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Register NOW for the MWA 2012 Waterfront Conference!
May 18 at Chelsea Piers
May 19 aboard the Frying Pan
at Pier 66 MaritimeThe New York-New Jersey Harbor has come a long way, but there's much still to be done: clean the water, provide better access, green the port and shipping industry, and prepare for the new challenge of sea level rise. Explore these topics at the MWA Waterfront Conference with leading activists, experts, and government officials. Please join us at the Conference! Click here for details.
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WW follow-up
| Corrections, clarifications, updates and letters to the editor
To the editor,
Interesting stuff in the new WaterWire, as usual.
I was bemused by a reference to the "north shore" of the Harlem River. Shouldn't that have been "east"?
I think of the Harlem River as a north-south estuary, except for the short east-west stretch at Spuyten Duyvil.
Brian Rogers
Editor's note: You are correct, Mr. Rogers. (Are you a cartographer? Librarian?) That should have been noted as the "east" shore of the Harlem River. In the story about Row New York taking over management of the Peter J. Sharp boathouse, WaterWire was incorrectly imagining ourselves near Spuyten Duyvil, when the boathouse is actually past the bend and on the north/south stretch of the river.
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classified advertising
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Have a boat to sell? A maritime job opening to post? Place your free water-related classified ad in WaterWire. Contact
Summer Nonprofit Administration & Programs Intern at the MWA
Candidate will work in and outside MWA office assisting with communications, outreach, programs, database management, and office management. The majority of the work will support MWA's City of Water Day Festival. Full-time, paid internship. For more details, click here.l
Summer 2012 Government Affairs, Press & Media Internship at the MWA
The majority of the work will involve the planning and coordination of a Press Event at MWA's City of Water Day Festival at Liberty State Park, NJ. Full-time, paid internship. For more details, click here. |
Events on the Waterfront
Click on the links for more
information about these events.
A detailed calendar of events
may be found at www.waterfrontalliance.org/calendar |
May 6
Earth Day on Newtown Creek
12p, Newtown Creek Nature Walk
May 12
Surf Fishing Clinic
8a, Sandy Hook
Go Fish
10a-2p, Wagner Park
Jennifer's Annual Flushing Bay Shoreline Cleanup
11a, Pier One, World's Fair Marina
Hudson River Pageant
1p-5p, start at Battery Park City
May 14
Newtown Creek Public Health Assessment
7p-9p, LaGuardia Community College, 31-10 Thomson Ave., Long Island City
May 18 - 19
MWA 2012 Waterfront Conference
8a, Pier 60 (Chelsea Piers) and the Frying Pan (Pier 66 Maritime)
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TAKE ACTION
| Is there a plan in public review that you should know about? Important meetings you might want to attend? TAKE ACTION HERE!
JOIN the South Street Seaport Museum
Sixteen galleries are open. Pioneer has a new transmission and set of sails. Ambrose is refurbished and painted bright red. Professionals are on board in all the departments. To keep this good work going, it is urgent that the Museum has the support of every one of us in the maritime community. Click here and look for the membership box on the left.
The NYC Dept. of City Planning is proposing revisions to the Waterfront Revitalization Plan, which affects the long-term strategies of Vision 2020. Give your input on WRP changes by June 4, 2012. Click here for details.
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For a map of vessels navigating the NY/NJ waterways at this moment, check marinetraffic.com.
Tide times above are for the waters off City Island on May 4, 2012. For your waterfront's daily tides,
go to saltwatertides.com.
For information about environmental conditions (currents, water temperature, salinity, wave height, etc.) of the New York Harbor area, check the Urban Ocean Observatory at Stevens Institute's Center for Maritime Systems
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Join Our List
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| CONTENTS: May 4, 2012 | East River Ferry Service is Analyzed
Longterm challenges ahead, but all in all, a success
Garden State residents flock to the MWA Conference for NJ-themed gatherings
After Years of Work, Educators Prepare to Launch Harbor Literacy Points
The overall point is to help teachers integrate harbor lessons into their curricula
Tall ships, military ships: it will be quite a spectacle on the morning of May 23
Free Money, Part 2: City of Water Day Grants
Meet Some MWA Partners!
