News and stories about the waterways of
New York and New Jersey, from the
Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance

MARCH 24, 2014

CONTENTS
S.W.I.M. Coalition Picks Up the Pace - Any questions on stormwater management? You've come to the right place
Ferry Tales - From one end of NYC to the other, our favorite mode of transportation gains momentum
COMMUNITY GATHERS TO
PLAN ACTIVATION OF PIER 36PIER36
"We view ourselves as a marriage broker between boat operators and the community," Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance President Roland Lewis told the Lower East Siders gathered on March 18. "This is the first date."

It was the first DockNYC meeting about Pier 36, the long, lonely pier found at the East River end of Montgomery Street. The pier is open every day until sunset, but hardly anyone knows it's there, across South Street and the FDR Drive and out of sight behind the Basketball City building. Last year, the NYC Economic Development Corporation added Pier 36 to a list of underutilized berthing sites, labeled the program DockNYC, and hired BillyBey, a marine transit company, to activate the piers. MWA assists with community outreach. On March 18, it was time to discuss ideas with Lower East Siders. "How do you envision Pier 36 best serving the community?" Mr. Lewis asked.

Suitably cautious for a first date, the Lower East Siders first asked the Billybey/MWA team to schedule more presentations at housing developments in order to reach more of the community. They brought up the need for employment for young people, and were pleased to hear Billybey's Donald Liloia say he likes to hire locally so that staff can be stewards of local waterfront.

Residents were concerned that traffic congestion would increase with pier activity, but learned that most people walk or take public transit to the waterfront so that vehicular traffic is typically not an issue. After confirming the 1,300-foot pier's capacity for emergency evacuation, community members finally began to allow themselves to dream -- and representatives of historic vessels such as Pioneer from the South Street Seaport Museum (click here for a video) and Lilac were there ready to brainstorm events and programs.

"Can we make a connection to the Harbor School?" asked a representative of Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, hoping to expand a summer camp program.

"I want a barge with music and food," another woman mused.

"We could have a Tugboat Week!" someone said. Others chimed in: "Military boat week! Oil tanker week!"

"How about a ferry to the beach?" Mr. Liloia suggested.

For details about Pier 36 or other DockNYC programs, contact Harrison Peck at [email protected] or 212-935-9831, x10.
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S.W.I.M. LESSONSswim   
If you're on the S.W.I.M. Coalition email list, you've heard from the organization at least twice a week for the past couple weeks -- more frequently than usual.

"There's a lot happening!" said Coalition Steering Committee member Shino Tanakawa. She also credited an enthusiastic intern for getting the word out about green infrastructure policy and stormwater management issues.

"The city is starting to roll out LTCPs -- Long Term Control Plans for water bodies," said Ms. Tanakawa, who also manages the NYC Soil & Water Conservation District. "And there's also finally an MS4 permit. That's an issue a lot of people don't know about."

LTCPs? MS4? The S.W.I.M. Coalition is here to explain what these mysterious letters and numbers have to do with improving water quality, and to suggest how you can contribute to important policy decisions.

An influential group that monitors stormwater management policy and engages in public education and outreach, the S.W.I.M. (Stormwater Infrastructure Matters) Coalition comprises environmental and civic organizations -- including Riverkeeper, Natural Resources Defense Council, Newtown Creek Alliance, Rocking the Boat, Bronx River Alliance and others -- that formed an alliance in 2006. Every other month representatives meet to discuss topics such as green infrastructure incentives or strategies for public notification on combined sewer overflows (CSOs). The group had its first major success in 2008 when members were instrumental in drafting legislation mandating that New York City develop a sustainable stormwater management plan. Their work became Local Law 5. Then came the Green Infrastructure Plan of 2010, the NYC Green Roof tax abatement law and the 2012 amended CSO Order on Consent agreement between NYC DEP and NY State DEC to reduce CSOs using a hybrid gray/green infrastructure approach.

Which brings us to LTCPs. The Environmental Protection Agency requires Long Term Control Plans for cities with CSO systems. New York City has been drafting LTCPs for all the city's major water bodies. On March 26, join S.W.I.M and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection at a kick-off meeting to launch the City's third LTCP, this one for the Hutchinson River. Read Riverkeeper's informative post, with details about the meeting, here. For information on all NYC LTCPs, click here.

The draft MS4 permit, by the way, issued a few weeks ago by the State Department of Environmental Conservation, is for the portion of New York City not served by a combined sewer system. S.W.I.M. members digested the complex document and posted this on the Coalition's web site: "The draft permit covers nearly half of the city, where polluted stormwater runoff flows into waterways through stormwater-only public sewers or via direct overland flow. The permit would give the city a 3-year deadline to develop a comprehensive stormwater management plan for those portions of the city, for both public and private property... Importantly, the draft permit sets the minimum requirements for what this new stormwater plan must include, which means that weighing in on the permit now is critical to affect the contents of the plan later." Comments are due April 7. S.W.I.M. has drafted suggestions, and encourages supporters to get involved. Find out more here.

