PortSide NewYork wins White House "Champions of Change" Sandy recovery award (Originally posted May 2013)→

PortSide NewYork is honored to have won a White House "Champions of Change" award for our work during and after hurricane Sandy. We hope the award will allow us to continue our Sandy-aid work, launch new resilience training programs, and attract more assistance to Red Hook. Things look promising; the phone has started to ring.  Until we finish the blogpost about Part II of our Sandy story, we've added photos to a press release below to tell that story. Part I of the story, how we protected the MARY A. WHALEN from Sandy, can be read here.

PortSide's Story Ashore

PortSide is based on a historic ship, the tanker MARY A. WHALEN, which the organization succeeded in getting listed on the National Register of Historic Places just days before the storm.  In the face of Sandy, PortSide’s first responsibility was to protect the MARY from damage, and to prevent her from damaging the property of others.  The sad fate of the tanker JOHN B. CADDELL, which went aground during Sandy, is an example of what can happen to an untended ship this size. PortSide assembled a crew of volunteers to prepare the MARY over five days before the surge and to ride out the storm on the vessel.

After assessing the damage to their archive of historic papers and artifacts stored in the shed, the PortSide crew entered Red Hook on Wednesday afternoon to find that the community had not fared as well. PortSide made an immediate decision to drop their own issues, decamp from the ship, and offer to help. The result was the Sandy aid station "351". 

Realty Collective's listings were replaced with emergency info (Copy)

At first the internet was down and we ran a Clear wifi hotspot modem up the tree for two days to get a signal (Copy)

Applying to FEMA in the back room (Copy)

Susan Povich, Red Hook Lobster Pound (L) and Rob Walsh, Commissioner Small Business Services (R) (Copy)

inflating a new air bed to replace a flooded mattress (Copy)

The queue to talk to the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce (Copy)

"Brooklyn, only the strrong survive" on t-shir of Steve Tarpin of Steve's Key Lime Pie (Copy)

James Ellis (r) of Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce ever at the ready! (Copy)

Architect's advice on rebuilding (Copy)

People in to warm up and charge up (Copy)

"351" was a stop for outside aid workers to connect with Red Hook (Copy)

Outside "351" Realty Collective's listings racks were great for emergency info (Copy)

Mayor's office Restoration staff at "351" (Copy)

Craig Hammerman, District Manager of Brooklyn, Community Board 6, in his nomination of PortSide for the “Champions For Change” Award, said “PortSide NewYork’s innovative approach was to apply their experience with cultural pop-ups to create an immediate, inventive community-based Sandy aid station that continually changed services in response to needs and opportunities.  PortSide deployed a deep knowledge of the community to pull it all off.”

Essential to the PortSide effort was the ability to rapidly identify partners and forge agreements. On Thursday night, PortSide Director Carolina Salguero began assessing what other groups were already doing, and where PortSide could best use its capabilities. Salguero worked with Realty Collective, a community-minded real estate brokerage with offices in the Columbia Waterfront District and Red Hook neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Realty Collective donated a storefront at 351 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook, complete with free electricity, internet and a phone line, despite the fact that their principal Victoria Hagman was herself a Sandy victim whose Red Hook home was flooded.

Over Thursday night, Realty Collective and PortSide secured the co-operation of Gallery Brooklyn, who shares the storefront with the brokerage.  The result was an only-in-Red-Hook blend: an aid station run by a maritime organization in a real estate office that was also an art gallery. 

PortSide gathered volunteers off the street to get six computer workstations, office furniture and equipment from PortSide’s offices on the tanker to set up at “351”. The internet was down, so PortSide volunteer and museum curator Rothenberg ran a Clear wireless hub up a tree for two days until a PortSide contact at the Port Authority, who had previously worked to establish the cellphone network in the northeast, helped get Red Hook’s Verizon internet and cellphone service reconnected.

 “351” became a haven for people -- to escape the cold, to charge cell phones, I-pads, and power tools, to check e-mail to blow up a new air bed, to start the FEMA application or an insurance claim, or to wait for an escort to enter an apartment building whose electronic doors didn’t lock without power. Sandy victims remarked that the gallery environment with bright art on the walls was uplifting. The Director of Gallery Brooklyn, Jenna Weber, was so moved by the scene that she offered to donate 10% of exhibition sales to Red Hook relief.

