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.
NPYD security training on the MARY A. WHALEN
/Today's New York Times reports on the underwater cameras used by the NYPD. Now that the secret's out, here's some news.
An NYPD boat came along side, and an officer in sunglasses skipped over introductions and said "can we look at your bottom with an underwater camera?"
I said, "I don't show my bottom to just any guy... who's asking?"
Without the hint of a laugh, Detective Keith Duval handed over a card and said he was with the Counter Terrorism Division.
"All the big stuff is either busy or moving," he explained; so the Mary Whalen would be helpful to him to use. He said the cameras cost some $80,000.
Elaine Carmichael, our urban planner from Economic Stewardship was visiting NYC. She and I interrupted our meeting to watch for awhile, and then just let the NYPD do their job.
Here are some more photos from their visit.
PortSide uses the MARY A. WHALEN as an educational resource in diverse ways and for diverse groups. We have given TankerTours to the general public in English and Spanish. We have helped train college professors in a City Tech program. We have run workshops and lectures (TankerTalks) aboard, and we've helped train the NYPD. We look forward to partnering with maritime training institutions to help offer professional training.
If you think your school, academy, or program could use the MARY A. WHALEN in some educational fashion, please get in touch with us at portsidenewyork(at)gmail.com
best
Carolina Salguero
Big Money, Big Ideas for Bklyn Waterfront Today - or not
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Below we offer a one-stop shop of today's links to Pier 1 coverage to make the proposal images easier to find.
- http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/34/48/dtg_pier1hotel_2011_12_2_bk.html
- http://www.observer.com/2011/11/brooklyn-bridge-park-gets-its-starchitecture/
- http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/extell-development-starwood-capital-toll-brothers-two-trees-and-others-submit-proposals-for-brooklyn-bridge-park
- http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2011/11/23/developers_vie_for_brooklyn_bridge_park_hotel_and_condos.php
- http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=5&id=47579
In other (and the really astounding) waterfront news, the Times reports today that the Center for Urban Real Estate, which they call "a new research group at Columbia University" proposes connecting Governor's Island to Manhattan with landfill. The idea comes with a realtor-ready neighborhood moniker “LoLo” (Lower Lower Manhattan).
Hopping hollyhocks! Where to start on this one?
There's the environmental issue of filling the harbor, there's shutting down a major maritime channel, and then there are other questions such as:
Why give Governors Island to Manhattan? It was once more closely related to Brooklyn. At low tide, people reputedly could walk over from Red Hook, and it is fact that the Buttermilk Channel was dredged as far back as the 1800s to open up a shipping channel.
Alternatively, if one is to fill, would it be more useful for the city and region at the metalevel to fill out to the pier headline in Sunset Park and put a post-Panamax containerport there? Backers of that idea say the raising of the Bayonne Bridge is too little too late and doesn't address the hard right turn the ships have to make.
Or how about the idea that maybe what makes Governors Island so great now is that it IS an island? As LoLo, it's just another development.
Then there is the PortSide way of thinking, eg, it's OK to think big, but what is key is to get stuff happening right away with the infrastructure you have (open up all those city piers with nothing doing on them, make Governors Island piers more used) or build smaller projects to reflect real users (hello, "maritime piers" of 125th Street West Harlem, Pier 25 in Hudson River Park or the upcoming Pier 15 in the East River that are not designed for easy boat use). Hello, LoLo, rather than MegaBuild, how about “small but now”? Isn’t there a recession on? How about some now now while there is no there there?
Happy Thanksgiving.
Boom! History + volunteer day
/Time to lower the boom, replace the cables, check, service and maybe replace blocks and paint the boom itself. We finally have a sweet spot to do this. The weather is FINALLY going to give us a long run without rain so it should be possible to get this all done without too many days of disruption. We get some crane help to lower the boom as the boom winches walked a long time ago.
This project, as so often happens if you are dealing with preserving a historic boat, raised all sorts of questions about what was. So, mixed with the grunt work was all sorts of hypothesizing and checking old photos and plans.
Project before the start. Where boom was 11/4/11 Friday morning at 0900. |
This project, as so often happens if you are dealing with preserving a historic boat, raised all sorts of questions about what was. So, mixed with the grunt work was all sorts of hypothesizing and checking old photos and plans.
Saturday's s volunteer day had an A team of Mike Abegg, Nelson Chin, Linda Von Voss-Beal (all South Street Seaport people), Carolina Salguero, and supervisor Chiclet.
