- Dr. Kevin Woo, Center for the Study of Pinniped Ecology and Cognition at St. Francis College and assistant professor at Empire State College

* Bits & Bytes: Futuristic Battery Park City; 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza renamed
* Letter to the editor: Pier 17 roof morphs from public lawn to party venue

* Downtown Bulletin Board: Pediatric first aid; Electronics recycling; Public restrooms

* Calendar: Week of Jan. 12

The searing cold of a January afternoon was not enough to diminish the enthusiasm of the hardy souls on the upper deck of a New York Water Taxi ferry as it sped away from Pier 16 in the South Street Seaport, headed toward New York harbor's lower bay. With binoculars and cameras in hand, they scanned the horizon, looking for the water birds who come down from northern Canada and the Arctic to winter in New York City.

New York City Audubon has been organizing winter eco-cruises in New York harbor for years. For the regulars, the sighting of the migrants is a sign that whatever may be amiss in the human world, the natural world is still going about its business.

Leaving the Buttermilk Channel, which separates Brooklyn from Governors Island, the ferry turned into the Erie Basin, a protected enclave off the East River where Bufflehead ducks like to hole up. As expected, they were there. Buffleheads are North America's smallest diving ducks, easily spotted despite their tiny size because the males have a broad, white patch on the backs of their heads, while the females have distinctive white cheek patches. The fossil record shows that Buffleheads have been living on Earth for at least half a million years.

They were sharing the Erie Basin with some Red-Breasted Mergansers, distinguished by their shaggy head feathers. They breed further north and winter further south than any other American mergansers, sometimes traveling as far south as Florida.

As the New York Water Taxi headed back into the bay, a flock of Canada geese appeared above the warehouses and factories of the Brooklyn waterfront, flying in elegant formation above the old bricks and chimneys and water towers. They would not be going any great distance at this time of year, said Nadir Sourgi, the New York City Audubon guide.

Long-tailed ducks.

Near the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, Sourgi became excited. He had spotted a flock of Long-Tailed Ducks. "Look at how beautiful they are!" he said.

In their winter plumage, they are white, brown and black with long, graceful tails. They come to New York City from the high Arctic, traveling thousands and thousands of miles to get here. They can dive to depths of 200 feet as they forage for insects, crustaceans, fish, bivalves and plants. Though not uncommon in New York harbor in the winter, they are considered a vulnerable species.

A broad, white cloud, flat as a platter, hung over Hoffman Island, one of two man-made islands that lie between Staten Island and Brooklyn. They were constructed in the 1870s to quarantine passengers arriving in New York City by ship. If the immigrants had been exposed to illness but showed no symptoms, they were sent to Hoffman Island to see what developed. If they actually were ill, they went to Swinburne Island. For many that was all of New York City that they ever saw. Swinburne Island had a hospital and a crematorium, both reduced now to ruins.

Great Blue Heron.

As the New York Water Taxi passed Hoffman Island, a Great Blue Heron flew near the boat and then crossed in front of it. These magnificent birds can be more than four feet tall with a wing span of six feet. They live in New York harbor year round.

Cautiously, the boat approached Swinburne Island, and there lolling on the rocks and bobbing in the water, were the plump, doe-eyed mammals that everyone had hoped and wanted to see. Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) have been wintering in New York harbor in ever-increasing numbers since 2001, and this year, was a bonanza.

Dr. Kevin Woo, a scientist who teaches at Empire State College and who is assistant director of the Center for the Study of Pinniped Ecology and Cognition at St. Francis College, said that he counted 43 seals - more than he had ever seen at Swinburne Island before.

"It's easy to get lost in the allure of large animals," he said. "Part of the message that we want to bring to people is not only, here are these cute animals, but they're in your backyard! I myself grew up in Queens and I had absolutely no knowledge of their existence for most of my life."    

 

Much is still unknown about what brings the seals to New York harbor and what their life is like while they're here. "This field season, we hope to establish individual IDs for the seals so that we can find out whether the same seals are using the same sites over and over again, whether they're moving between sites and whether they're coming back every year," Woo said.  

 

The boat lingered by the seals for around 20 minutes. No one could get enough of them. With Coney Island as a backdrop, it was amazing to see these large, wild mammals (some can weigh 300 pounds) living placidly in one of the largest cities in the world.   

 

As the boat finally pulled away, something else caught Sorgi's eye, flying low over the grasses of Swinburne Island. "It's a northern harrier!" he said. "I haven't seen one of these here before." These are birds of prey that hunt mice and voles. They are not usually here in the winter.  

 

Contented with what they had seen, most people moved to the warmth of the ferry's enclosed deck where hot chocolate and tea awaited them.  

 

The boat arrived back in the South Street Seaport two hours after it had departed, just in time for a late Sunday brunch.