PortSide’s MO was to respond to initiatives or needs coming from the community, through both action and communication. Emergency information replaced real estate listings in the storefront window. “351” was the first small business recovery center in Red Hook, before IKEA’s aid center opened or the FEMA trailers arrived, and served as a hub for Red Hook residents and business people to learn about aid programs while gaining emotional support and tips from one another. Residents and businesses could use the space to set up their own meetings – one day included overlapping sessions with a restaurant supply vendor and a legal aid clinic with 20 lawyers. Realty Collective invited Katrina-savvy architect Jim Garrison from the Pratt Institute to talk to a packed house about resilient ways to rebuild. PortSide served as a conduit to and from the growing sources of outside aid: elected officials, the Mayor’s office, FEMA, and the Department of Small Business Services.

Residents of Pioneer Street showed extraordinary initiative and cooperation on their one block and brought many ideas down the street to PortSide, who helped manage them and shared them with other Red Hook residents.  One example was the coordination of the services of angel electrician Danny Schneider, who arrived from nearby Park Slope in Brooklyn and went on to inspect 60 homes at no charge and to repair many.  (He also volunteered in the Rockaways.)

PortSide closed the center in early December. During PortSide’s time ashore, the shorepower connection to the tanker MARY A. WHALEN was knocked out, and PortSide operated for 35 nights with flashlights and one 15 amp extension cord.

Today, PortSide continues providing Sandy relief work via other social media, working with elected officials and on post Sandy initiatives from the Mayor’s office, and by responding to requests from residents and businesses. Plans are being developed for programs that will help Red Hook learn from its own response and develop response plans for future floods. PortSide wants to bring its two constituencies, the world ashore and the world afloat, together. Inland people can be trained in the mariner knowledge base that enabled PortSide to prepare the ship for the storm and which might have prevented a lot of the damage.

PortSide's nominator for the award, the District Manager of Brooklyn Community Board 6 Craig Hammerman wrote “PortSide’s work is an example of the community-based, mutual-aid system that has caused the heavily-damaged neighborhood of Red Hook to become a model for New Yorkers looking for lessons in the Sandy story.” 

 Statement by Carolina Salguero, Director of PortSide NewYork

All of us here at PortSide NewYork are very honored to receive this White House award and look forward to meeting the other winners so we can learn from their stories. After that, we look forward to growing the post-Sandy flood preparedness programs we would like to offer Red Hook and beyond.  We would like to thank the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for their support during Hurricane Sandy while we were in their Red Hook container port.  We offer profuse thanks to our partners at “351”, Realty Collective and Gallery Brooklyn, who opened their doors to Red Hook and made the aid center possible. Victoria Hagman of Realty Collective is really a gem to have given so much at a time when her own home was so destroyed by Sandy.  We would like to thank all those volunteers who came in to help, especially the angel electrician Danny Schneider who did work in Red Hook and the Rockaways at no charge.  Speaking personally, I was very moved by the collective spirit which sustained Red Hook in those first dark days.  Let’s keep that spirit alive; it takes a village, we were all it, and we need to keep that spirit going forward.

Statement by Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY):

“PortSide NewYork is to be commended for their work protecting the MARY A. WHALEN and establishing relief services for Red Hook.”

 Statement by New York State Senator Velmanette Montgomery
“It gives me great pleasure to give my highest recommendation for consideration as a Champion for Change” to PortSide NewYork.

PortSide NewYork is headquartered on the MARY WHALEN, a decommissioned tanker ship in Red Hook, a coastal community in Brooklyn. PortSide NewYork has been working for years to preserve and communicate the seafaring history of Brooklyn to our schoolchildren and new neighbors. They have embodied community service every day of their existence, but during Superstorm Sandy, they showed exactly how deep commitment to service and community could be.

Thanks to their professional preparations, the MARY WHALEN weathered the storm and the destructive surge in fine shape, but the same could not be said for Red Hook itself. The neighborhood was devastated and lacked electricity and other services for weeks afterward.  The staff of PortSide NewYork, led by the indefatigable Carolina Salguero, came ashore and set up a communications hub and aid center in a donated space. They set up meetings between residents and elected officials, engineers, lawyers, electricians...anyone who needed something came to them and PortSide NewYork reached out to find it. I don't know what we would have done without them.”

