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

DECEMBER 20, 2014

Hundreds attended a December 15 rally at North Cove in Lower Manhattan in support of the current operator,
who may not be selected to continue managing the marina.
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CONTENTS
SENATORS MOVE TO SCRAP THEabolish
WATERFRONT COMMISSION


In 1954, "On the Waterfront" was released in theaters to great acclaim. Starring Marlon Brando, the movie tells the story of a longshoreman beset by pressures on all sides as he faces violent crime on the docks and a corrupt union boss.

Hardhitting and disturbing, the movie was hardly fiction. A year before this, the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor had been established by the states of New York and New Jersey, with the approval of the Congress, to rout corruption and crime at the waterfront.

Today, some say the Waterfront Commission has run its course. It was only five years ago that a report from the New York State Inspector General charged the commission itself with widespread corruption. In response, most of the executive staff was replaced and the commission continued its control of waterfront hiring practices and investigations of criminal activities. It also continued to collect millions of dollars in annual taxes from port industries.

Lately, however, the commission has fought with both the longshoremen's union and the biggest port businesses -- parties that historically square off on opposite sides. Last year, the International Longshoremen's Association and the New York Shipping Association jointly filed a lawsuit against the Waterfront Commission charging that it was interfering in their hard-won hiring agreement. A federal judge dismissed the suit this past August, but the parties are appealing.

Now, elected officials are challenging the commission. "The time has come for the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor to be dissolved," wrote U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak in an op-ed published in the Star Ledger on December 10, 2014. "While initially serving an essential purpose in cracking down on rampant organized criminal activity at the port, the Waterfront Commission today is a duplicative layer of law enforcement. There is no need for a redundant governmental entity that is imposing undue costs on port businesses."

Sen. Lesniak co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Ronald Rice in the NJ State Senate calling for the state to withdraw from the commission and transfer enforcement activities to the State Police. Waterfront Commission staff, however, are fighting the move, questioning if New Jersey can legally withdraw from the bi-state compact approved by Congress.

New Jersey lawmakers have support on the other side of the Hudson, as some New Yorkers, as well as those in roles that straddle both states, are questioning the purpose of the Waterfront Commission. "When maritime labor and management are singing from the same page of the hymnal, it's time to scrutinize the utility of the Waterfront Commission," said MWA president and CEO Roland Lewis. "We need a 21st-century reexamination of how to ensure the best workforce for our vital and expanding port."

Photo courtesy of the New York Container Terminal.
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NORTH COVE THRU 2025: WHO WILL GET THE CONTRACT?NORTH 

For the last decade, North Cove Marina, a property of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), has been managed by Michael Fortenbaugh, a local resident and commodore of the North Cove-based Manhattan Yacht Club. Since founding the club in 1987, Mr. Fortenbaugh has expanded it to more than 900 members, and
has created a sailing school for adults and a summer sailing camp for children and teens, both attended by thousands. Simultaneously, over the last ten years he has built North Cove itself into a vital public space, hosting luxury mega-yachts, commercial vessels for charter, and high-tech racing boats, while providing access for middle-class families and nonprofit educational vessels and historic ships. His management contract ends December 31, 2014.

Mr. Fortenbaugh has submitted a bid to the BPCA to retain control of North Cove for the next 10 years, but he is not optimistic about his prospects. One of the other bidders in the competitive process is known to be Brookfield Properties, which owns Brookfield Place -- formerly known as the World Financial Center -- and the Winter Garden, adjacent to North Cove. According to published reports, Brookfield is bidding in partnership with Island Global Yachting, owned by billionaire Andrew Farkas, friend of Governor Cuomo.

Ordered to vacate the marina, Mr. Fortenbaugh was offered a 60-day temporary lease when the BPCA postponed its decision on North Cove in December.

Letters of support for Mr. Fortenbaugh have been pouring in, most directed to the BPCA and many printed in the local papers. Expressing sentiments typical of the letters, Community Board 1 member Jeff Galloway wrote, "The North Cove Marina has achieved the unusual distinction of being both a world class operation and a genuine member of the neighborhood. It was not always this way. [Before Mr. Fortenbaugh] became the operator of the Marina 10 years ago, the overall character of the Marina was one of literally a foreign presence -- operated by an absentee non-U.S. company with no obvious connection to Lower Manhattan. When 9/11 happened, the old corporate operator effectively abandoned the neighborhood. [Mr. Fortenbaugh] took an operation that had been forsaken by the "big-money" interests and turned it into one of the engines driving Lower Manhattan's rebirth."

