“Harboring History: Brooklyn's Transforming Waterfront” (2025): a NYU capstone project by Jori Johson, in collaboration with PortSide NewYork.

The 45-minute documentary film covers Brooklyn waterfront history by interviewing seven people and including a lot of vintage images and film footage. It thoughtfully covers the past and then adds the context of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal planning process.  Jori Johnson picked PortSide as a partner for her capstone Archives & Public History project because she wanted to work with, and add to, PortSide’s archive and virtual museum www.redhookwaterstories.org.

Location:
River of God Christian Center
110 Wolcott Street, Brooklyn 11231

Time:
6:30 to 9:00
After the film there will be a discussion.

Tickets:
The event is free but tickets are required. Go to this Eventbrite page to get yours.

Please note: this screening is NOT at PortSide’s MARY WHALEN but at a nearby historic church.

If your church or organization would like to do a screening, we would love to assist! Please send an email to chiclet(at)portsidenewyork.org

How was the history of our waterfront forgotten? How did waterfront use and access change over time?

 Join for the premier screening of "Harboring History: Brooklyn's Transforming Waterfront."

Location: Waterfront Museum, 290 Conover Street, Red Hook Brooklyn
Time: Thursday, May 29 · 7 - 8:30pm
Tickets: FREE, but RSVP required

 This is a film about history and forgetting, maritime power and waterfront ruins, and the press of international and national forces on our waterfront in the context of replanning the Brooklyn Marine Terminal, NYC’s largest land acquisition in decades.

 This 45-minute documentary interweaves the observations of seven speakers into a thoughtful reflection on the tensions between progress and history, community needs and external actors, who’s heard and not, with an undercurrent of concern about how official public planning is sometimes done (or should be done?)

 Following the screening, we will open the room to community discussion in response to the film.

 This project was created by Jori Johnson, in collaboration with PortSide NewYork, as a Capstone project in NYU's Archives & Public History MA program.

[Please note: this screening is NOT at PortSide’s MARY WHALEN. It is at the Waterfront Museum, our Red Hook friend and neighbor. Venue capacity is 150, with seating for 100.  Seating is available on first-come, first-served basis. ]

Location: Strong Rope Brewery, 185 Van Dyke St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Time: Thursday, May 22 · 8:30pm
Tickets: Reserve your spot on Eventbrite. Eventbrite tickets are for reserving a spot. $20 suggested donation at the door. Cash or Venmo is accepted. Credit cards are not preferred, but OK.

This screening with 65 minutes of 17 lively, humorous, animated shorts by the award-winning filmmaker Alex Budovsky supports PortSide NewYork. The evening starts with 4 minute short by Savva Svet about how #PortSideNeedsaHome.

Alex Budovsky is a winner of international awards and has premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. His Brooklyn Breeze is a love letter to Brooklyn, featuring many Red Hook references including the vista from Strong Rope Brewery.

Come see great films and enjoy Strong Rope's great taproom beverages and atmosphere. Thank you Strong Rope for hosting!

Eventbrite tickets are for reserving a spot. $20 suggested donation at the door. Cash or Venmo is accepted. Credit cards are not preferred, but OK.

[Please note: this screening is not at the Mary Whalen, but down the shore at Red Hook’s String Rope Brewery.]

The May 10, 2025 Second Saturday community potluck BBQ has been canceled.

The EDC has yet to finalize PortSide’s berth permit, and without that we can not have events.

In past years it has been a time to enjoy the main deck of PortSide's historic ship, the tanker MARY A. WHALEN.  Bring something for the grill, a side, dinner, drinks… Meet new people, chat with old friends, lounge in a hammock, bring a musical instrument and jam, appreciate our historic ship and the maritime ambiance of our location. Get a sense of the vibe here.

PortSide invites to come by our ship Mary Whalen before and/or after the EDC’s BMT Public Workshop #4. You have to pass us going to and from that meeting at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. We are doing this because the EDC is erasing us in the presentations about the BMT present and future, and #PortSideNeedsaHome.