 

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer

 

Winter Eco-Cruises to see the seals and wildlife of New York Harbor take place every Sunday through March 8 (except for Feb. 1). The cruises aboard New York Water Taxi leave from Pier 16 in the South Street Seaport. Tickets: $35 (adults); $25 (children); $105 (family pack of two adults and two children). To reserve a family pack, call (212) 742-1969. For more information or to buy tickets, click here.  

 

 

Letter to the editor

(Re: "Howard Hughes' piecemeal Seaport proposals leave CB1 with muddied resolution," DPNYC, 1/9/15.) Another really informative issue. Thank you.

I think Catherine McVay Hughes [chair of Community Board 1] was as shocked as anyone that the proposed Pier 17 rooftop (most recent iteration) will not have grass or trees or open public space except for the area around the rooftop restaurant. I would call this "bait and switch."

On March 9, 2012 at a Community Board 1 meeting, we were told that, "On top of the building, a large public lawn would surround a new 600-to-700-seat concert hall, which would convert into an open-air band shell in the summer and could host larger audiences of up to 2,000 people, similar to the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Tanglewood Music Center, [Gregg Pasquarelli] said. 'It would be a fantastic thing for Lower Manhattan to have a Tanglewood here, 60 feet in the air, right on the water,' Pasquarelli said."

Then, on May 17, 2012, we learned that, "Hughes would like to 'activate' the building's planted roof, possibly with a restaurant or a music venue."

When City Council announced in a press release on March 20, 2013, that it had passed the ULURP [Uniform Land Use Review Procedure] allowing Howard Hughes to proceed with the demolition of the existing structure on Pier 17 and the creation of a new shopping mall, the release said, "All areas of the roof of the Pier 17 building (other than those areas reserved for restaurant use and mechanical equipment) will be open to the public at no charge except when an area is closed temporarily for private use. Additionally, portions of the rooftop will be made available for no rental charge to a community based organization (such as the PTA of the neighborhood school or a youth center) up to four occasions per year."

By Oct. 17, 2013, there was a different story: "The one and a half-acre rooftop...will include a world-class restaurant, two outdoor bars and an amphitheater that will hold up to 4,000 people for concerts and special events - becoming the premier boutique entertainment venue in the world," the Howard Hughes website proclaimed.

There will be no "Tanglewood" or any other kind of woods for the Seaport rooftop and not much public access.

We welcome letters to the editor. Email them to editor@downtownpostnyc.com. We reserve the right to edit them for clarity and length.

A Battery Park City playground.  (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Community Board 1 meetings take place at 49-51 Chambers St., Room 709, unless otherwise noted, and start at 6 p.m. Bring photo ID to enter the building. All are welcome to attend.

Jan. 13: Youth & Education Committee
* Committee Accomplishments of 2014 for CB1 Annual Report

Jan. 14:  Tribeca Committee
* Worth Street Reconstruction Project - Preliminary presentation
* Pier 26 Update by Madelyn Wils, President and CEO, Hudson River Park Trust - Resolution
* Proposed changes to parking regulations in Tribeca - Presentation by Jennifer Leung, Project Manager, NYC Department of Transportation and possible resolution
* Bastille Day 2015 Street Activity Permit application for West Broadway between White Street and Walker Street, Tuesday July 14, 2015, 12 a.m. to 8 p.m. - Resolution
* Tribeca Community School Block Party street activity permit application for Ericsson Place between Varick and Hudson Streets, Saturday, May 16, 2015 - Resolution
* NYC Police Museum Fair, Friday June 19, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., North Moore Street between West and Greenwich Streets - Resolution
* Committee Accomplishments of 2014 for CB1 Annual Report

The following notices have been received for renewal, upgrade, or transfer of wine and beer or liquor licenses and sidewalk cafes:
* 110 Chambers St., application for corporate change for Liberty Restaurant LLC d/b/a Patriot Saloon
* 323 Greenwich St., application for renewal of sidewalk caf� license for four tables and 10 chairs
*460 Greenwich St., application for renewal of sidewalk cafe license for Tecton Caf� Inc.
* 3 Lispenard St., application for renewal of restaurant liquor license for One Japan Inc. d/b/a Tataki
* 85 West Broadway, application for renewal of restaurant liquor license for 85 West Broadway Owner LLC and Tribeca Kitchen LLC, d/b/a Smyth Hotel

Jan. 15: Quality of Life Committee 
* NYC DOT Construction Update
* Committee Accomplishments of 2014 for CB1 Annual Report

Jan. 19: Office Closed - Martin Luther King's Birthday

James Lindgren, a professor at SUNY and author of "Preserving South Street Seaport," will talk about the Seaport as an urban renewal district on Tuesday at the Southbridge Towers community room. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)