Newslinks
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| EAST RIVER FERRY SERVICE: ONE YEAR LATER | | Expectations Exceeded
From Mayor Bloomberg's perspective, the East River Ferry Service does double duty: it's not only part of a major city-wide transportation expansion also involving express buses and the subway system, it's a critical component of WAVES, the City's Waterfront Vision and Enhancement Strategy, which focuses on increasing people's connectivity to the water.
"And so it was against this twin backdrop -- significantly expanded transportation options and significant recommitment to our City's waterfront -- that Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn took the first ride on the East River Ferry Service last June," Tim Sullivan, co-coordinator of the City's waterfront policy with Aaron Koch, told the City Council's Waterfronts Committee at a hearing on the service on April 25. "Since that day, more than 715,000 people have used the service."
While that's almost double original ridership projections, City officials aren't ready to declare the ferry service a complete success after 10 months of service in a 36-month pilot project. Long term issues include:
- integrating service better into the regional transit system, which would begin with a fare card accepted at subways, buses and ferries
- construction of completely new dock systems
- maintaining frequency of service. As Economic Development Corp. Senior VP Andrew Genn noted, "The more reliable ferry service is, the higher the ridership will be."
- upgrading dock amenities
- lowering the price
Still, the East River Ferry Service has surpassed expectations in many ways, such as boosting local economies in Williamsburg by bringing patrons to small businesses such as the Brooklyn Flea, and enhancing the value of waterfront real estate. While winter ridership fell below what was projected, summer ridership was so successful that an extra boat was added to handle the crowds.
Riders pay $4 one way, and up to four children may ride free with a paying adult. Service is as frequent as every 20 minutes at peak commuting times. The East River Ferry Service connects Wall Street (Pier 11) to East 34th Street, with stops at Brooklyn Bridge Park, South Williamsburg, North Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Long Island City.
Roland Lewis, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, says the longterm challenges are eminently solvable. "The fact that the service has succeeded despite these hurdles is compelling evidence of the viability and necessity of subsidized, frequent, comfortable, reliable and scenic waterborne transit to bolster our dynamic and growing city," he told the committee.
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MWA CONFERENCE CELEBRATES 1 HARBOR, 2 STATES
| | Panel Topics Draw Lots of Folks from West of the Hudson
From Englewood to Bayonne, the counties and municipalities of New Jersey are reinventing their waterfronts. Hear their success stories at the MWA 2012 Waterfront Conference, May 18 and 19.
 As New York City enters Year 2 of Vision 2020: the Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, urban planners and waterfront advocates are considering opportunities to consolidate a progressive vision for both sides of the harbor. At the MWA Waterfront Conference, a special panel moderated by Chris Daggett, President/CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, will explore the challenges and benefits of a Comprehensive Waterfront Plan for New Jersey.
Panelists include Robert Cotter, Director of the Jersey City Division of City Planning; Massiel Ferrara, Principal Planner for Hudson County, NJ Division of Planning; Dorina Frizzera from the NJ DEP and Chair of the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary Program Public Access Working Group; Michael Marrella, Director of Waterfront and Open Space Planning, NYC Department of City Planning; and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer. More New Jersey waterfront themes will be sounded at a special conference workshop called "Priority Projects in Your Congressional District." Staff members from at least three New Jersey Congressional districts are committed, with more expected to join their NY district colleagues. Participants will be seated by district with Congressional staffers and local advocates to discuss projects that should be prioritized for federal funding. With large-scale district maps and other materials, this workshop is intended to be an exciting, interactive visioning session. Discussions at each table will be facilitated by a member of the Harbor Coalition. For more information about the MWA 2012 Waterfront Conference and to purchase tickets, click here.
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DUTCH EVENT ON WATERFRONT CONFERENCE EVE
| | Learn About Climate Change Adaptation in Action
The Netherlands Consulate General in New York, one of the sponsors of the MWA 2012 Waterfront Conference, is hosting a special event on Thursday night, May 17, focusing on dealing with the short- and long-term challenges of climate change and rising sea levels.
Click on the image below for the event website. 
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HARBOR LITERACY POINTS: GUIDANCE BY AND FOR EDUCATORS
| | Harbor Education Task Force Working to Produce a Curriculum Guide About the Harbor
What do children, parents and teachers need to know about the New York-New Jersey Harbor? How can the important science and history lessons to be learned from the study of the waters that surround us be better integrated into the everyday curriculum of elementary, middle- and high-school students?
