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Low Tide 4:52am
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High Tide 11:19am
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Low Tide 5:10pm
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High Tide 11:27pm*
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Announcing 2010's Best Waterfront
Day Trips! Click here to see MWA's next installment in the series.
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Sign a petition to support
the Clean Ports Act of 2010!
Yesterday, July 29,
Congressman Jerrold Nadler introduced new legislation
that would accelerate the
turn-over of dirty
diesel fuel-burning truck
to newer, cleaner fuel-burning
trucks at ports across the country.
Read the story below.
Sign the petition here.
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 MWA Blue Bulletin Board
| WHAT'S YOUR STORY?WaterWire wants to know about your organization. Pitch us a story idea! Write to Alison at asimko@waterfrontalliance.orgMWA'S ADDRESS
241 Water Street, 3rd FloorNew York, NY 10038MWA EMAIL ADDRESSESOur waterwire.net addresses are no longer in service. All MWA emails end in waterfrontalliance.org. |
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| CONTENTS: July 30, 2010
| City of Water Day 2010
MWA's third annual water festival was the cool answer to a hot question
GOOD NEWS FROM WASHINGTON, DC
Interior Dept. Gives $29M to Ellis Island, Commits to Jamaica Bay
Local waterfront VIPs host Secretary Salazar and Senator Menendez
Congressman Nadler Introduces the Clean Ports Act
Announced today: crucial proposed legislation
NYC Learns from Philadelphia's Clean Water Projects
WNYC compares the two cities
Wildlife Returns to Jamaica Bay
Army Corps of Engineers restores Elders Point East and West
MWA Introduces "2010's Best Day Trips to the Waterfront"
In this issue: Stroll around quaint City Island
Meet Some MWA Partners!
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CITY OF WATER DAY: A BLAST OF FUN
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Calls for a Revitalized Waterfront Ring
From the Shores of New York and New JerseyThousands of overheated people made their way to the breezy waterfront on July 24 to chill out and celebrate Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance's third annual City of Water Day. Th  is year City of Water Day demonstrated the importance of a healthy, active and accessible waterfront at five locations: Governors Island, Staten Island, Liberty State Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and PortSide New York in Brooklyn's Atlantic Basin.  Many people arrived at the City of Water Day Festival by boat.
Top photo: the tall ship Clipper City passes a giant tanker in the East River as it transports festival-goers. Middle: some lucky folks were able to get to City of Water Day on the fireboat John J. Harvey. Bottom: kayakers crossing Buttermilk Channel. (All photos by Bernard Ente).
At launch events held on Governors Island and in Jersey City's Liberty State Park, officials spoke of the importance of a revitalized waterfront for everyone. In New York, Comptroller John Liu was joined by NY DEP Commissioner Cas Holloway, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Colonel John Boulé, U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Gregory Hitchens, NY State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson and NY State Assemblymembers Richard Brodsky and Brian Kavanagh. In New Jersey, Hoboken mayor Dawn Zimmer called for a cleaner harbor, and State Senator Sandra Cunningham and State Assemblymembers Charles Mainor, Joan Quigley and Scott Rumana called for greater access and use of waterways.  On all sides of the harbor, the appeal for more accessible waterways was echoed again and again. Spirits were high, as exemplified by the PortSide NewYork crew at right. "Despite the record-breaking heat and humidity, another City of Water Day festival has succeeded in demonstrating the potential of our waterfront. People got the chance to engage with hundreds of groups, large and small, who are working to make our waterways as clean, accessible, and active as they can be," said MWA president Roland Lewis. He tipped his hat to the day's many volunteers. "We are blessed with a growing cadre of people," he added, "who are tremendously motivated to help the cause of a healthy, accessible and vibrant harbor for all."  At City of Water Day, festival-goers had dozens of exciting waterfront activities to choose from, including fishing, seining, kayaking, and walking tours, each organized by one of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance's many partners. At left, a knot-tying lesson.  More than 2,000 passengers got in-depth free tours on the region's most notable working, educational, and historic vessels. At right, a worker waits for visitors on the US Army Corps of Engineers work vessel Hayward. Live music, Vendy-award-winning food and the action-packed Waterfront Action Fair provided continuous entertainment and refreshment in shady Nolan Park on Governors Island. Below left, the East River CREW gang was ready to tell visitors about their organization. Right,  families enjoyed craft projects at the South Street Seaport Museum table. (back to top) Of the four bottom photos, all are by Alice Jung except the photograph of the Hayward, which is by Vincent Elias (USACOE).