Statement by Rob Walsh, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services

“Immediately after Hurricane Sandy, I was out in impacted neighborhoods like Red Hook speaking to small business owners about their needs and how the City could help. It was incredible to see the individuals, organizations, and business owners who stepped up to help each other out. PortSide New York served as a strong partner, helping us get the word out about the City’s low-interest loans, matching grants, and other assistance available to small business owners impacted by Hurricane Sandy, and I congratulate them for this well deserved award.

Statement by Carlo A. Scissura, President & CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce “Red Hook was one of the neighborhoods hardest-hit by Sandy. It’s because of groups like PortSide that we were able to help businesses in the neighborhood,” said Carlo A. Scissura, President & CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. “By housing members of our staff during those critical weeks following the storm, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce was able to help business owners fill out essential loan applications and other paperwork in order to get their stores open again. PortSide’s aid center became a critical hub for the community and a place where they could get relief. We could not have done our work in helping local businesses without them.”

Scott Pfaffman in front of his property at 360 Van Brunt (Copy)

One building grew their collection of work gloves out front (Copy)

The queue for aid supplies inside Visitation Church (Copy)

Occupy was a force running a lot of the aid work at RHI (Copy)

Meetings were held at Kentler Gallery (Copy)

Nydia Velazquez and Rob Walsh lead the first meeting for small businesses at Kentler Gallery (Copy)

There was an aid center in the cellar of the River of God Church at 110 Wolcott Street (Copy)

For weeks, demolition garbage lined Van Brunt for many weeks (Copy)

With the power off, Stop One staff ran around the bodega with flashlights and served customers from a window (Copy)

Thousands of volunteers flooded into Red Hook, which were dispatched from SBIDC's Van Brunt Street office by Friday the week of the storm (Copy)

Reginald Flowers of Falconworks Theatre group leading a community meeting at PS27 (Copy)

Statement by Danny Schneider, Principal, Schneider Electrical Contracting
“Hurricane Sandy threw Red Hook into a tail spin.  Residents rose to the occasion and with tenacity and synergy, and strengthened their character.”

Statement by Adam Armstrong, Pioneer Street Homeowner, blogger “A View from the Hook”

In the chaotic aftermath of Super Storm Sandy, PortSide New York provided a vital and invaluable resource for the residents of Red Hook. After riding out the storm and saving their own ship, the MARY WHALEN, PortSide came ashore, quickly set up shop at 351 Van Brunt Street and proceeded to make a base - a visible and accessible storefront - from where they could reach out, provide information, resources and assistance to their land lubbing neighbors, most of us who were desperately trying to recover from the immense damage that had been done to our homes and our unique, waterfront neighborhood.

PortSide and their team of volunteers co-ordinated tradesmen to go and physically assist our residents, and they gathered and disseminated information about anything they though would be helpful - FEMA, legal assistance, insurance matters, Con Edison, National Grid, the Rapid Repairs program, etc., and provided a connection to our representatives in government. On many of these matters, PortSide organized meetings and reached out to our residents, and in the case of our street - Pioneer Street - she co-ordinated the creation of a comprehensive contact list so that everyone on our block could share information and provide support to each other. It was - and still is - a wonderful way for the residents of Pioneer Street to keep in touch and get updates on our street's recovery, with Carolina Salguero, PortSide’s Director, checking in regularly to see how things are going and, many month's later, still providing advice and information wherever and whenever she can.

Statement by Gallery Brooklyn

“Gallery Brooklyn raised over $1K from the sale of Brooklyn-born artist, Jeremy Hoffeld, whose oil paintings gave comfort to the shell-shocked residents of Red hook. The funds will be donated to the Red Hook Initiative, a non-profit organization that provides enrichment geared toward the arts for children of the Red Hook community."

About PortSide NewYork

PortSide NewYork is honored to have won a White House "Champions of Change" award for our work during and after hurricane Sandy. We hope the award will allow us to continue our Sandy-aid work, launch new resilience training programs, and attract more assistance to Red Hook. Things look promising; the phone has started to ring.  Until we finish the blogpost about Part II of our Sandy story, we've added photos to a press release below to tell that story. Part I of the story, how we protected the MARY A. WHALEN from Sandy, can be read here.