Before the meeting, we want to explain our long-standing plans for a PortSide Campus (a space bigger than the ship) and ask you to advocate for that. After the meeting, we offer our space to continue that discussion or discuss the Public Workshop.

The Public Workshop #4 will be at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, 6-8 pm. RSVP here. Wear red to show support for Red Hook. PortSide will have a limited collection of our red t-shirts for sale on the ship.

Schedule 
5:00 - 6:00 on the Mary Whalen
6:00 - 8:00 Workshop at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
8:00 - 9:00 on the Mary Whalen - Stop in on your way home.

More about planning the Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT) on our blogpost

Thursday, 3/6/25, 6-8pm Escape your winter cabin fever and come to ours for games!

RSVP requested here since we only have space inside the Mary Whalen for 30, including kids.

 Enjoy modern and vintage games for kids and adults!

 For the first 30 minutes, we’re hosting the first Red Hook playing of the game HighTide made by Parsons grad students Sonima Katara and Vani Bhatnagar. It’s a simulation hurricane flooding scenario in Red Hook. The role-playing dramatizes how you need to prep for a flood, and it fosters neighborhood resilience and collaboration. Our kinda game!

Dear Friends,

 We've moved the date of our holiday party due to weather! Instead of this Thursday (forecast to be 39 degrees and windy), we’ll have the party next Tuesday,12/17 which is supposed to be 54 degrees with less wind. Same time of 6-9pm on the Mary Whalen. Mark’s Pizza is now sponsoring the pizza!  One day, we will have building space, and our events will be less weather-dependent!

PortSide’s holiday party will be on the MARY A. WHALEN, inside and out, on Tuesday 12/17, 6-9pm. [Thursday, 12/12] Christmas caroling around the firepit outside, mulled cider on the galley stove, swapping family holiday recipes (you're invited to bring samples of baked treats!), a craft area to make holiday decorations, and, as-ever, the fun, educational space for kids in the tankerman’s cabin. You will be able to tour the ship at the same time.

PortSide’s holiday party will be Tuesday, 12/17. The weather is predicted to be 54 degrees and not so windy, much better than our original date

Time: 6-9pm
Location: on and in the Mary Whalen

Mark’s Pizza is now sponsoring the pizza!  One day, we will have building space, and our events will be less weather-dependent!

Christmas caroling around the firepit outside, mulled cider on the galley stove, swapping family holiday recipes (you're invited to bring samples of baked treats!), a craft area to make holiday decorations, and, as-ever, the fun, educational space for kids in the tankerman’s cabin. You will be able to tour the ship at the same time.

12 to 5pm, Sunday, November 10, 2024 on and in the Mary A. Whalen

Come visit the last of her kind in the USA, the coastal oil tanker Mary A. Whalen! Learn about her nationally-significant  history and our plans to #makeMARYrunagain.

Program are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council

Special roster of docents!

• Nobby Peers, the Principal of Whitworth Marine, will be in the engine room talking about the engine and engine room restoration!

• Paul Kennedy, train mechanic and car restoration specialist in the fidley

• Maria Nieto of #RedHookisMagic in the galley.

• PortSide’s own ED Carolina Salguero and Historian Peter Rothenberg and others.

Also, a massive give-away of used kids books and a hand full of adult books! We have 9 large IKEA bins of them, plus all books in the former free library of PortSide Park. We have boxes of books in Spanish (see slide show below) and many more than that in English. Story books, picture books, science books, history books. All must go!

Also, this is an opportunity to learn about the replanning of the port where we are located, the Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT), which runs from Atlantic Avenue/Pier 7 south to Red Hook's Wolcott Street. This waterfront is being replanned as a result of the City's taking it over the property from the Port Authority. This is NYC's biggest land deal in decades.  Learn more on PortSide’s blog.

Make it a double bill and check out free SecondSundays at our neighbors Pioneer Works!