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MANY THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS!
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| We Couldn't Have Pulled It Off Without You
The Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance is deeply grateful to our all our sponsors, including those whose logos you see below.
For a complete list of the 2010 sponsors of City of Water Day, click here. (back to top) |
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CLEAN PORTS ACT OF 2010 INTRODUCED YESTERDAY BY REP. JERROLD NADLER
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Proposed Legislation Expected to Result in Greatly Reduced Air Pollution
and More Equitable Trucking Costs
Yesterday, July 29, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced the Clean Ports Act, legislation that will enable ports around the country to enact more stringent air pollution regulations.
Until now, the trucking industry has passed on the cost of upgrading dirty diesel engines to individual truckers. Most of these workers, however, cannot afford upgrades to cleaner fuel-burning engines and as a result 95% of this country's 110,000 port trucks do not meet Environmental Protection Agency emission standards. EPA estimates that 87 million people who live and work in the vicinity of U.S. ports are negatively affected by poor air quality caused in great part by trucking.
Rep. Nadler's proposed legislation is co-sponsored by 57 other representatives from 15 states, and supported by an unusual alliance of environmental groups and labor unions. Yesterday's Politico published a joint op-ed on the issue by Carl Pope, chairman of the Sierra Club, and James P. Hoffa, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. They describe the Clean Truck Program of Los Angeles, a well-known program launched in 2008 that substituted more than 6,000 clean fuel-burning trucks for thousands of dirty diesel rigs, reduced pollution by 70% and created thousands of jobs -- until the powerful trucking lobby challenged the EPA award-winning program in court, effectively constraining similar clean port plans around the country, including those of the Port of New York and New Jersey.
Click here to read about the Clean Air Strategy of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which includes a Clean Truck Program as well as the Ocean-Going Vessels Low Sulfur Fuel Program, the Locomotive Retrofit Program and the Cargo Handling Equipment Fleet Modernization Program.
"With trucking a ubiquitous and central part of goods distribution
nationwide, we must ensure that the government is doing everything in
its power to decrease vehicle emissions and minimize pollution in and
around our ports," Rep. Nadler stated yesterday in a press release. "The Clean Ports Act will update
federal environmental law to allow forward-thinking ports, like the
Port of Los Angeles, to implement clean truck programs that will
improve the air, empower truckers, and reduce the incidence of
illnesses exacerbated by pollution.
The Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports has created a national petition to support the Clean Ports Act of 2010. Click here to find out more. (back to top)
Images courtesy of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
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$29 MILLION AWARDED FOR ELLIS ISLAND RESTORATION
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Interior Department Also Makes a Major Commitment to New York Harbor
Photo by Daniel Schwen
Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, paid a special visit to New York Harbor on July 26. Joined by a group of waterfront leaders and government agency executives, Mr. Salazar and Senator Robert Menendez boarded the Hayward (Army Corps of Engineers vessel, below) for a tour of Jamaica Bay and a stop at Ellis Island (above, seen from Liberty Island).
 At Ellis Island, onlookers cheered when Mr. Salazar announced that $29 million had been awarded by the National Park Service (an agency under the jurisdiction of the Interior Dept.) to repair the island's seawall, stabilize one of the historic buildings and upgrade the communications infrastructure at
Liberty and Ellis islands. Read about the history and current conditions of this historic island here. Find out more about the $29 million grant in this Star-Ledger story.
Col. John Boulé, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers NY District, Maria Burks, Commissioner of the National Parks of New York Harbor and Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance president Roland Lewis were among the dignitaries discussing the Comprehensive Restoration Plan for the New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary with Sec. Salazar and Sen. Menendez at the summit conference that followed. Developed by the Army Corps in coordination with a number of city and state agencies, and released last year, the plan offers a detailed blueprint for the restoration of the environmental and economic health of these estuarine waters. Revitalizing Jamaica Bay, a 9,000 acre salt marsh and wildlife refuge off the coast of Brooklyn, is at the center of the effort.
