NYC needs more #piers4boats! PortSide’s blog covers our WaterStories programs, urban waterways issues, the BLUEspace, development plans for the NYC waterfront, our ship MARY A. WHALEN, other historic vessels, and boats and ships of all sizes.
In this era of Charlottesville, anti-immigrant politics and Muslim bans, I want to share how PortSide NewYork is celebrating different cultures and bringing different people together. One of our means is music and evening TankerTime on the MARY A. WHALEN. In doing so, we continue the traditions of Red Hook and port districts in general.
Read MoreNeed some POW! for a summer weekend? You can get that the second weekend in August during POW! PortSide Open Weekend, when the waterfront non-profit PortSide NewYork opens their historic ship in Atlantic Basin for the first time in five years, offering free events from Friday night through Sunday night. All events are on the 77-year old tanker MARY A. WHALEN in historic Atlantic Basin, Red Hook, Brooklyn. Map of location HERE.
Friday, 8/7/15 8pm-10:00pm, POW! kicks off with an “Artists for PortSide” event. Regula Küffer, flute, and Nick Perrin, guitar, were inspired to donate their “Nuevo Amenecer“ (“New Dawn“) concert after seeing the documentary “Stadt am Wasser“, featuring PortSide NewYork and the tanker MARY A. WHALEN, on European TV. The two Swiss musicians combine flamenco, chamber music, and jazz as they perform rumba, sevillana, tango, fandango and more. They promise a turtle, funny birds and surprises to boot. All music is written by Nick Perrin. “Nuevo Amenecer“ is the name of their new CD and what it means for PortSide NewYork to have this new long-term home in Atlantic Basin. In late May, PortSide started a three-year permit at this site, so stay tuned for future POW! events and more!
Saturday, 8/8 and Sunday 8/9, 12:00-5:00pm, TankerTours of the MARY A. WHALEN are free to the public. The ship is the last of her kind in the USA and on the National Register of Historic Places. Learn PortSide WaterStories about the crew, how a Supreme Court decision about the ship revolutionized American maritime law. The huge galley is likely bigger than your apartment kitchen, the cast iron engine is a wonder, the bell boat communication system a surprise. Play string with ship cat Chiclet, deemed one of NYC’s top mascots by Time Out NY.
The Pioneer Works Center for Art + Innovation is partnering with PortSide NewYork during POW! Sign up for TankerTours at Pioneer Works, located at the corner of Pioneer and Conover Street, just one hundred yards from the ship. See the exhibits at Pioneer Works during your visit, which include 'Second Sundays' open studios and performances. TankerTours are run open-house style; you move through the ship at your own pace through spaces with docents. Great for kids. Flat soled shoes highly recommended. An array of maritime props will be available for you to take SaltySelfies.
Site of all POW! programs. Photo by Jonathan Atkin/www.shipshooter.com
Saturday, 8/8, 6:00-10:00pm, kick back and relax, make like the tanker is your own during TankerTime aboard MARY A. WHALEN. The deck is set with tables, chairs and hammocks for you to lounge, bring take-out or your favorite bottle. You can sketch, photograph- or sing along! Folk Music Society of New York will have a sing along during this TankerTime.
Regula Küffer, and Nick Perrin will perform "Nuevo amanecer"
Sunday, 8/9, 6:00-10:00pm, enjoy sunset and sea breezes and a neighborhood vibe. The deck will be set with 6’ tables for communal dining. It’s bring your own, and the community is encouraged to bring pot luck dinners and share.
Fri 8/7, 8:00pm-10:00pm, “Artists for PortSide” flamenco jazz concert
Sat 8/8, 12:00-5:00pm, TankerTours of MARY A. WHALEN
Sat 8/8, 6:00-10:00pm, TankerTime w/Folk Music Society of New York sing along
Sun 8/9, 12:00-5:00pm, TankerTours of MARY A. WHALEN
Sun 8/9, 6:00-10:00pm, with Community Picnic & Potluck on deck
Location is 40°40'50.0"N 74°00'45.0"W
Map of location is here
For how to get here by car, bikes, subway, bus and ferries, download our directions document
Walking directions from Smith & 9th Street F/G stop from hopstop
PortSide NewYork brings WaterStories to life. PortSide is a living lab for better urban waterways. We bring the community afloat and the community ashore closer together to the benefit of both through education, arts, preservation, advocacy and workforce programs, on and off our flagship, the historic tanker MARY A. WHALEN.
PortSide was founded in 2005 and operated for ten years as a pop-up while looking for a home. May 29 this year, PortSide NewYork moved to its first long term home, starting a three year contract in Atlantic Basin, Red Hook. Our first POW! concert is thus fittingly named “Nuevo Amenecer“ (“New Dawn“).
PortSide WaterStories can save lives and protect property; we refer to our resiliency work. Since Superstorm Sandy, PortSide has been active in recovery and resiliency. Our Sandy recovery work won us a White House “Champions of Change” award and honors from the New York State Senate. Our President Carolina Salguero was on the Red Hook committee of the NY Rising Program and contributed many elements to Red Hook’s resiliency plan.
PortSide NewYork contact: research.portsidenewyork@gmail.com
Press photos can be downloaded from http://portsidenewyork.org/pr-photos