PortSide NewYork educates people about the BlueSpace, the water part of the waterfront.  PortSide works with the community ashore and the community afloat; our goal is to bring the two closer together, to foster their mutual understanding and to create synergies between the two.  PortSide programs are diverse—they include maritime preservation, visiting vessels, arts and educational programs, community service and advocacy.  What unites them is the focus on water and waterfront issues. Our mission is to bring NYC’s BlueSpace to life.

PortSide has its offices aboard a historic ship, the MARY A. WHALEN, and with her, PortSide has created the world's only oil tanker cultural center, a ship in the National Register of Historic Places. PortSide runs many programs on the MARY, and we run many off the ship as well. 

PortSide NewYork is negotiating with GBX▪Gowanus Bay Terminal for a homeport in Red Hook, Brooklyn!  At our prospective home, the tanker MARY A. WHALEN will be publicly accessible directly from Columbia Street across from IKEA.  [Note: MARY A. WHALEN relocated to Atlantic Basin May 2015]

PortSide’s electricity on the ship was repaired after 35 nights of reliance on flashlights and one 15-amp extension cord.  PortSide seeks professional conservator help with two waterlogged books from the 1850s (stored in a freezer since the flood) and restoration of the antique replacement parts for the ship’s engine which were stored in the shed.

More info

Official description of the White House Champions of Change Sandy awards

"Across the areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy, ordinary Americans are doing extraordinary, innovative things in their communities to respond to and recover from this disaster. By partnering with the whole community, we, as a nation, are better positioned to meet the unique needs of communities and neighborhoods across America."  

PortSide NewYork, and the other 16 winners, were at a White House award ceremony on April 24 for a panel discussion and remarks by the head of FEMA Craig Fugate and the head of HUD Shaun Donovan.   Carolina Salguero, Director of PortSide NewYork represented PortSide on the panel. A video of her remarks is here.

FEMA handled the Sandy nomination process.  The head of FEMA Craig Fugate spoke at the White House Champions ceremony and explained that the awards were important for underlining how the public was now being viewed by FEMA as survivors (not victims) and partners in recovery (not just recipients of aid). 

Thanks to Craig Hammerman, District Manager of Brooklyn Community Board 6 for nominating us. You can read his nomination here. 

For PortSide's latest Sandy relief information, see our regularly updated blogpost and follow us on Twitter

PortSide NewYork Hyster eligible for National register of Historic Places - updated 6/3/20

2020 update

Have you got experience repairing a 1941 Hyster Karry Krane? We could use your help! We expect to get a 1941 Fairbanks Morse engine from Kennett, Missouri in July, so we are interested in repairing our 1941 Hyster Karry Krane in order to have a crane to use to lift parts off that engine preparatory to bringing them aboard our ship MARY A. WHALEN. We will be using parts from the 1941 Kennett engine to restore the 1938 Fairbanks Morse engine in the MARY. Below is an edited version of our 2013 blogpost about our Hyster.

Our manual for the 1941 Hyster Karry Krane is here.

Another triumph!  Another historic item for Red Hook! Our Hyster crane (built in 1941) has been deemed eligible to be on the National Register of Historic Places! and in record time~

What triggered this accomplishment

In just two days, our Historian/Curator Peter Rothenberg researched the history of our 1941 Hyster and the history of this "Karry Krane" model, submitted an application to SHPO (the NYS Historical Preservation Office) to see if it was eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and got that application approved! 

We profusely thank the staff at SHPO for reviewing our application in just hours, and we also profusely thank Jenny Bernstein of FEMA who told us about the grant that prompted us to focus on the Hyster. The Hyster was flooded by Sandy, and the grant is for Sandy damage to historic and cultural resources. 

PortSide applied for funding to reverse Sandy damage to the Hyster and to the replacement parts for MARY A. WHALEN's engine which were in the shed. The grant does not cover damage to historic documents which were flooded by Sandy. 

We applied for for the Hyster, and for damages to MARY's engine parts we would use. (The grant would not cover damage to those engine parts we planned to sell to support the restoration of the MARY A. WHALEN's engine.)  Earlier this year, we applied for FEMA Sandy recovery funds for Sandy damages, but we do not yet know if we will get funding.  We did not apply until May 2013 because we were told in a November 2012 funding workshop that we were not eligible; that was corrected in May, at which point we immediately sought Sandy recover funds. 

