugh (statewide), the 1923 Tug Buffalo (Waterford and canalways), the 1931 John J. Harvey fireboat (Manhattan and the Hudson River), the 1938 Mary A. Whalen (Red Hook and the Hudson River), and the 1938 Tug Chancellor (Waterford and canalways).
If you are a vessel owner/operator and would like to be on this list, email info@vesselsasvenues.com with information about yourself and your vessel.
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"Walkway Over the Hudson" Opens to Fanfare
After languishing unused for decades, the glorious Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge reopens for pedestrians and bicyclists
This engraving was originally published in Scientific American on February 2, 1887, accompanying an article entitled "Bridging the Hudson at Poughkeepsie."
On October 3, 2009, tens of thousands of people thronged the reopening of the famous Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge, rechristened the "Walkway Over the Hudson."
Regarded as a marvel of engineering when it opened in 1888, the bridge stretches 1.25 miles across the Hudson, the longest bridge worldwide in its time. Read an article about it that was published in Scientific American in 1887 here.
A crucial railroad link, the bridge was used continuously until a fire damaged the tracks in 1974. The
nonprofit group Walkway Over the Hudson took ownership in 1995
and began to raise money to fund its vision of the bridge as a park. New
York State joined the effort in 2007, and the drive to reopen the
bridge became a legacy project of the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial. Now a State Historic Park, the Walkway Over the Hudson will be open dawn to dusk year-round.
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City Pushes State to Reclassify Dredged Material
In
2008, MWA's Working Harbor Task Force recommended the
reclassification of dredge materials as one of the measures needed to
help the maritime industry remain financially viable. On September 29, the Waterfronts Committee of the NYC Council, chaired by Council Member Michael Nelson, took up the issue.
Material dredged from the bottom of New York Harbor and its waterways is uniformly treated as waste. Resolution #1816 of the City Council urges the State to reclassify clean or processed dredged sediment from "solid waste" to "beneficial use" to increase its potential for reuse, a move that the NYC Economic Development Corp. determined could save the City $30 million.
Dredge material that has had its contaminants removed or stabilized could be used as grading fill, agricultural soil or brownfields cap -- if it weren't classified as "solid waste."
As mentioned by Council Member Nelson, New Jersey State has already amended its solid waste regulations. The council proposes that NY follow NJ's lead and reclassify dredged material, exempting the beneficial use of dredged materials from the classification of solid wastes.
Ed Kelly, executive director of the Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey, applauded the resolution. "This is essential to a rational dredging program," he said. "We have to have parity with what is done in other states. Much of the cost is unnecessarily high because of the classification of the material."
"Reclassifying
dredge material that has passed the same requirements as other fill and
managing it under regulatory provisions related to "beneficial use"
will allow dredge material to be used in more beneficial reuse
projects," said Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance president Roland Lewis in testimony.
"Hudson got here 400 years ago and we've been dredging for 380-some odd years," said Mr. Kelly. "The fact that we've backed ourselves into this conundrum is not sensible."
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Job Opening at the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance
Program, Community, and Government Affairs Associate -- is this you?
The Waterfront Action Agenda of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance heralds positive and essential change for the waterways of New York and northern New Jersey. Join the crew at the MWA to be part of the drive for excellence at the waterfront. An employee in the newly created position of Program, Community, and Government Affairs Associate would implement MWA's programs; develop outreach and advocacy plans; cultivate partnerships with community-based groups who work to improve the waterfront environment, jobs, recreation and transportation in New York and New Jersey; manage outreach to local press, and arrange events to promote implementation of the Waterfront Action Agenda.
Click here to read more of the job description. Click here to send a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to the MWA. Candidates should have a bachelor's degree and up to three years of direct experience in related policy, advocacy, public participation, community outreach, government affairs or community organizing fields, or five years of indirect experience. Truly exemplary graduate school studies may be substituted for up to three years of experience.
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Recent Waterfront News
New Yorkers text high-tech beavers
BBC, October 7, 2009
The View From 1889
The New York Times, October 6, 2009
Gowanus Canal Study To Receive $134,000
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 5, 2009
Regatta Evokes Poughkeepsie's Rowing Heyday
The New York Times, October 4, 2009
Huddled Masses Will Get a New Departure Point
The New York Times, October 2, 2009
Newtown Creek Nominated as Superfund Site
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 24, 2009
New York's Water Supply
Letter to The New York Times, September 19, 2009
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