Every year since hurricane Sandy, on the same day as Sandy, rain or shine, Red Hook holds the raucous, creative, family-friendly Barnacle Parade.

This year, PortSide has no float, but you can walk with us (ideally wearing a WaterStories costume) and help hand out two postcards, one with flood prep/resiliency info and one to support fundraising for our own Sandy recovery project #makeMARYrunagain.

The parade starts at 4pm alongside Coffey Park and then wends its way through Red Hook (Columbia Street to Lorraine, Lorraine to Ferris, south on Ferris to Steve’s Key Lime Pie for swingles and beer, then west on Van Dyke, north on Conover) and ends in a block party + fundraiser on Pioneer Street from Van Brunt to Imlay Street. Sine the pandemic, funds raised support Red Hook Mutual Aid.

This year’s theme is Barnacle Thunderdome, Mad Max furry road, post apocalyptic Red Hook with guitars not guns.

The sailing ship Clearwater (a Hudson River sloop) will be going on two excursions October 5. When not sailing she will be tied alongside the Mary Whalen; an added feature of PortSide’s TankerTime.

The 5:00 sail is Clearwater’s standard fee. These sails book up fast. You must go to Clearwater’s website to get your spot.

More about the Clearwater from their website “In 1966, folk music legend and environmental activist Pete Seeger, in despair over the pollution of his beloved Hudson River, announced plans to “build a boat to save the river.” Seeger, along with many other concerned individuals, believed that a majestic replica of the sloops that sailed the Hudson in the 18th and 19th centuries would bring people to the river where they could experience its beauty and be moved to preserve it.”

The sailing ship Clearwater (a Hudson River sloop) will be going on two excursions October 5. When not sailing she will be tied alongside the Mary Whalen; an added feature of PortSide’s TankerTime.

The 1 pm sail is pay-what-you can. These sails book up fast. You must go to Clearwater’s website to get your spot.

More about the Clearwater from their website “In 1966, folk music legend and environmental activist Pete Seeger, in despair over the pollution of his beloved Hudson River, announced plans to “build a boat to save the river.” Seeger, along with many other concerned individuals, believed that a majestic replica of the sloops that sailed the Hudson in the 18th and 19th centuries would bring people to the river where they could experience its beauty and be moved to preserve it.”

The sailing ship Clearwater (a Hudson River sloop) is offering a public sail at 5pm on Friday, October 4. When not sailing she will be tied alongside the Mary Whalen; an added feature of PortSide’s TankerTime.

The 5:00 sail is Clearwater’s standard fee. These sails book up fast. You must go to Clearwater’s website to get your spot.

Note: 5pm is the sail time, you need to arrive at least 15 minutes before then.

More about the Clearwater from their website “In 1966, folk music legend and environmental activist Pete Seeger, in despair over the pollution of his beloved Hudson River, announced plans to “build a boat to save the river.” Seeger, along with many other concerned individuals, believed that a majestic replica of the sloops that sailed the Hudson in the 18th and 19th centuries would bring people to the river where they could experience its beauty and be moved to preserve it.”

Mind-bending culture afloat! The New York Film/Video Council is screening “Early Abstractions,” animations by the avant-garde genius Harry Smith, between two historic ships and accompanied by live music!

Smith’s distinctive artwork will be projected on the sail of the sloop Clearwater with the audience seated on the deck of the Mary A. Whalen and paired with live music by Peter Stampfel and The Atomic Meta-Pagans. There will be deck tours of the Clearwater before the animation, then a brief Q&A and another round of music will follow the screening.

 6:15 Deck tours on the Clearwater 

7:30 Screening  

8:00 Q and A and more music

We will screen the vice-presidential debate outside on the deck of the Mary Whalen. Come join us. Capacity of 50.  Free. Deck opens at 8:30, debate starts at 9pm. If you’ve got kids, bring them. We have plenty of entertainments for them while you watch the debate. They can pop the popcorn over the firepit, use art supplies in the galley, read books or play with marine toys in the Tankerman’s cabin.