Crash course into the National Register of Historic Places

In short, getting on the National Register of Historic Places is a two-stage process: being "deemed eligible" and actually being listed. PortSide did the MARY A. WHALEN in two steps.  For something to be on eligible or listed, it has to be deemed historical significant in some or all of the following ways:

Is it associated with an important person, event, or movement in history? Does it represent a significant design or technology, or is it a special example of a particular style? Is it the work of a recognized master? Could it yield important archaeological information about our past?

Here is our full application to SHPO in two parts.

Determination of Eligibility (DOE) for listing on the National Register

Supplemental History of Michael Cowhey

SHPO's response was "Thank you for pulling together this very compelling and fascinating history of the "Karry Krane"  in such a short amount of time!  Both myself and my colleague, Kath LaFrank of our NR Unit, have reviewed your submission and, based on the information provided, the Hyster "Karry Krane" is eligible for the State and National Registers of Historic Places.  The only other somewhat similar type of property in NYS that we've called eligible is a historic steam shovel in LeRoy, NY. "

We copy excerpts from our DOE application below.

Todd Shipyard boomed during WWII. There were mobile cranes like ours in use at Todd. We have yet to check if the grain terminal used them.

The successor to our 1941 Hyster are the many forklifts used all over Red Hook.

History In brief

The “Karry Krane” name was first used July 14, 1941. PortSide’s Crane is from 1941. PortSide’s crane is both one of the original Karry Kranes made and, while once common, is now one of the last of its kind.

This crane type was developed by Hyster during WWII and was very significant to the war effort here and overseas. It was used in shipbuilding facilities, in ports for cargo handling and for rebuilding after the war effort. It was such a useful vehicle that Hyster produced it overseas when it opened its first plant outside the USA in 1951. It became an international workhorse. We find documentation that shows it was used in New Zealand in addition to Europe.

This particular Hyster crane was last used by Cowhey Brother Marine Hardware in Red Hook which closed in 2005 and donated their final inventory to PortSide NewYork. The Cowhey family was in several forms of maritime business in Red Hook for about 140 years when three Cowheys wound down the business.

Cowhey’s bought the crane from the Staten Island Bethlehem Steel shipyard when that closed in the 1960s. We presume that the crane was new when purchased by Bethlehem Steel when that yard boomed during the war effort.

Physical description of the crane

The crane dimensions are:

Body length 12’ 4”
Length of boom 10’ 1”
Overall length 22’ 3”
Height of body 3’ 3”
Height of boom 10’ 8”

1940: By experimental use of tractor frames, an advanced type of mobile crane is developed, later named the “Karry Krane."

1952: Hyster opens its first plant outside the USA, in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The Hyster 40” and the Karry Krane are the first machines to be assembled there.
Criteria for evaluation.

This 1941 Hyster Karry Krane meets the following National Regsiter criteria:

(a) that are associated with history of a prominent Red Hook family and business. It is the last sizeable artifact of that business. It is related to a collection of other artifacts we have for that business. This particular crane is related to maritime history of NYC (two sites, one in Red Hook, one in Staten Island). And the crane model is particularly related to WWII history everywhere this crane became a major workhorse
(d) that have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. It is a means to tell stories related to the Cowhey family and business in Red Hook, the Bethlehem Steel shipyard in Staten Island, WWII and reconstruction operations in civilian and military applications.

History of the Hyster company

View fullsize

This is a 2.5 ton Hyster,the most popular World War 2,dock, lift and carry crane.they first came over on lease lend in 1941.

View fullsize

COLLECTION HYSTER KARRY KRANE MOBILE CRANE USAF USNAVY WWII

Establishing Willamette Ersted Co.
The company that would be known as Hyster Co. was founded by E.G. Swigert in 1929 under the name Willamette Ersted Co.[2] Initially, this company was established to manufacture logging winches for the forestry market in the Pacific Northwest, with headquarters in Portland, Oregon.