"The North Cove Marina is a public asset and the Battery Park City Authority operates it for the benefit of the community and all New Yorkers," reads a statement from the BPCA. The agency, which will make a decision about North Cove at its January board meeting, said bidders must ensure "enhanced public access to the waterfront and the continuation and improvement of existing marina programs, including a sailing school."

Read The Broadsheet story, "Do the Big Fish Always Eat the Little Fish?" here. Read The New York Times story, "Battery Park City's Populist Sailing School May Lose Lease" here.
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NJ AND BRONX STUDENTS TO STEAMRECREATE HISTORIC STEAMBOAT
This 19th-century photograph of the Little Juliana -- the first steamboat propelled by twin screws, launched in 1804 from Hoboken, NJ -- is almost all that a team of Bronx high school and New Jersey college students have to go on as they embark on a year-long project to recreate the historic vessel. That and measurements of the original steam engine.

Over the next year, naval engineering students at Hoboken-based Stevens Institute of Technology will build the steam engine while Bronx-based Rocking the Boat students construct the boat. The original Little Juliana was designed by the college's namesake, John Stevens, a colonel in the Revolutionary War and an inventor who owned the land on which the college is built. Col. Stevens is known for pioneering steam-powered propulsion, having also built in the early 19th century the first steamboat to traverse open ocean, the first steam-powered ferry, and a steam locomotive. He feuded with Robert Fulton, a man credited with launching the world's first successful steamboat -- in 1807 -- and who, through his partnership with the well-connected Robert LIvingston, had a monopoly on the right to navigate steamboats in New York. Read the Hoboken History Museum's fascinating history of the Stevens family.

It was in 1804 that Col. Stevens designed two propellers, or "screws," and installed them on either side of a steam engine in a new boat named after his daughter. Little Juliana introduced an innovative and enduring means of propulsion -- the twin screw system is still used by most of today's container ships -- to maritime technology three years before Robert Fulton's famous steam-propelled paddleboat Clermont was launched.

Less than 10 miles apart as the crow flies, but separated by several busy urban waterways, the students are starting to research hull designs and mechanical systems. Their work in the coming months will involve steambending frames, making foundry patterns, and pouring molten bronze. "The boat Col. Stevens chose to set his steam engine in was a 24-foot 8-inch Whitehall, a larger version of the very design Rocking the Boat students have been building since 1998," wrote RtB executive director Adam Green in an email to supporters. Last summer, Rocking the Boat apprentices built a 29-foot whaleboat for Mystic Seaport Museum; read about it here. Mr. Green said the Stavros Niarchos Foundation granted $25,000 to fund the Little Juliana project and pledged to match funds raised up to $50,000. Email Mr. Green if you would like to contribute.
BY & LARGE
 conference
MWA Calls for Waterfront Conference Proposals 
Is your work advancing a better waterfront in New York City or northern New Jersey? Do you have insights that would enlighten other waterfront stakeholders? Are you developing new techniques or seeing new trends to protect, transform, and revitalize the harbor and waterfront?

In keeping with our alliance-based, big-tent mission, MWA invites you to help determine the content of the 2015 Waterfront Conference by proposing a presentation, session, or panel discussion topic.

Submit your proposal here. Questions? Please email [email protected] with "Waterfront Conference" as the subject line. The deadline for submissions is January 12, 2015.

MWA's Waterfront Conference, the region's largest annual gathering of waterfront experts, scientists, civic leaders, government officials, and activists, will take place on May 7, 2015. This year's conference is themed Shaping Your 21st Century Waterfront and will take place once again on the beautiful Hornblower Infinity, launching from Pier 40 on the Hudson River. More information, including sponsorship opportunities and ticket purchases, will be available early next year.
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seaport
South Street Seaport
Saga Continues
 
  In the last two weeks, more public meetings about the future of South Street Seaport have taken place. As WaterWire readers will recall, the Howard Hughes Corporation has proposed a major redevelopment of the historic district. Catch up on the news with the articles below.

With SHoP's Skyscraper in the Balance, Howard Hughes Stacks a Seaport Hearing
Architect's Newspaper

Developer's Plans for Seaport Historic District Spark Passions on Both Sides
Tribeca Trib

Boulware Charts a Fair Course for the South Street Seaport Museum but This Might be Subject to Howard Hughes' Good Will
Downtown Post NYC

Seaport Museum Expects to Remain on Schermerhorn Row
Curbed NY 
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 redhook
Red Hook Ferry Service
is Expanded
 
New York Water Taxi has announced year-round ferry service that will allow riders to travel between Midtown, DUMBO, Lower Manhattan, and Red Hook. The expanded service builds on the success of the IKEA ferry and the conclusion of the second successful "Destination Red Hook" summer ferry season.