Sec. Salazar's attention to the future of the New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary evolved from a luncheon earlier this year with members of the board of the
National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy and the Commander of the New York District of the Army Corps. At the luncheon, "the Secretary of the Interior indicated strong interest in
exploring departmental participation/leadership in this effort," explained NPS public affairs officer Darren Boch. "Secretary Salazar's visit on Monday was to familiarize him with the
project and its challenges, and to have a leadership discussion
regarding how the effort can move forward with the help of the
Department of the Interior." (back to top)
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| NYC LOOKS TO PHILADELPHIA FOR CSO SOLUTIONS
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| Recent WNYC Story Takes a Look at Philly's Clean Water Strategy
What do Philadelphia and New York City have in common besides heroes of the American Revolution? Aging sewer systems.
In NYC, 135,000 catchbasins and more than 6,000 miles of sewer pipes carry our wastewater away from homes and offices to treatment plants. Often, however, heavy or prolonged rain can overload these basins and pipes, resulting in combined sewer overflows, the bane of a clean New York Harbor. At right is one of hundreds of CSO outfall signs that can be found along NYC's waterways.
NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection has invested millions of dollars in sewer system upgrades and clean water projects, most recently -- earlier this month -- activating a new oxygenation system for the Gowanus Canal. But when it comes to substituting impermeable concrete surfaces with new, rainwater-absorbing surfaces, the Big Apple lags behind the City of Brotherly Love.
A July 15 WNYC radio piece entitled "New York Looks to Philadelphia for Ideas on Sewer Overflow Issues" began this way: "Just a few years ago in South Philadelphia, Herron Playground looked like a lot of other city parks. 'Essentially this whole site was pavement before,' says Glen Abrams from the Philadelphia Water Department. He says when the playground came up for a renovation in 2007, new guidelines required parks to manage stormwater runoff. But instead of just complying with those rules, city officials decided to go all the way and make Herron Playground into a showpiece of sustainability." To read or listen to the rest of the story, click here.
The WNYC reporter, Brian Zumhagen, goes on to compare how New York City stacks up against Philadelphia's sustainability efforts and he focuses on a city park under reconstruction in the Bronx called the Pearly Gates. Here, landscape architect Stephen Koren has designed a rain garden that will receive runoff from the basketball court (see art below), a first for the city.
But to many environmentalists, the pace of Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC sustainability initiatives is too slow and enforcement too lax. Michael Heimbinder, Executive Director of HabitatMap and a member of the Stormwater Infrastructure Matters (SWIM) coalition told WNYC that he thinks the city should require the installation of green infrastructure any time crews renovate a park or tear up a street.
"If NYC installed stormwater source control technologies (porous
concrete, biofiltration beds, street trees with storage chambers, etc.)
every time it replaced a sidewalk or roadway," he noted, "we could not only prevent
27 billion gallons of polluted stormwater from entering New York Harbor
every year, we could also reduce the urban heat island effect, improve
air quality, reduce energy bills, create green jobs, and save money on
reduced capitol costs. It costs less to grab a gallon of rainwater
where it falls and feed it to a street tree than it costs to shuffle it
into a storage tank and treat it in a multi-billion dollar plant."
Click here to read PlaNYC's Sustainable Stormwater Management Plan. (back to top)
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WILDLIFE RETURNS TO JAMAICA BAY AS ELDERS POINT EAST AND WEST ARE RESTORED
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 Army Corps Leads a
Major Interagency Effort
By JoAnne Castagna
A few years ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and partnering agencies restored Elders Point East, a degraded marsh island in Jamaica Bay. Last summer, Melissa D. Alvarez, senior project biologist with the Army Corps' NY District was inspecting the island.
"I saw movement in the water as the tide was draining one of the creeks," she said. "I looked closer and saw something I've never seen there. There were dozens of juvenile horseshoe crabs swimming within the tidal creek. They were the size of a quarter, but this meant so much more. It means that the restored island is now providing successful breeding for horseshoe crabs."
 Later in the year, Ms. Alvarez (below right) found a nest of Diamondback Terrapins (left), a New York State protected species. It was another sign of the success of the Elders Point East restoration.
 With success on East, the Army Corps and partnering agencies began last fall to restore the adjacent island, Elders Point West. The project was completed last week.
A marsh is a low-lying wetland with grassy vegetation usually found in a transitional area between land and water. Elders Point East and West are a marsh islands within the 26-square mile Jamaica Bay Park and Wildlife Refuge that was the country's first national urban park and is one of the Gateway National Recreation Areas. The island complex was once a single 132-acre island named Elders Point, but years of degradation split the land into separate islands that are now connected by muddy land.