The Early Products
1934 saw the development of the straddle carrier with forks, which was one of the company’s earliest forklifts. Following this was the development of the BT, a forklift with a cable hoist system, able to lift 6,600 pounds (3,000 kg).[3] By 1940, the company began to manufacture its first piece of mobile lifting equipment, a mobile crane on a tractor frame, first known as a Cranemobile, later to be renamed Karry Krane. The Karry Kranes would prove to be very profitable for the company, as these lift trucks were used for loading and unloading massive cargo ships for importing and exporting purposes. In 1941, Willamette Ersted began recognizing a need for a smaller lift truck, and designed a new smaller model known as the Handy Andy. The following year, the Jumbo was introduced as the company’s first product to use pneumatic tires and a telescoping mast.

Operations in Peoria
In the company’s early years, one of its prominent customers was Caterpillar Tractor Co. Caterpillar held an exclusive contract with the company, whereby Willamette Ersted Co. would manufacture specialized winches for Caterpillar’s logging tractors. In light of this, the company decided in 1936 to open a warehouse and distribution center in Peoria, Illinois, where Caterpillar was headquartered. By 1940, Willamette Ersted Co. had begun full-scale manufacturing of products at its Peoria location.

For more info check out...  http://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/index.php/Hyster_Co.

History of the Cowhey family and their business in Red Hook

The story of this business is a means to cover several topics: how an immigrant family rises in stature, the growth of a marine business from “speculator” (eg, the maritime version of the scrap collectors with shopping carts today, someone who collected scrap metal by going boat to boat in the harbor), to a purveyor of nautical antiquities to the wealthy, then a marine hardware supplier and the operator of a port in Albany.
The Cowhey family grew in prominence in Red Hook from their speculator days in the 1860s, and at the peak of the business, they owned most of a block in the vicinity of their final outpost at 440 Van Brunt Street.
In 2005, as the business wound down, the Cowhey family operated a terminal in Albany of Federal Marine Terminals http://www.fmtcargo.com/.
Chronology of Cowhey family in Red Hook (for more, see attached history about Michael Cowhey)

John Cowhey started his business about 1862 [1937 obit says business started about 75 years ago]

By the time his son Michael Cowhey was running it, the business, John Cowhey Sons at 400 Van Brunt was a ship wrecking and salvage firm. The company was well known to decorators looking for nautical articles.

John Cowhey was famous for purchasing in 1911 the RELIANCE a racing yacht which one the America’s cup, dismantling her and selling her fittings and scrapping her parts. The 110-foot mast went to the Federal Baseball League park.

Michael Cowhey. d. 1937 had a wife Regina [or Margret according to a different source], a daughter Regina and two sons Thomas and John.

Thomas M. Cowhey in 1990 was the title holder to 440 Van Brunt which was built c. 1931, altered in 1957.

A Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Jan. 20, 1931 article describes John Cowhey as "one of the influential citizens of Red Hook" in his day.

The same article tells that Michael had in his yard several large old church bells that he had bought for scrap but had decided to hold on to. The bells rang eerily in the night but:

"If some one suggested that the ghost of an old Bailing ship skipper might be behind the tolling, he would nod solemnly. Then he would ask if his questioner had ever heard how in 1880 the wind blew so hard that Red Hook was white with scales, blown clean off the harbor fish, and how all the houses on the Hook had to be held in place by anchors. And how once it was so cold that he, Michael Cowhey, was able to walk barefooted over the ice to Staten Island. "

Unveiling of Atlantic Basin Sandy High Water Mark sign & Red Hook Sandy Flood Map

Camille Casaretti, President of the Community Education Council 15 (CEC15), stopped by to see how the sign and map could be used for educating school groups. She was greeted by PortSide Executive Director Carolina Salguero dressed as Bio Luminesence and PortSide Historian and Curator Peter Rothenberg.

On the 7th anniversary of hurricane Sandy, October 29, 2019, PortSide NewYork unveiled a Sandy High Water Mark sign at the pedestrian entrance to Atlantic Basin/NYC Ferry/Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

PortSide’s role in the creation of the Sandy High Water Mark FEMA/OEM program

Creating Sandy high water mark signs was a PortSide proposal at the White House event where we received our Champions of Change award for Sandy work. The structure of the award event was to put all the honorees on a panel and pepper us with questions to harvest ideas. The senior Federal Disaster Recovery team sought a follow-up with PortSide and come to meet us for many hours aboard the MARY WHALEN. According to Ken Curtin, the Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator FEMA for Sandy in NY (see his video below), PortSide was the first to propose such a sign program. FEMA executed the idea and created the Sandy High Water Mark program, and NYC Emergency Management is now involved in the program.