While we have your attention, I thought I'd mention that the Seaport looks very much on the mend after the take-over by the Museum of the City of New York with Susan Henshaw Jones at the helm. You can follow the progress of the resuscitation of the Seaport on the blog of the group Save Our Seaport, heavy lifters in the cause, here
| Where it was Saturday morning 0900 after new volies Jeffrey Jernstrom and Enrico Bazzoni chipped and scraped during Friday |
Once the boom is on deck, you start to wonder what all the fittings attached to it were doing, why a bulge here, why a flat bar there. Mike figures out that a run of long shank shackles is a series of fair leads... and they went to the hose winch. But what were the mystery tubular fairleads along the forward edge of the boom? Carolina and Mike make several trips to the ship plans in the fidley, a photo in the galley, and a photo in the fidley.
| Bob Mattson photo from 1979 |
Carolina comments that on a visit a while back Charlie Deroko pointed out that the mast and boom in the plans were not what's here now... that they are much shorter and look as if they're wood.
Mike then points out that in the plans the mast isn't even where it is now - something no one had remarked upon until now. As drawn, the boom was on a pad eye on the ullage trunk, not forward of it; but then again, the drawings don't show the mast on the aft end of the wheelhouse that appear in ST Kiddoo photos...
Carolina hypothesizes that the new longer boom reflects how Mary Whalen's work evolved from delivering to terminals (short boom) to fueling ever bigger ships, necessitating a long boom for reach.
| Mike I-Love-Rigging Abegg prepares to lift the boom with a shackle so we can rotate it to better get at the underside. We'll also clean and grease the pin. |
| Carolina & Linda stretch the old boom cable on the dock to measure it. The boom is not the original one in the ship plan; so until we lowered the whole affair to measure it, we didn't know how much new cable to get. Amounts to 242' of wire rope. |
| Ship cat Chiclet assists in the cable measuring process. |
| Team Abegg & Chin priming the boom. The primer is milk chocolate brown which leads to many jokes about repainting the whole ship brown. Anyone ever seen a brown boat? Tugster, can you help us here? |
| The cable measuring team comes up to heckle the boys on the boom. Classic boatwork slogan on the back of that old Wavertree t-shirt there, Mike! |
| Mike Cohen shows up, a fuel barge goes by, the sun is setting and it's time to get the tools back down below. |
| Kicking back in the galley after a day's work. Next thought... might as well lower the mast, while we're at it, and paint that bedraggled thing and redo the mast stays. |
Eerie Sea Smoke in time for Halloween
/So WHAT'S with the weather?!
Today's plummeting temperature brought more than snow, it brought sea smoke. Fast moving sea smoke, that is, given the winds. Here's a glimpse.
Last time I saw sea smoke on salt water in such quantities, it was 2 degrees out, and I was shooting my muse, the Janice Anne Reinauer. This summer she was sold to a Nigerian company and left on the Blue Marlin.
See what today's sea smoke looks like from the wheelhouse of a tug dockside at Carteret in another evocative video by Bill Brucato, Captain of the Nicole L. Reinauer.
PortSide Exhibit: Mariners' response to 9/11
/Exhibit on the steamer LILAC - on Hudson River Park's Pier 25, Manhattan
PortSide NewYork, a waterfront-themed non-profit organization, is mounting a multi-media exhibit (photography, videos and oral history) and presentation about the extraordinary and little-known maritime role in 9/11, from evacuation to rubble removal.
Note:
The exhibit venue Lilac and PortSide's base of operations, the Mary A. Whalen, survived Irene unharmed. Despite Irene's disruptions and delays, we are proceeding with plans for the exhibit.Sponsors are still being sought for this exhibit. Please contact PortSide NewYork, Director Carolina Salguero,917-414-0565, portsidenewyork(at)gmail.com
Talk: Wed 9/14/11 7:00-8:30pm by Carolina Salguero, photojournalist on 9/11 and now Director of PortSide NewYork and journalist Jessica DuLong
Location: Historic ship LILAC, Hudson River Park’s Pier 25 at North Moore Street, Tribeca,Manhattan
Hours: During September on Thursdays from 12:00pm to 6:00pm and Saturdays from 1:00pm to 6:00pm, plus scheduled visits by school groups. Additional open hours for the public may be announced by early September.
Download press release here
related event: U.S. Coast Guard 9/11 New York City Response Retrospective on the Intrepid, Sat 9/10, 10 am to 4pm. Open to the public. more info
| Photo by Carolina Salguero |
The Coast Guard estimated that, on the morning of 9/11, between 350,000 and 500,000 people were evacuated from lower Manhattan by water during just a few hours.
Particularly noteworthy is that the process was started spontaneously by the operators of the boats themselves. Within hours, five Coast Guard cutters, 12 small boats, and more than 100 public and private vessels operated on scene. For four days following the attacks, the boats continued to provide rescue workers with fuel, crucial supplies, and river water for firefighting.