Jamaica Bay's once vibrant marsh islands have deteriorated extensively over the last century, disappearing at a rate of 44 acres per year and faster in the last decade. If the degradation is not halted it is estimated that the marsh islands could disappear by 2012. Today, however, a restored Elders Point East measures 49 acres, joined by West's 34 newly restored acres.
According to Ms. Alvarez and other scientists, maintaining the health of the Jamaica Bay ecosystem is critical to the well being not only of wildlife but of the 20 million people that live and work in this urban region. "On a smaller scale, the marsh islands are a home for a variety of wildlife, including fish and shellfish, which are an important food source for birds and help improve water quality by removing things like nitrogen and phosphates," said Ms. Alvarez. "From a larger perspective, the marsh islands provide stability and water storage during storm and flood events. The islands also act as filters as the plants capture and cycle particles out of the water. By restoring Elders Point and other marsh islands, we may even protect the more interior islands and hopefully slow their erosion."
To restore these islands, the Army Corps teamed up with the National Park Service, Natural Resource Conservation Service, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Port Authority of NY/NJ, and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. They began work in 2006, pumping 250,000 cubic yards of dredged sand onto Elders Point East and shaping it to simulate the proper elevations of a marsh island. Then they hand-planted native plant species that included saltmarsh
cordgrass, salt hay, and spike grass that were grown from seed
collected within Jamaica Bay. The sand came from the Army Corps' beneficial reuse program that uses dredged sand from New York Harbor and area waterways to rebuild habitats. In the past, this sand would have been dumped into the ocean.
 West was restored in a similar -- but improved -- manner. The team had learned, for example, that sand settles differently according to the mud/sand
composition of the ground it's dumped on. Sand placed atop mud will settle more; sand atop sand will settle less. Knowing when they began to restore Elders Point West, the team was able to better distribute 240,000 cubic yards of dredged sand for optimal planting elevations (photo at left). The team also learned from the East restoration that the slopes of the sand need to be more gradual in order to prevent erosion, and that relocation of existing plants is as effective as purchasing nursery-grown plants.
Will the Army Corps and their partnering agencies return to Jamaica Bay? Mark Lulka, project manager for the NY District of the Army Corps, Harbor Branch expects restoration to continue. "As we obtain additional experience and funding, we hope to build a few other marsh islands as the years go by," he said.
Marsh island restoration within Jamaica Bay advances the goals of the Hudson Raritan Estuary Comprehensive Restoration Plan. The primary goal of the plan is to develop a mosaic of habitats that provides maximum ecological and societal benefits to the region. This plan was developed in partnership with the Army Corps' NY District and a diverse group of more than 60 organizations and stakeholders. To learn more about the Hudson Raritan Estuary Comprehensive Restoration Plan and the Elders Point Restoration projects, please visit www.TheWatersWeShare.org.
Dr. JoAnne Castagna is a technical writer-editor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NY District. She can be reached at joanne.castagna@usace.army.mil. (back to top)
Credits: All photos (except bottom photo) by US Army Corps of Engineers, NY District. Bottom photo: Galvin Brothers, Inc.
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MWA'S BIWEEKLY GUIDE TO THE AREA'S BEST WATERFRONT SPOTS
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 It's no secret that the coastlines of New York and New Jersey have become generally much cleaner and more accessible -- but many people don't know how to get to the new waterfront parks, paths and piers that have opened in recent years. Likewise, some of the area's oldest waterfronts remain elusive to visitors. WaterWire to the rescue! Read on, and make this the summer that you discover more of this urban archipelago's beautiful shoreline. (For previous Waterfront Day Trips, click here.)
