Future plans for last of her kind, the tanker MARY A. WHALEN
/We have news.
The MARY A. WHALEN is now the last of her kind in the USA. That’s because the tanker JOHN B. CADDELL, Staten Island’s symbol of Sandy’s wrath, has been scrapped. (See slide show right.)
Hurricane Sandy put the JOHN B. CADDELL on EDC property and cost the City a lot of money in fuel spill abatement, ship removal, ship storage and legal fees before the Sherriff’s auction.
At PortSide, we are very proud that we saved our MARY A. WHALEN from Sandy damage AND from damaging the property of others by breaking loose or riding up on to the pier.
Thanks to that, the MARY A. WHALEN is now a symbol of resilience, as is PortSide NewYork! Only the tough survive eight years of operating as a pop-up while looking for a home as we have.
Future-oriented mission for our historic ship
We love our historic ship and want to make clear that we use her for a forward-looking purpose.
PortSide was founded to bring change to NYC’s waterfront and waterways, by advocacy and by the example of business and programs at a place called PortSide NewYork that we will create. The MARY A. WHALEN is our ambassador on that mission and will come and go from that place spreading the message, and our programs.
We recently retooled our official language to make the relationship of tanker and PortSide, our present and our future clearer. Here it is. Let us know what you think. We welcome your feedback!
PortSide is a living lab creating a vision for 21st century urban waterfronts – and waterways. Our focus is the water part, the BLUEspace, the Sixth Borough of NYC.
Our goal is to create a place that shows how to combine the working waterfront, public access and community development.
Our education, culture, workforce development and neighborhood promotion programs - all on a water theme –bring the community afloat and the community ashore together – for the benefit of all.
Building on our Sandy recovery work - which won us an award from the White House and honors from the NYS Senate - PortSide is developing flood preparedness and resiliency programs and will curate and house a resiliency center.
We export our programs via our ambassador, the historic ship, the MARY A. WHALEN, the only oil tanker in the world delivering public programs.
Help us continue this work and grow our programs
Support our fundraiser on Tuesday 10/28/14 “Resiliency is our HOOK.” Buy a ticket. Become a sponsor. Join the Host Committee and help sell tickets before the event. It will be a fun event with the rollicking Dixieland jazz of the Red Hook Ramblers and the great food and casual ambiance of Hometown Bar-B-Que restaurant. We greatly appreciate your support! As do the people and businesses who benefit from our resiliency work!
