A veritable peninsula, the Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint is bounded by the East River on the west and Newtown Creek on the north and east. "North Brooklyn is more connected to the water than almost any other neighborhood in New York City and yet we have almost no public legal access to the water," said Dewey Thompson, founder of the new North Brooklyn Boat Club (NBBC). Much of the neighborhood's waterfront was rezoned in 2005 and nabbed quickly by developers. "The nature of the waterfront is going to completely change over the next ten years," he said. "Unless a group advocates for waterfront access, it's not going to happen."

Less than a year old, the NBBC has already made a substantial impact on local planning. As announced in early January, the club's proposal for a Greenpoint Boathouse and Environmental Education Center (proposed location marked above) was the top choice of adults polled by the City Parks Foundation for funding earmarked for projects in the communities affected by the construction of the Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant. The largest of NYC's 14 wastewater treatment facilities, this plant has been undergoing a redesign and expansion for almost 20 years.  

As illustrated above, NBBC's Greenpoint Boathouse project proposes to place an environmental education center, training facility and boat storage facility in the now empty ground floor of the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC) at 1155-1205 Manhattan Avenue. The NBBC also would rebuild the Newtown Creek bulkhead at the front door of the Civil War-era building. The GMDC is an active partner in the project. 

As described on the NBBC web site, the building's base is "a series of arched openings (all now sealed) into which coal for the enormous boilers within the building was delivered while rope products were shipped out. The bulkhead along which ships would dock has since fallen into disrepair and, for several years, for safety and insurance reasons, been inaccessible." 

"There's some skepticism about whether building a boathouse on Newtown Creek is a good idea," Mr.  Thompson acknowledged. "One of the first things the club rallied behind was the lifting of the ban on boating on Newtown Creek. The DEP, in an overabundance of caution, briefly banned the use of the only two legal boat launches in north Brooklyn on Newtown Creek because of the Superfund designation. I don't expect the ban will return. We feel, until proven otherwise, responsible boating can happen in contaminated waters as long as people take precautions." 

In fact, the NBBC hopes the City's mothership of boating facilities will be in the GMCD building. "Our plan is to build a big facility -- the biggest in New York City,  

the way we're planning it," said Mr. Thompson. "Then, we would train and certify boaters out of this facility."     

Above, City Council member Stephen Levin (white shirt, left)  

discusses the proposal for the Greenpoint Boathouse and  

Environmental  Education Center with, from left to right,  

Matt Kip, Chris Raymond, Ted Gruber and Adam Perlmutter.

Devoted stewards of their stretch of urban waterfront, the boaters of north Brooklyn are telling government agencies that the area needs to be better represented in the city's network of existing and planned boathouse hubs. To developers, they emphasize the enhanced property values that come with water access, pointing out that boating facilities and access needn't be relegated to public parks. Proactive and energetic, they note the tactics and progress of other boat clubs around the city -- Long Island City Community Boathouse, Red Hook Boaters and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse, to name a couple of the closest -- and apply similar strategies to the NBBC. One of the club's current projects is devising boat storage for Newtown Creek, "perhaps getting a container for the parking lot at Manhattan Avenue street end," according to the web site. Next will come the acquisition of boats for use by members and moorings for those boats. In the future, the club intends to press for a second boating facility at the planned Bushwick Inlet Park. (Bushwick Inlet, where the ironclad warship Monitor was built, is on the East River, opposite 14th Street in Manhattan.)  

As WaterWire was going to press, the NBBC met again, this time to focus on grant opportunities, the structure of the NBBC itself and a springtime flotilla. For updates on news and events at the north Brooklyn waterfront, click here. (back to top)    

Harlem River Community Rowing 

Providing rowing opportunities for all New Yorkers, HRCR currently rows out of Roberto Clemente State Park, in the Bronx.

• Movement Analysis Class, starting this Sunday, April 3, promises to improve rowing efficiency and fluidity. For experienced rowers as well as those who have never been in a shell. Classes will be held in a studio space in the Union Square area. $150 for five sessions. Register by emailing kate@harlemrivercr.org. 
• Learn to Row classes for adults and late teens start April 30. Eight sessions for $200.  
• Club membership for experienced rowers. $300 for 25 weeks of unlimited rowing on the Harlem River. 

New York Rowing  

New York Rowing teaches rowing to young people through community- and school-based programs, and also offers adult programs. Programs are based at the Peter J. Sharp boathouse on the Harlem River.  

• Two-day Learn to Row programs provide four hours of instruction and cost $275 for juniors and $300 for adults. Begins April 9. Email rebecca@nyrowing.org 
• Six-week rowing programs for adults and teens begin June 14. Cost: $675. Email anne@nyrowing.org 

Row New York  

The heart of Row New York's mission is empowering New York City girls to pursue excellence through a combination of competitive rowing and academic support. Try-outs for youth teams occurred in February and are scheduled again in September. This organization, however, has grown to include adult rowing.

• Adult Learn to Row classes begin in mid May and run through October. There are three levels, from novice to experienced. Depending on the class, the cost is $150 to $250 for four weeks. (back to top)