The marine role continued, largely unsung, for months as all the rubble - 2,400 barges or 93,346 trucks' worth was removed from Manhattan by water, save for the ritual last column which left by truck. The fact that it was removed by water made it possible to finish the job in just eight months, and spare the city incredible truck traffic. In creating the exhibit, PortSide NewYork makes the point that the maritime 9/11 story has workaday implications for New York City as it develops new plans for its waterfront.
To bring home the point, the exhibit will be mounted on a ship docked at a pier from which Ground Zero rubble was removed. PortSide will mount the exhibit on the former U.S. Lighthouse Tender Lilac, at Hudson River Park’s Pier 25, at North Moore Street, New York City in partnership with the non-profit Lilac Preservation Project
The exhibit will include photography and oral history by the award-winning photojournalist Carolina Salguero, who went on to found PortSide NewYork, plus contributions from vessel crews, and other institutions.
| Photo by Carolina Salguero |
Related talk:
On Wednesday, September 14, from 7:00-8:30pm a related talk will be given by Carolina Salguero (www.carolinasalguero.com) and journalist Jessica DuLong (www.jessicadulong.com), author of the critically acclaimed My River Chronicles: Rediscovering the Work That Built America, and chief engineer of retired New York City Fireboat John J. Harvey (www.fireboat.org), which was called back into service to supply firefighters with Hudson River water—the only water available for days following the towers' collapse. DuLong and her Fireboat Harvey crewmates were recognized in the Congressional Record for valor in aiding FDNY’s rescue efforts, and appear as characters in Maira Kalman’s award-winning children’s book FIREBOAT: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey.
| The Lilac where the exhibit will be installed |
As a ship-based museum, our role is to educate New Yorkers about our maritime heritage, and the story of the heroic role of mariners in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks has received little attention," said Lilac's Museum Director, Mary Habstritt. "We are really honored to help recognize their contributions and to share this story on board a ship, at Pier 25, which itself played a role as a shipping point for debris removal."
Carolina Salguero, Founder & Director of PortSide NewYork said “I was really concerned that the story of the 9/11 maritime evacuation was so overlooked. That was one of the things that prompted me to found PortSide NewYork as a way to bring attention to the waterways. Doing this exhibit is a way to both commemorate what happened ten years ago and to help the city move forward with its new waterfront plan Vision 2020. PortSide hopes, that by illuminating how those boats worked ten years ago—and the impediments they found—we can help the city better plan its future waterfront for both good days and bad."
"It's an honor to help share the largely untold story of the maritime community's contribution in New York City's hour of greatest need," said Jessica DuLong, chief engineer Fireboat John J. Harvey and author My River Chronicles, "The spontaneous mobilization was truly remarkable, but for mariners it's just a part of the job. Among those who work on the water the notion that panic leads to peril is as deeply ingrained as the tradition of helping those in need."
"It's an honor to help share the largely untold story of the maritime community's contribution in New York City's hour of greatest need," said Jessica DuLong, chief engineer Fireboat John J. Harvey and author My River Chronicles, "The spontaneous mobilization was truly remarkable, but for mariners it's just a part of the job. Among those who work on the water the notion that panic leads to peril is as deeply ingrained as the tradition of helping those in need."
The exhibit includes:
Photography of the maritime evacuation:
- featuring the work of Carolina Salguero, Founder + Director of PortSide NewYork and an award-winning photojournalist. More about Salguero's reporting from ground zero in this video
- Photographs from Rich Naruszewicz, Captain of the New York Fast Ferry "Finest" evacuating people during 9/11 and former tankerman on PortSide's Mary A. Whalen
- Photographs from crew of the retired fireboat John J. Harvey which served at ground zero.
Photography of rubble removal
- by Carolina Salguero of Pier 25, North River and Pier 6, East River.
Oral history
- Of tug crews who evacuated people and removed rubble gathered by Carolina Salguero
Videos:
- MARAD video "Rescue at Water’s Edge,” a 10th anniversary tribute to the Merchant Mariners who sailed directly into harm’s way on September 11 and evacuated more 300,000 people by water.
- Video by Mike Mazzei, dockbuilder who worked at 9/11 rubble removal site on Pier 25
- Center for National Policy new video "Boatlift" the story of the armada of civilian watercraft which came together with no prior planning to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people from lower Manhattan on 9/11. It was the largest sealift ever – greater even than at Dunkirk during World War I
More about PortSide NewYork www.portsidenewyork.org
PortSide NewYork is a young, innovative non-profit organization. Our mission is to show New York City better ways to use the BlueSpace, or water part of the waterfront, to educate the public and policy makers about the waterfront, and to help revitalize our home neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn while doing that.
We promote sustainable waterfront planning that increases use of the water. This includes fostering waterborne transportation, the greenest way to move people and goods, and providing educational, cultural, and social service programs for the community on a water theme. PortSide engages in harbor advocacy and runs an H2O Arts program that offers ship tours, talks, walks, readings, concerts, movies, and performing arts.