City Island: New England in the Bronx
Stroll down City Island Avenue and you'll swear you're in New England. This folksy village of crab shacks and yacht clubs can't possibly have a Bronx zip code. But a short ride on the BX29 from the Pelham Bay Park station at the end of the #6 subway line brings you to this quaint, nautical community only 1˝ miles long and a half mile wide at its widest point. (While the best way, of course, to reach City Island is by boat, advocates take note: there is no ferry service to the island.)  City Island was settled in 1685. The island's first commercial business was the production of salt using solar power to evaporate seawater, established in 1820. Soon after, Orrin Fordham, a Connecticut ship builder, planted oysters off City Island, the first American to farm the bivalves. This revolutionized the oyster business and contributed to the ascent of New York to the top of the oyster market at the end of the 19th century. By the 18th century, the tiny island had become a major shipbuilding center, known for construction of luxury and racing yachts, including a number of America's Cup winners. At left, the 12-meter Constellation under construction in a City Island shipyard in the 1960s.  Today City Island boasts numerous marinas and yacht clubs, fishing boats and lobstering businesses, bait and tackle shops, and many restaurants with seafood on their menus. Picturesque and relaxing, the island can be explored in a day. Antique stores, art galleries, craft shops and restaurants dot the main street, City Island Avenue, while hundreds of boats bob at the edges. At right, a Columbia University sailor practices off City Island. Click here for the City Island Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors a free seaside trolley that picks up passengers at the Pelham Bay Station on the first Friday of every month. The City Island Historical Society and Nautical Museum is open every Saturday and Sunday, 1pm-5pm, at 190 Fordham Street. Where to e at? Get your fill of clam chowder, fried calamari, frogs legs, clams on the half shell, steamed lobster, all kinds of fish and, yes, burgers, hot dogs and other non-seafood fare at these and other fine City Island eateries: - Johnny's Reef Restaurant, 2 City Island Avenue, 718-885-2090 - The Original Crab Shanty, 361 City Island Avenue, 718-885-1810 - City Island Lobster House, 691 Bridge Street, 718-885-1459 - Sammy's Fish Box, 41 City Island Avenue, 718-885-0920 - City Island Diner, 304 City Island Avenue, 718-885-0362 - The Harbor Restaurant, 565 City Island Avenue, 718-885-1373 Grab a lobster roll, pull up a picnic table and admire the view. Seagulls have claimed pilings. The water sparkles, the boats go by. Life is good. (back to top) |
| MWA PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
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| Expanding every week, the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance is more than a coalition; it's a force. We are
ferry captains, shipping executives, park directors, scientists,
sailors, paddlers, swimmers, teachers, urban planners, architects and
more. Together, we advocate for the best possible waterfront in the
best possible city, a waterfront that is clean and accessible to all,
with a robust maritime workforce and efficient, affordable waterborne
transportation. Join us! Contact Louis Kleinman at lkleinman@waterfrontalliance.org. Meet some Partners of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance: - Friends of the National Lighthouse Museum & Waterfront Center
http://www.friendsofthenationallighthousemuseum.org
The mission of the Friends of the National Lighthouse Museum & Waterfront Center is to advocate for, help preserve and raise funding for the publicly owned historic US Lighthouse Service "Super Depot" site and its historic surroundings, located on Staten Island adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry; to promote the National Lighthouse Museum Board working toward establishing the National Lighthouse Museum at this site; and to work with the National Lighthouse Museum Board, government and other agencies and organizations to promote and support historical, educational and other activities at this site which are beneficial to the community. - KingstonPaddlePals
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KingstonPaddlePals
KingstonPaddlePals is a social network (yahoo group) of individuals from the Kingston, NY
area who enjoy kayaking and would like to paddle with others for safety
and the sharing of experience and information. - One Brick
http://www.onebrick.org/
One Brick provides support to local non-profit and community
organizations by creating a unique, social and flexible volunteer
environment for those interested in making a concrete difference in the
community. We enable people to get involved, have an impact and have
fun, without the requirements of individual long-term commitments. Volunteering made easy! - Ver Nautica
vernautica@gmail.com
The Ver Nautica Ferry Lab will be a maritime "moving destination", a
waterborne educational, exhibit and events center for the New York
citizenry and its visitors. Ver Nautica will lead New York City's goal to fulfill the potential of
our great and greatly underused waterways by being the preeminent
example of future waterborne/shorefront living. Through evolving
exhibits and programs V N will display and teach visitors about climate
change, sustainable living practices, alternative fuels & power
sources and developments in technology and architecture that will drive
our individual and collective "Earth First" future. (back to top)
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| WATERFRONT NEWSLINKS
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City Is Sweet on Domino Redo The Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2010
At This Neighborhood Joint, Gas and a Six-Pack of SquidThe New York Times, July 29, 2010
New Willis Ave. span floats home to HarlemNew York Post, July 27, 2010
Once Upon A Time In Brooklyn: Old Navy Yard Gets Restored To Serve The FutureNY1, July 20, 2010
New System To Help Gowanus Canal Breathe EasierThe New York Times, July 19, 2010
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