 News and stories about the waterways of
New York and New Jersey, from the Metropolitan Waterfront AllianceJANUARY 5, 2013 |
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AID DELAYED
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 The House of Representatives approved $9 billion of the hurricane relief bill on Friday, January 4, and the Senate followed with approval several hours later. House Speaker John Boehner assured his colleagues that the remaining $51 billion would be taken up on January 15. But local leaders and elected officials are still concerned about the delay in receiving desperately needed aid... READ MORE.
Photo: Staten Island after Hurricane Sandy, by Tommy Miles
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PORT STRIKE AVERTED - FOR NOW
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Longshoremen and port employers from Texas to Boston reached partial accord on a disputed Master Agreement in late December, averting what could have been a lifestyle-affecting port strike on January 1, 2013. The two sides have been negotiating since last March and had already extended the deadline once this fall in the face of a threatened strike at all major East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. The new deadline for an agreement between the U.S. Maritime Alliance -- a consortium of marine terminal operators, port companies and international carriers -- and the 14,500 workers represented by the International Longshoremen's Association is February 6, 2013. While employee compensation is still on the table, the two sides were able to come to an agreement on container royalties. These are payments to dock workers established in 1960 to offset job losses caused by containerization and the introduction of automated cargo handling. But, says the USMX, "The initial reason for implementing container royalties -- to protect ILA members from the loss of work -- has long been forgotten. Today, thousands of workers who were not even born in 1960 -- or in 1968 when container royalties were first distributed -- continue to receive payments that in 2011 averaged..." READ MORE.Photo: New York Container Terminal________________________________________________________ |
COMMUNITY URGES DELAY IN PIER 17 CLOSING
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Pier 17 and its dated mall on the East River are scheduled to close on June 30 for demolition and reconstruction by the Howard Hughes Company. Community Board 1 approved the new glass structure that will replace the current building but is urging that the closing be delayed for three months, to allow Pier 17 businesses and the entire South Street Seaport neighborhood -- still struggling mightily more than two months after Hurricane Sandy -- to benefit from the busy tourist season. As the owner of Manhattan By Sail, Tom Berton is directly affected by Pier 17 plans. His tall ship Clipper City (above) docks at the end of the pier and boards passengers there..." READ MORE.Photo: Clipper City ________________________________________________________ |
EPA FUNDS SALT MARSH STUDY IN NYC
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 An important habitat for fish and birds, wetlands -- where the water meets the land -- are beneficial to people, too; buffering stormy waters, preventing floods, filtering pollution and slowing erosion. Hundreds of years ago, New York City had an estimated 324,000 acres of coastal and freshwater wetlands. Today, less than one percent of local freshwater wetlands and only 25% of coastal wetlands remain. The NYC Parks Department has announced a new project sponsored by federal, state and city agencies that will allow research on opportunities to protect local wetlands as the sea level rises over the next century... READ MORE._________________________________________________________ |
ATTN CAPTAINS:
A NYC DOCK AWAITS YOU!
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 Ahoy, Captains of historic, educational and cultural vessels from around the world! New York City is rolling out the blue carpet at no fewer than 19 docks across the city. From the Dyckman Street Marina at the Hudson River shores of northernmost Manhattan to the Sheepshead Bay piers in southern Brooklyn, from Staten Island's Homeport to the World's Fair Marina in Queens, your cleats and bollards await you. Docking protocols have been streamlined and you can now easily access a standard permit application. Best of all, comprehensive, user-friendly information on dock features and public amenities is available to anyone with Internet access... READ MORE.Photo: Nantucket Lightship (homeport Boston) is docked this winter at Pier 25, which was specifically designed by the Hudson River Park Trust to host historic vessels. Photo: Robert Simko_________________________________________________________ |
ARMY CORPS & NYC RESTORE SOUNDVIEW PARK
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 Thirty years ago, Elbin Mena was repairing a hole on his father's roof in the Bronx. "I looked out at Soundview Park. It was filled with abandoned cars and burnt out shacks and I said to myself..." READ MORE.Photo: New plantings in the restored marsh area at the Soundview Park Ecosystem Restoration Project. Facing south toward the East River and LaGuardia Airport. By JoAnne Castagna, Public Affairs Specialist, NY District, US Army Corps of Engineers_________________________________________________________ |
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sidebar surge
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BY & LARGEPhoto coverage of
waterfront eventsNew York to San Francisco Around Cape Horn: Can Maserati Beat the Record?
Sails filled and straining, Giovanni Soldini's Maserati raced past the Statue of Liberty on December 31, 2012, leaning toward the ocean. It was the start of Soldini's attempt to break the NYC-to-San Francisco sailing record of 57 days, 3 hours and 2 minutes.
Soldini and his crew had waited a month at Lower Manhattan's North Cove before weather and wind provided conditions favorable for challenging the record. Click here to see where Maserati is right now.
 Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh of the Manhattan Sailing Club described recent attempts to break the record, which originally was set by Flying Cloud, a clipper ship that sailed in 1854 from New York to San Francisco in 89 days and 8 hours. That record stood until 1989.
"In the mid-1980s, several adventurers set out to break this fabled record but met with shipwreck along the way," Mr. Fortenbaugh wrote. "In 1988-89, Thursday's Child, skippered by Warren Luhrs broke the record with 80 days and 20 hours. The record was broken again the next year by Great American, skippered by Georgs Kolesnikovs. Then in 1994, Isabelle Autissier and her crew aboard Ecureuil Poitou smashed the record and set a new mark of 62 days and 5 hours. In 1998, Yves Parlier on Aquitaine Innovations improved this mark to 57 days, 3 hours and 2 minutes." The Manhattan Sailing Club established the Clipper Challenge Cup to encourage race boats to come to New York City and challenge the New York to San Francisco record. The starting line for the trophy is directly off North Cove.