If you're interested in news about green infrastructure and stormwater management, you should be on the S.W.I.M. Coalition's list. Click here to join.
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ferry
BRONX FERRY MOMENTUM
The Bronx ferry movement continues to gain momentum, from the community centers of Soundview to the office of the Bronx Borough President. The Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance's petition to bring ferry service to the Bronx recently counted its 1,000th signature, and was at 1,018 supporters by mid-March. Signers have expressed a diversity of rationales for supporting the petition including significantly faster commutes, enhanced emergency preparedness, cost savings, waterfront activation, congestion reduction, and much-needed economic development in the Bronx.

In addition, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. has called for high-speed ferry service to Soundview. In his annual State of the Borough address last month, Diaz called Bronx ferry service an "innovative idea" that "would open up new transit options for thousands of Bronx commuters," citing the local economic development benefits of ferry transit as an added incentive. The Borough President has long been a vocal proponent of ferry service to the Bronx.

A STATEN ISLAND FERRY OF A DIFFERENT COLOR
For almost 200 years, the iconic Staten Island Ferry has shuttled passengers across New York Harbor between St. George and Lower Manhattan. But with the 2016 arrival of the New York Wheel and Empire Outlets, just one ferry route from Lower Manhattan may not meet the spike in demand for access to Staten Island's North Shore. The outlet mall and the observation wheel, slated to be the world's largest, are projected to attract 6 million visitors to the Island each year, and they will likely come from places further afield than Lower Manhattan. In anticipation of this influx of visitors, the City's major ferry companies are now exploring opportunities for new direct, high-speed routes from Midtown, Brooklyn, and New Jersey.

For instance, New York Water Taxi has expressed interest in adding a St. George stop to its all-day, hop-on-hop-off service, while BillyBey is considering ways to bring East River Ferry riders to Staten Island.

However, any new ferry service will have tough competition from the Staten Island Ferry, which provides reliable -- and free -- service 24 hours a day. To improve viability and keep fares more affordable, Wheel-bound ferry routes should receive some sort of subsidy, such as a discount for passengers who show a receipt from the New York Wheel or Empire Outlets. This model has a proven record of success in New York Water Taxi's popular Red Hook IKEA service.

Staten Island Borough President James Oddo is looking forward to increased options for water-borne transit to the Island. "I want as many ways for folks to come to Staten Island, to spend their money at The Wheel, the outlets, and discover our culturals," Oddo was quoted as saying. "I don't believe it will be a tough sell to draw people to this borough."
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BY & LARGE
 
2014 Waterfront Conference
The Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance's 2014 Waterfront Conference -- "Rebuilding Our Waterfront: From the Water In, From the Grassroots Up" -- will be held on April 24, 9am to 5pm, aboard the Hornblower Infinity. Click here for details about panel and plenary topics. The Conference will focus on grassroots, community-based waterfront plans, and will honor the people behind five such plans as Heroes of the Harbor. We welcome your participation. Get tickets here.
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First 2014 NYC Council Waterfronts Committee Hearing 
 Calling all boaters, fishers, paddlers and maritime enthusiasts! The NYC Council Committee on Waterfronts (Council Member Deborah Rose, Chair) is holding its first oversight hearing of 2014 on Friday, March 28. The topic: "An Update on the City's Comprehensive Waterfront Plan as it Relates to Expanding Public Access to the City's Waterfront." The hearing takes begins at 10am at City Hall in the Committee Room.

The hearing is open to the public, so come speak about how you would like to see City government expand public access to the waterfront. The Council asks that you bring 20 double-sided copies of your testimony to the hearing.
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A Book for Container Spotting Enthusiasts

Take another look at WaterWire's top photo. That giant container ship labelled UASC (United Arab Shipping Companies),loaded with brightly colored containers, is on its way out of the Kill van Kull, the Bayonne Bridge behind it. Aren't you curious about what's in those containers? Where has this ship been and where is it going?

 

With questions like these in mind, two West Coast guys mesmerized by maritime traffic in the Port of Oakland launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the publication of The Container Guide, a pocket-sized field guide to shipping containers and the companies that own them. Drawing inspiration from classic Audubon birding guides, the Container Guide features photographs, logos and container colors to help readers identify the corporation behind almost any container spotted in the wild. Each company's entry provides rich historical background and data on revenue, trade routes and habits. 

 

Craig Cannon and Tim Hwang, designers of the Container Guide, are taking orders now. To donate to the campaign or purchase a guide, click here.

 

Top banner photo: Robert Simko 

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Help Plan Waterfront Programming at

Stuyvesant Cove Park

MWA is hosting a community meeting on April 3 about improving public access to on-water activity in Stuyvesant Cove Park, in partnership with Community Board 6, Stuyvesant Cove Park Association, Borough President Gale Brewer, Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick, Senator Brad Hoylman, Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh, Solar One, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, DockNYC and other community groups and maritime users. Please come for an open discussion of infrastructure improvements to facilitate more waterfront programming at Stuyvesant Cove Park.  

