Photo by Cindy Goulder 2007

It is with heavy heart that I report that our small clan of harbor advocates has lost another soul.

Bernie Ente died in the early morning of Friday, April 8. May he and John Krevey be re-united in heaven and running their waterfront. Oh, what a heaven that would be.

Bernie was a professional photographer and an avid rail and marine fan, full of arcane bridge and transit knowledge which he shared with a mixture of boyish enthusiasm and wry humor.

Years ago, I dubbed him the "King of Newtown Creek" because of his tireless advocacy of that creek and the genuine joy he got from the place and the endeavor. He surely helped to raise awareness of its issues and possibilities. Before the waterfront was such a popular destination, he was out there giving walking tours and organizing boat tours of his beloved toxic creek; and of course photographing it.

Bernie was so generous with his photos. Many organizations benefited from the selfless way he donated photos. Many a day started with my finding an email from Bernie with another photo of the Mary Whalen, or of Red Hook, that he'd made on his latest harbor junket. Of these he made many as he was a mainstay of the Working Harbor Committee which gives harbor tours. He supported them with photography and so much more.

Around here, people who never met him are grateful to him as the man who told us about the tanker being scrapped in Seattle. That tip led to our getting so many of the engine parts to fix the Mary Whalen engine. So like Bernie to be reading a distant Seattle newspaper to find news about a Bushey tanker on the west coast, and so like Bernie to share information that would help someone else.

Here are some of the photos that Bernie sent us out of the blue