More than 50 educators, meeting regularly as the Harbor Education Task Force, have discussed these questions for the past several years. Together they have shaped the Harbor Literacy Points, an important document that outlines five key concepts about the harbor: water quality, watersheds and our relationships to them, properties of estuaries, marine ecosystems, and the history of the harbor. The draft Harbor Literacy Points will be released on July 14 at City of Water Day. The full document, showing how these concepts are associated with New York and New Jersey state learning standards so that educators can incorporate the material into their lesson plans, will be finalized after teacher workshops this fall. The document will encourage on-water experiences so that every child in the metropolitan region can understand how to enjoy and care for the harbor. To be disseminated to educators and available online to the general public, it will include a listing of educational programs for use by teachers. One example of a program geared to help teachers incorporate local waterways into their curriculum is a new series of seminars from the National Park Service. Click here for information. If you are an environmental education provider and you'd like to make sure your program information is included in the Harbor Literacy Points document, first take a look at the draft Harbor Literacy Points on this page, correlate your program with the appropriate Literacy Point and then send the information by email to Betsy Ukeritis of the State Department of Environmental Conservation.
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OP SAIL & NAVY JOIN FORCES FOR ONE GREAT SPECTACLE
| | May 23: Tall Ship Ambassadors are Needed; Apply Here
All hands on deck and all maritime fans to the Hudson River waterfront on the morning of Wednesday, May 23 for not one but two consecutive ship parades! In honor of the bicentennial of the War of 1812, Op Sail returns to the metropolitan region with a glorious fleet of international tall ships. Shortly after 8am on May 23, they will head up the Hudson River from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, led by the historic fireboat John J. Harvey. In the wake of the last foreign tall ship, look for the U.S. Coast Guard Eagle leading the annual Fleet Week parade of active U.S. Navy and foreign navy vessels. While the warships are still northbound, the tall ships will turn, one by one, at the George Washington Bridge. Around noon, the southbound Parade of Sail will meet the northbound military fleet at the Intrepid Sea/Air/Space Museum at Pier 86.  Led by four-masted Juan Sebastian Elcano from Spain, the tall ship fleet includes Cisne Branco from Brazil, Cuauhtemoc (right) from Mexico, Dewaruci from Indonesia, Etoile and La Belle Poule from France (below), Gloria from Colombia, Guayas from Equador, and others. Watch for Op Sail's local escorts including the Adirondack, America 2.0, Clipper City, Pioneer, Pride of Baltimore and Shearwater. At the end of the double parade, tall ships and military ships will go to berths in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island, and will be open to visitors. Op Sail, a nonprofit organization, needs volunteers. Contact Capt. John Doswell if you are interested in more information on any of the positions below. - Tall Ship Liaisons - May 23-29. Official conduit of information from Op Sail headquarters to the vessel. This is a prestigious position with the potential for long hours. Maritime knowledge a plus but not essential; foreign language ability is helpful.
- Volunteer Coordinators - May 21-29. Management, organizational and communications skills necessary.
- Maritime Volunteers - May 23, 12pm-9pm. Help tie up tall ships at docks.
- Non-maritime Volunteers - May 23-29. Monitor crowds, hand out material, escort VIPs, etc.
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WATERFRONT WORK IS HONORED
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 On April 16, Richard Barth, Executive Director of the Department of City Planning, Michael Marrella, Director of Waterfront and Open Space Planning, and Mary Kimball, Planner in the Waterfront and Open Space Division, accepted American Planning Association's 2012 Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan. The trio accepted the award, the highest honor bestowed upon a comprehensive plan that advances the science and art of planning, for Vision 2020: NYC Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, on behalf of Commissioner Amanda Burden and the NYC Department of City Planning.
On April 27, the Environmental Protection Agency honored individuals, companies, government agencies, civic associations and environmental programs with its annual Environmental Quality Award. Awards that recognized waterfront-related work included:
- James Cataldi for his nearly singlehanded clean-up of the Harlem River's North Cove
- Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee for its improvement of harbor water quality to the extent that 2,500 acres were reopened to shell fishing for the first time in more than 40 years
- Hudson River Estuary Program for its exemplary work in bringing together partners to conserve the natural heritage of the Hudson River watershed
- Jamaica Bay Eco Watchers for spearheading crucial efforts to protect and restore Jamaica Bay
- NY State Environmental Facilities Corporation for its Green Infrastructure Grant Program which has directed $160 million to 100 projects statewide that protect waterways and green communities
- Rocky Point Marsh Makers for clearing tons debris from Rocky Point Marsh in Queens and revealing a vibrant ecosystem
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FREE MONEY, PART 1: PARTNERS IN PRESERVATION
| | Vote Every Day to Help Your Favorite Maritime Site Receive a Grant
Here's an easy way to make a difference. Help a historic maritime site collect enough votes to win a grant from American Express.