 

The meeting is taking place Thursday, April 3, 6:30pm-8pm, at Baruch College, 17 Lexington Avenue (23rd Street), Room 306. RSVP online at bit.ly/1ezzPDI  

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Short-Term Newtown Creek
Dredging Project Begins

Warning that its work might release hydrogen sulfide (the gas that smells like rotten eggs), the NYC Department of Environmental Protection has begun a six-week dredging project of Whale Creek and  Newtown Creek. The dredging will allow DEP sludge vessels to navigate to a new dock where they will receive waste material piped from the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. The boats carry the sludge to Wards Island for further processing. The old dock on the East River will be demolished to make way for affordable housing.

 

Dredging will start in Whale Creek and move west along Newtown Creek toward the Pulaski Bridge and the mouth of Newtown Creek. At first, operations will be performed in 12-hour shifts, 6am to 6pm. As operations move into Newtown Creek, work will run 24 hours per day in order to minimize impacts to marine traffic. Questions? Contact Shane Ojar, Director of DEP Community Affairs at 718-595-4148 or  [email protected].  

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Weather in the Watershed 
Analyzing information from ten weather stations around Newtown Creek, the Newtown Creek Alliance -- in collaboration with the dontflush.me project and the S.W.I.M. Coalition -- is able to estimate how much stormwater is entering the sewer system and when. "We can combine the rainfall data with what we know about the available capacity in the sewer system to create an alert system for sewer overflows," says the NCA web site. "When the watershed is on alert we hope that watershed residents will hold off (within reason...) on flushing, since toilets in the watershed will flush directly to the creek when CSOs are occurring."

This is the Weather in the Watershed program and you can learn more about it at presentations on March 24, 5:45pm, at the Woodside Public Library (Queens); March 25, 4pm, at the Dekalb Public Library (Brooklyn); March 29, 3pm, at the Central Public Library (Queens); and March 30, 3pm at the North Brooklyn Boat Club. For addresses and details, click here.
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EVENTS
 
March 25
Fluid New York
Cosmopolitan Urbanism and the Green Imagination book talk.
6:30pm, Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place 
 
March 27 
Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club Annual Meeting
7pm. The Roof, 3rd Ave & 3rd St., Gowanus, Brooklyn

March 28 
NYC Council Waterfront Committee Hearing
See item above. 10am, City Hall 

March 28-30 
Paddlesport
12pm-9pm. Garden State Exhibit Center, 50 Atrium Drive, Somerset, NJ

      

Click here for more water-related events on the MWA website!  
WATERFRONT NEWSLINKS

Rahway Arch project could threaten Staten Island
"A plan being fast-tracked by the State of New Jersey would import 2 million tons of tainted soil to cover a polluted wetland tract only half a mile from the Arthur Kill..."
Staten Island Advance, March 23, 2014

Report backs Harlem waterfront proposal floated by Diaz Jr.
"Study recommends building enormous residential, commercial space around West 146th Street..."
The Real Deal, March 21, 2014

Going Up! A Bridge Makes Way for Bigger Ships
"When it opened in 1931, the Bayonne Bridge - with its parabolic arch connecting Staten Island and Bayonne, N.J. - was an engineering marvel, boasting the longest unsupported span of any steel arch bridge in the world. But the height of its roadway, at 151 feet above the Kill Van Kull waterway, is increasingly insufficient for the large container ships now calling at the container ports of Staten Island and New Jersey..."
The New York Times, March 21, 2014

Architects Dream Big on Waterfront Projects
"New York City has more waterfront real estate than any other city in the United States, and the allure of these 500-plus miles is undeniable, evidenced by the success of waterfront parks and developments..."
The Epoch Times, March 21, 2014

Sale of Hudson River Park air rights advances
"The trust that oversees the park will meet with new City Planning Commission Chair Carl Weisbrod next week to discuss the mechanics of deals to transfer an estimated 1.6 million square feet of building rights..."
Crain's New York Business, March 20, 2014

5 Urban Planning Projects That Will Change The Bronx
"In a city of rivers, it is easy to see why the majority of boroughs have invested in waterfront parks..."
Untapped Cities, March 17, 2014

Finding Beauty in the Sludge
"Despite the beckoning townhouses and the waterfront arrival of Whole Foods, the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn remains a haunting place...."
The New York Times, March 15, 2014

Muscota Marsh Park: A Lucid View of Troubled Waters
"This setting, with its natural forces in balance with modest cultivation, may seem like an unlikely site for the British landscape architect and urban planner, James Corner, whose highly aesthetic tableaux of semi-natural forces at work upon one another have become iconic of ecological urban design.  But here sits Corner's newest park - also New York City's newest - on the edge of Manhattan's last remaining estuary, in the shadows of the City's last original growth trees..."
Grounded Design, March 13, 2014
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Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance | 212-935-9831 | [email protected] | http://www.waterfrontalliance.org
241 Water Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10038

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