PortSide also unveiled a banner with a map of Red Hook Sandy flooding made by a local cartographer Jim McMahon. See a copy in our e-museum here.

Carolina Salguero, Executive Director of PortSide NewYork, articulating the message from Bio Luminescence, a costume worn for Red Hook Barnacle Parade, commemorating Sandy, as well as the unveiling of a sign marking Sandy’s high watermark. The parade followed shortly after.

Assistant Commissioner Christina Farrell, NYC Emergency Management speaks. October 29, 2019.

Ken Curtin, recently retired FEMA Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator speaking. He explained the backstory that led to the creation of the program that makes these signs, citing PortSide’s role in that story.

Carolina Salguero, Executive Director of PortSide NewYork (and Bio Luminescence for Red Hook's commemorative Barnacle Parade), speaks. October 29, 2019

PortSide NewYork's unveils a sign marking the high watermark at Red Hook's Atlantic Basin during hurricane Sandy on its seventh anniversary. Natasha Campbell, Founder of Summit Academy and PortSide NewYork board member, speaks. October 29, 2019

Unveiling the Sandy High Water Mark sign and a Sandy hurricane flood map of Red Hook by cartographer by Jim McMahon.

Dan Wiley, Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez's District Director of Southwest Brooklyn, speaks. October 29, 2019

Copied below

Press Release Unveiling of Atlantic Basin Sandy High Water Mark sign Red Hook Sandy Flood Map

Tues 10/29, 3:15-3:45pm

Unveiling of Atlantic Basin Sandy High Water Mark sign Red Hook Sandy Flood Map

Pedestrian gate to Atlantic Basin/NYC Ferry/Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
West end of Pioneer Street at Conover Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY 11231

Followed by 4pm Barnacle Parade which musters at Pioneer and Van Brunt, one block away. 

On the 7th anniversary of hurricane Sandy, October 29, 2019, the nonprofit PortSide NewYork will unveil a Sandy High Water Mark sign at the pedestrian entrance to Atlantic Basin/NYC Ferry/Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook, Brooklyn. This sign is an official program of FEMA and NYC Emergency Management.  Sandy’s surge was 5.75 feet high at this location. 

PortSide will also unveil a banner with a map of Red Hook Sandy flooding made by a local cartographer Jim McMahon. See a copy in our e-museum at https://redhookwaterstories.org/items/show/919.  

Immediately after the unveiling, joins us in Red Hook’s Barnacle Parade that kicks off at 4:00pm half a block up Pioneer Street and proceeds to pass the new signs. This parade is the way Red Hook memorializes Sandy since 2013 on the “Sandyversary” of 10/29.  

Carolina Salguero, Founder and Executive Director of PortSide says “After riding out hurricane Sandy on our ship to protect her from the storm, I and our Historian/Curator Peter Rothenberg came ashore to Red Hook. I was heartbroken to find the condition of our community.  I told the PortSide crew that we’re going to try and help. Our first move was to set up a pop-up aid station at Realty Collective which we ran the month of October.  PortSide has worked since that time, in many ways, to help Red Hook recover and become more resilient and to help foster resiliency for New York as a whole. Understanding the potential of our waterways is the crux of PortSide’s mission, and Sandy amplified our mission to include understanding marine weather and the destructive potential of water.  This year, PortSide’s resiliency work includes the installation of this Sandy High Water Mark sign, and next to it, the Red Hook Sandy flood map created by Jim McMahon that shows where Sandy flooded Red Hook and land elevation around our beloved but vulnerable peninsula. I hope that these signs will help educate students and adults and help them prepare for future floods.”  

The unveiling of these signs sign is another phase in PortSide’s recovery and resiliency planning work since hurricane Sandy.  PortSide received a “Champions of Change” award from the Obama White House for Sandy prevention work (protection the MARY A. WHALEN) and Sandy recovery work for Red Hook.

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/champions/hurricane-sandy/carolina-salguero-(portside-newyork)

 The New York State Senate also honored PortSide for their Sandy recovery work.