Riders can travel between Lower Manhattan and Red Hook for $5 or Red Hook and W. 39th St. for $9
.

"While residents of Red Hook have long suffered arduous commutes, New York Water Taxi's more frequent service to and from Manhattan will provide better access to jobs and economic development opportunities for a growing neighborhood. As demand for new housing soars across the city, ferry service will be a critical component for serving the transportation needs of historically transit-poor waterfront neighborhoods," said MWA's Roland Lewis. "We salute New York Water Taxi and call on our elected leaders and government officials to continue to look for new opportunities to expand transportation choices for our region's underserved districts." 
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 connie
Connie Fishman Named Governors Island Alliance Interim Executive Director
Connie Fishman has taken the reins at the Governors Island Alliance as interim executive director, succeeding Susan Carey Dempsey. Ms. Fishman was previously president and CEO of the Hudson River Park Trust. "Connie Fishman is uniquely qualified to lead the Governors Island Alliance into a new growth phase, working with our partners at the Trust and the National Park Service," said Marc Ricks, GIA board chair. "Our board has never been more excited about the future of this organization than we are right now."
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lighthouse
National Lighthouse Museum Calls for Submissions
The National Lighthouse Museum is calling for submissions to its first national juried photography show. "Lighthouse Stories and Tales of the Sea," judged in association with the Creative Photographers Guild, will be a photographic celebration of the world's great lighthouses and waterways. The deadline for submissions is January 11, 2015, and the month-long exhibition will open February 7, 2015. The National Lighthouse Museum is at 5 Bay Street on Staten Island, near the St. George Ferry Terminal.
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shoutout
ALLIANCE PARTNER SHOUT-OUT
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, and architects. 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 [email protected].

Meet some MWA partners:
D'Onofrio General Contractors Corp. - Brooklyn-based. Building complex infrastructure and marine projects along the East Coast.
DeepRoot Green Infrastructure LLC - Creating a more livable built environment using green utilities with a high level of ecological function.
The Dinghy Shop - Selling sailboats and sailing products personally tested. Based in Amityville, LI.
Dock Builders and Divers Local Union No. 1456 - Established in 1915. Representing dockbuilders, pier carpenters, shorers, house movers, divers, and foundation and marine constructors. 
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EVENTS

Dec. 21
Walk the Sea Floor
American Littoral Society walk. Free. 12pm-2pm. Meet at Fort Tilden, Rockaway. 

  

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

Greenpoint Green Groups Get $11 Million in Grants Tied to Massive Gas Agreement
"Money obtained by the state in a 2011 settlement with Exxon Mobil over its massive oil spill in the Brooklyn neighborhood will fuel six programs in the community, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Wednesday..."
New York Daily News, December 17, 2014

Clean Ocean Action: NJ & NY Threatened by Proposed "Port Ambrose" Offshore LNG Facility
"Liberty Natural Gas' proposed "Port Ambrose" is an offshore facility for liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers that would be located just a few miles from the NY/NJ harbor and our beaches..."
Atlantic Highlands Herald, December 16, 2014

Can Seafood Be Kosher and Sustainable?
"...Many of us in this era of ecologically motivated dietary restrictions find ourselves editing our menu choices, almost religiously culling the sustainable wheat from the ecologically destructive chaff..."
The New York Times, December 13, 2014

New Committee Brainstorms Hudson River Greenway Through the Bronx
"The three-person team, from Community Board 8 in Riverdale, is holding public meetings in hopes of finding a way to finally build a waterfront path on the Hudson from Manhattan to Yonkers..."
New York Daily News, December 10, 2014

Humpback Whales Increasing in Waters Near NYC
"...Humpback whales, the gigantic, endangered mammals known for their haunting underwater songs, have been approaching New York City in greater numbers than even old salts can remember..."
Associated Press, December 10, 2014

Fitch: NY-NJ Port would Require New Funding for Cross-Harbor Freight Link
"New revenues would be needed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to fund a proposed cross-harbor barge or rail tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey, Fitch Ratings said on Monday..."
JOC, December 8, 2014
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Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance | 212-935-9831 | [email protected] | http://www.waterfrontalliance.org
217 Water Street, Suite 300
New York, NY 10038

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