Each year, American Express, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, plants the Partners in Preservation contest -- in which grants are awarded to historic sites based on the number of votes each receives -- in a different city. This year, Partners in Preservation is in New York City, and there are several historic waterfront sites or projects that need your vote.
Anyone may go online and vote once a day through May 21 for any project. The four projects that receive the most public votes will have their grant requests fully funded, and the remainder of the $3 million in grants will be given to other sites.
Of the 40 historic NYC sites in the running, these are the waterfront sites you may want to consider |
FREE MONEY, PART 2: GRANTS FOR CITY OF WATER DAY PARTICIPANTS
| | Here's $250 to Help Fund Your City of Water Day Activity
The Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance is accepting proposals for $250 grants to fund activities at City of Water Day on July 14, 2012. To be considered organizations must:
- be a 501(c)3 organization
- have a budget of $250,000 or less
- participate at City of Water Day on July 14 at Governors Island and/or Liberty State Park
- undertake an activity at City of Water Day that offers environmental education or enhances public awareness of the Hudson River estuary or provides public access to the water
HOW TO APPLY
Submit your 501(c)3 letter from the IRS and one to four paragraphs on the activity you plan to undertake at Governors Island or Liberty State Park. Grants can be used to support transportation to the event or display materials. Funds may not be used to pay for give-aways or premiums. Organizations with a water-based or estuary-focused mission will be given preference. Proposals should be submitted via email to Louis Kleinman. The deadline for submission is May 15, 2012. Please call (212) 935-9831 ext. 104 any questions.
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| WATERFRONT NEWSLINKS |
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City to Launch Pilot Ferry Service to Randall's Island"The city has inked a new deal with New York Water Taxi to bring pilot weekend ferry service to Randall's Island this summer in hopes of attracting new visitors..."DNA Info, May 3, 2012 Crews to refloat old Staten Island ferry in Hudson"Crews plan to refloat a decommissioned Staten Island ferry that has been partially submerged in the Hudson River for two months. U.S. Coast Guard officials say workers using cranes and pumps plan to begin lifting the ferry listing near the shore at Newburgh on Thursday. The work could take a day or more..."The Wall Street Journal, May 3, 2012 N.J. advisory highlights dangers of eating some locally caught fish"If you know anyone who's been fishing in the lake in Branch Brook Park for dinner, tell them to lay off the carp..."NJ.com, May 2, 2012 Study: Newtown Creek safe for kayaking, dangerous for swimming, iffy for seafood"Boating on Newtown Creek is safe, but be careful around the seafood and don't take a dip, a new state study concluded..."The Brooklyn Paper, May 2, 2012 Memorial Middle School students in Fair Lawn clean up river
"Students from Memorial Middle School helped do their part to clean up near the banks of the Passaic River..."North Jersey.com, May 2, 2012 April 26, 1956: The Container Ship’s Maiden Voyage"1956: The converted tanker Ideal X leaves Newark, New Jersey, carrying 58 cargo-laden truck-trailers on its specially fitted deck. Containerization is born. Globalization has set sail. The first container ship was the brainchild of North Carolina businessman Malcolm McLean, who bought a second-hand truck in 1934 and built it into a fleet of nearly 1,800 trucks, the largest in the South and the fifth-largest in the nation. As early as 1937, he'd noted the wasted time of break-bulk cargo handling, with longshoremen or stevedores laboriously loading individual items like sacks of coffee or nets full of cotton bales. He thought it would make much more sense to lift whole truck trailers on and off the ship..."Wired magazine, April 26, 2012 City balks at demands from the feds to stop raw sewage overflows into Gowanus Canal"The city is balking at demands by the feds that they stop dumping raw sewage into the Gowanus Canal..."NY Daily News, April 20, 2012 Angling for fun, food and finance"New York's flounder season opened on April 1. The striped bass opener in marine waters south of the George Washington Bridge was April 15..." NY Daily News, April 19, 2012
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