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/resolutions/2013/j2531

PortSide founder Carolina Salguero was appointed by the Governor’s office to the NY Rising committee (the precursor to Resilient Red Hook) that created a resiliency plan for Red Hook.  For further information about Sandy and resiliency planning, visit PortSide’s e-museum Red Hook WaterStories (RHWS) www.redhookwaterstories.org  

Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY):

“Today, seven years to the day Superstorm Sandy hit, we remember the damage our entire community endured and how we came together to help one another. This high-water mark sign sends a message that we must all continue to build community resiliency and fight climate change. I would also like to recognize PortSide NewYork’s role in Sandy recovery for which it received the White House ‘Champions of Change’ award in 2013. PortSide dreamed up a project like High Water Mark Initiative which FEMA created and NYC Emergency Management has been implementing here and around the city. This program helps alert residents and visitors alike to the dangers of storm surge and the need to be ready with a plan for the next storm. For my part, I will keep working with officials at all levels of government to promote Red Hook and our City’s resiliency and sustainability.”

New York State Senator Velmanette Montgomery says, "The Barnacle Parade represents the strength of Red Hook in the wake of super storm Sandy and serves as a reminder to all of us how climate change impacts our communities more and more each year. I am proud to represent Red Hook residents and organizations like PortSide New York who took this as a call to action and have been working tirelessly to build a more resilient community."

Councilman Carlos Menchaca says, "Red Hook’s water mark sign is a reminder of our community's resilience and how much more is needed to prepare for the next storm. The symbolic gesture must force us all to take seriously the urgency of this moment, and to do everything in our power to protect our most vulnerable neighbors from the worst effects of climate change. Thankfully, we have organizations like PortSide New York to keep us laser focused on this threat while celebrating what we've accomplished."

NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Deanne Criswell: “This High Water Mark sign is a reminder of the life-threatening risks associated with storm surge. It also highlights the strength of the Red Hook community, and serves to educate individuals about the importance of preparing for a coastal storm,” said NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Deanne Criswell.  “Through this and other initiatives, we remain dedicated to working closely with community leaders to build a culture of preparedness through stronger, more resilient neighborhoods.”

Ken Curtin, formerly of FEMA says “I was the FEMA Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator for Sandy in NY. We came to meet the PortSide team in Red Hook since we were impressed with the recovery and resiliency ideas that they shared at the White House ceremony where they won a Sandy recovery award. Their ideas were practical, actionable and common sense, except that common sense is not so common any more. PortSide proposed that signs be installed to mark Sandy flood levels to help communities prepare for future floods. I’m glad that this program was implemented by FEMA and then adopted by NYC Emergency Management.”  

Gita Nandan, co-chair of Resilient Red Hook says, “We are thrilled about the installation of the high water mark sign. Having a physical marker in remembrance of Super Storm Sandy helps keep the memory alive of this turning point in Red Hook. As a waterfront community, Red Hook is on the forefront of climate change, and this will help keep us activated to ensure we build a resilient community for future generations.”  Resilient Red Hook is made up of concerned residents working together to steer the future of Red Hook. More at https://www.resilientredhook.org/ 

Michael Racioppo, District Manager, Brooklyn Community Board 6 says, “The high water mark high of Superstorm Sandy is something that should remind us throughout the year, not just during Halloween week, how scary the impact of climate change is.  Reminding us to be vigilant in order to maintain great waterfront, and great waterfront neighborhoods, is the continuation of the work PortSide does.”  

About PortSide NewYork www.portsidenewyork.org & www.redhookwaterstories.org
PortSide is a living lab for better urban waterways. PortSide connects New Yorkers to the benefits of our waterways and ports.  PortSide produces WaterStories programs on and off the historic ship MARY A. WHALEN in education, culture, resiliency and job training.

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NYC Maritime & Freight Logistics Career Awareness Fair

Come learn about jobs and careers in maritime &

the “transportation, distribution & logisitics” (TDL) industry

In Red Hook! at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal

Tuesday, 10/23/18, 11:00am to 1:00pm

Lunch provided

PortSide NewYork will be present!

Directions:

Walk into Atlantic Basin at the gate at Pioneer and Conover Street. The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is straight ahead.

Drive in the gate at Bowne and Imlay. You will be entering an industrial area. The roadway turns hard left, and then you drive past a 4-block long warehouse on your right with lots of trucks backed up to it. The roadway hooks right just after that warehouse, and then the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is straight ahead. Plenty of free parking.