If it is raining, we have limited capacity for only 15 inside.

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Brooklyn Marine Terminal Public Workshop #1
Location: Miccio Center, 110 W 9th Street near Hamilton Avenue in Red Hook
RVSP here.

[NOTE: This meeting does not take place on the MARY A WHALEN]

The Brooklyn Marine Terminal process is the replanning the waterfront from Atlantic Avenue (Brooklyn Bridge Park) south to Red Hook's Wolcott Street (almost to Valentino Park). It is transitioning from Port Authority to City property, under control of the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC). 

The replanning of such a large part of our waterfront will change our area, so PLEASE get involved in this once in a lifetime opportunity. Maritime people, PLEASE get involved to speak up for the need for working waterfront. The City is talking about adding housing and parks to this port space.

• The official website of the NYC EDC about this is here. That has the recording and presentation from the EDC's 8/12 webinar about all this. the process. Check that out to prep for 9/28. 

• PortSide's blogpost covering the process is here.

• PortSide related special sail + BBQ on Friday, 9/27, 5pm, "Docks n Dogs on the Red Hook Waterfront" RSVP here

Both events below are sold out. Sorry!

FREE, Friday, 9/27/24, 5pm departure, 7:30 return. “Docks n Dogs on the Red Hook Waterfront.” Sail on historic ship CLEARWATER and learn what was, is, and could be on Red Hook’s working waterfront. From the 1600s to the EDC Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT) process now. After the sail, continue the conversation over hot dog BBQ on the MARY WHALEN with images from PortSide’s virtual museum www.redhookwaterstories.org.  The sail and BBQ are free, but you must RSVP as space is limited to 45 on the CLEARWATER, and food must be bought for the BBQ which is BYOB.

You are invited to attend both but you must sign up for each separately.

Sign up for the Clearwater Sail (Space is limited to 45!) 5pm to 7:30

Sign up for the hot dog BBQ and conversation about Red Hook WaterStories, past, present and future. 8pm to 9:30. Lots of space, toys, and books for kids, so bring them!

Supported by funding from the NYC Department of Cultural affairs via Councilmember Alexa Avilés.

Sunday, 9/22.24 at 5:30pm come with your ideas, concerns, questions to discuss the Brooklyn Marine Terminal replanning process. Or come hear and/or sing with the shape note singing on the Mary Whalen from 2-5pm, and then join the BMT community conversation.

PortSide’s summary of the BMT sitation is here.

The NYC EDC official BMT webpage is here.

The 1st public workshop about this is Saturday, 9/28/24, 11am-2pm at the Miccio Center, 110 West 9th Street in Red Hook near Hamilton Avenue.

Sunday, 9/22/24, 2-5pm Shape Note singing. Free! 

Come sing from the Sacred Harp, a traditional American tunebook of hymns, aboard the Mary Whalen at PortSide NewYork. The Sacred Harp is a book of shape-note songs, so called for their distinctive musical notation in 4 shapes. If you are curious about this vibrantly living musical tradition, the best thing you can do is come join us and sing! 

Shape note singing is an inclusive community; all are welcome and no singing experience or religious affiliation are necessary. Loaner books will be available and basics will be covered at the start of the session for beginners.

PortSide will be at Summit Academy’s Health & Wellness Fair with our Simple Machine Machine, info on our African American Maritime Heritage program, Salty Selfies props, and art activities.

Note this public event is not located on the MARY A WHALEN but at the 27 Huntington Street Playground

We will screen the presidential debate outside on the deck of the Mary Whalen. Come join us. Capacity of 50.  Free. Deck opens at 8:30, debate starts at 9pm. If you’ve got kids, bring them. We have plenty of entertainments for them while you watch the debate. They can pop the popcorn over the firepit, use art supplies in the galley, read books or play with marine toys in the Tankerman’s cabin.

If it is raining, we have limited capacity for only 15 inside.

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