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Polar Bears Spotted
at Coney Island
The 103rd annual New Year's Day Swim sponsored by the Polar Bear Club had more than 1,000 swimmers enter in five separate starts, reported photographer Hope Wright, who observed but did not participate. "It was COLD and I was told that the water temperature was 40 degrees!"
she said.
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2013 New York Boat Show
Some MWA Partners are exhibiting at the 2013 New York Boat Show, some are visiting. Either way, there's a lot to take in. Besides a look at all kinds of boats, from kayaks to huge yachts, visitors may try the ASOS Nautis boating simulator, play a radio-controlled boat docking game or attend workshops and seminars on boat and motor maintenance. You can even try scuba diving in a small heated pool right there in the Jacob Javits Center.
Ray Fusco, who took the photo above, is attending the four-day (January 3-6) event to promote the Harbor Safety Project.
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Change of Watch at US Coast Guard Auxiliary Division 12
 December 29, 2012, saw the Change of Watch Ceremony at the United State Coast Guard Auxiliary, Division 12 in Bayside, Queens. The ceremony took place at the Douglaston Club, with special guest of honor the USCG Captain of the Port, Gordon Loebel (bottom row, second from the right). Photo: USCG Auxiliary ________________________ EVENTSJanuary 5Working the WaterFamily friendly event featuring hands-on demonstrations by local maritime tradition bearers including boat builders, net menders, decoy carvers, baymen and fishermen from the north and south shores of Long Island. 12:30pm-4:30pm, East Meadow Library, 1886 Front Street, East Meadow, NYJanuary 8Hoboken Cove BoathouseInformal information session/orientation. 6pm, Pilsener Haus Biergarten, 1422 Grand St.January 10Hudson River Community SailingLearn about volunteer opportunities, from working with the after-school program to boat maintenance to event planning. 6:30pm-8:30pm, 350 West 42 St.January 12On the Road to ResiliencePart 2 of a special series from the Municipal Art Society. 9am-4pm, The New School, 66 West 12 St.Watershed Relief MapPresentation of a 3D model of the city's water system. 12pm, Queens Museum of ArtJanuary 12 and 13Salt Water WeekendTwo days of family programs examining Long Island maritime culture. Long Island Children's Museum, Garden City__________ CLASSIFIED ADSPlace your water-related classified ad free in
WaterWire! Contact asimko@waterfrontalliance.org
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MWA PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
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
Passaic River Boat Club - Mission: to bring recreational boating back to the Passaic River.Persak & Wurmfeld - Yacht design firm.
Pier 66 Maritime - Former car float (railroad barge) that is now used as a public access pier at the foot of West 26th Street in Hudson River Park.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey - The Port Authority conceives, builds, operates and maintains infrastructure critical to the New York/New Jersey region's trade and transportation network. These facilities include America's busiest airport system, marine terminals and ports, the PATH rail transit system, six tunnels and bridges between New York and New Jersey, the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, and the World Trade Center. ______________________________________________________________________________________
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WATERFRONT NEWSLINKS
Anonymous donor gives $500G to South Street Seaport Museum to help in Sandy recovery
"An anonymous donor sailed to the aid of the South Street Seaport Museum with a $500,000 check to repair damage caused by Hurricane Sandy..."
New York Post, January 4, 2013
EPA Proposes Plan for Cleaning Up Gowanus Canal
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposed cleanup plan for the Gowanus Canal that includes removing some of the contaminated sediment and capping dredged areas. The proposed plan also includes controls to prevent raw sewage overflows and other land-based sources of contamination from compromising the cleanup. The cost of the cleanup plan is expected to be between $467 and $504 million..."
City Limits, January 3, 2013
Staten Island Ferry to go green with federal cash
"The city is sailing ahead with a "natural" solution to cut the Staten Island Ferry's fuel costs.
This year, the Department of Transportation will convert one of its smaller ferries from diesel fuel to liquefied natural gas - which will halve the boat's gas bill and cut harmful carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent..."
New York Daily News, January 1, 2013
5 things to know about longshoremen negotiations
"The International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance agreed Friday to a contract extension until early February, averting a potential strike Sunday by more than 14,000 dockworkers that could have brought commerce at major ports along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico to a near-standstill. Five things to know about the talks:..."
The Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2012
Planning for next time: New York City after Sandy
"Superstorm Sandy's arrival in New York City on Oct. 29 was a dividing line between the city that was, the city that is and the city that will be. Some businesses will never reopen. Some communities will never be the same. As of Nov. 26, Mayor Michael Bloomberg estimated that the storm cost New York City $19 billion..."
NYC Reconnects, December 28, 2012
After Storm, Moving to Update a Mall at the South Street Seaport
"Nearly two months after Hurricane Sandy devastated the South Street Seaport on the East River in Lower Manhattan, dumpsters still line its cobblestone streets and nearly all of the stores west of Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive remain closed. But the storm surge largely spared Pier 17, the seaport's long-maligned shopping mall to the east..."
The New York Times, December 25, 2012
NYC plans 5-year extension for East River Ferry
"There's good news for New Yorkers who fancy the East River Ferry: The city is looking to extend the popular service until at least 2019..."
The Wall Street Journal, December 20, 2012
Fuel oil spills into the Kill Van Kull, Coast Guard says
"Oil is washing up along the Bayonne waterfront after a barge in Staten Island spilled the fuel into the Kill Van Kull late Friday night, officials say..."
The Jersey Journal, December 15, 2012
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