We use a historic ship, the coastal oil tanker Mary A. Whalen, as our office, mobile cultural platform, and teaching tool. She was built in 1938 and is 172' long. She is famous for her role in incidents leading to the 1975 Supreme Court decision U.S. vs Reliable Transfer.
More about the Lilac Preservation Project: www.Lilacpreservationproject.org
The U.S. Lighthouse Tender Lilac was launched on May 26, 1933. Built for the U.S. Lighthouse Service, she carried supplies and personnel to lighthouses and maintained buoys. The duties of the Lighthouse Service were later absorbed by the U.S. Coast Guard. Lilac was decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1972. She was the last ship in the Coast Guard fleet to operate with reciprocating steam engines and is unique in still possessing her original engines. Lilac is on the National Register of Historic Places and is eligible to become a National Historic Landmark. The ship is owned by the non-profit Lilac Preservation Project.
Related 9/11 info:
Related 9/11 info:
Event: US Coast Guard 9/11 New York City Response Retrospective, Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum. Saturday 9/10 10 am to 4pm. Open to the public. more info
Coast Guard 9/11 oral history project:
- Rear Admiral Richard E. Bennis, Commander, Coast Guard Activities NY, Captain of the Port
- Lieutenant Michael Day, Chief, Waterways Oversight Branch, Coast Guard Activities New York
Directions
Hudson River Park's Pier 25. Cross West Street at N. Moore St. or Harrison St.
Subway
1 at Canal Street and Franklin St.
A,C,E at Canal St.
1,2,3 at Chambers St.
1 at Canal Street and Franklin St.
A,C,E at Canal St.
1,2,3 at Chambers St.
Bus
M20 and M22
M20 and M22
Sponsors:
Exhibit Design + Planning
provided pro bono by
provided pro bono by
Paul S. Alter
Lee H. Skolnick Architecture +
Design Partnership
Lee H. Skolnick Architecture +
Design Partnership
To join our sponsors of this exhibit
Please get in touch with PortSide NewYork
Carolina Salguero, Director
917-414-0565
portsidenewyork@gmail.com
Emergency call for help with generator installation + moving stuff
/Due to issues in the Red Hook container port, PortSide has have to move a lot of our stuff on the pier tomorrow Monday 8/15.
If you can help, at whatever hour, please email portsidenewyork@gmail.com or call Carolina Salguero at 917-414-0565.
We have a related emergency need for connect a generator we have installed in the forward engine room. We need the following skilled help:
-
welder to weld new generator in position on old engine mounts
-
plumber to connect exhaust and fuel lines to generator
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electrician to connect power cord to generator
| WHAT A RIGGING JOB IT WAS! Michael Abegg (center), Matt Perricone (right), David Black (offstage left) lower used Cummins 15kw Model 13212E1400 into pre-existing hatch in foredeck underneath one of the vents |
| In it goes by the hairs on its chinny chin chin |
| It was since rotated 90 degrees clockwise and is sitting on existing engine mounts |
Opening by Frank Hanavan, friend of PortSide
/Frank's work lovingly captures light and atmosphere around his two favorite subjects, brownstones and ships. And bicycles, let's not forget the bicycles.
| This Hanavan hangs over the galley sink on the Mary A. Whalen. It is based on a photo by Barry Masterson |
Frank says this is his last show for a long time. We hope not, so come out and buy and keep Frank painting!
Opening info
Monday 7-9pm
@ Mini Bar
482 Court Street in Carroll Gardens
between Luqueer and 4th Place, west side of street
Hot Weekend Tip: Coast Guard Tall Ship EAGLE Open to Public This Weekend
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Blue Marlin Blues
/| Blue Marlin carrying an oil rig |
What related shipping spectacle was conducted in the Upper Bay last month?
| Exxon Valdez (R) leaking oil in 1989 |
This regulation would have phased out the Mary A. Whalen, if she hadn't gone out of business due to a scored crankshaft.
A large collection of operable fuel moving equipment that WAS phased out by OPA 90 was recently sold by Reinauer Transportation to a Nigerian company. That company contracted Dutch-owned Dockwise to send their heavy lift ship the Blue Marlin to take away tugs and barges. It was the Blue Marlin brought the terrorist-damaged US Cole back from Africa.
Loading the vessels, a job planned and choreographed by the Dockwise team, became a 26-day saga of several failed attempts. The spectacle had harbor watchers glued to blogs, a tugcam, and their favorite telephoto lenses. Confused landlubbers ashore were overheard to say that the Blue Marlin appeared to be sinking. They received no help from the mainstream press which made no mention of the visit of this famous ship nor the engineering feats, and crises, running throughout the month of July.
Reinauer cleverly sold the lot but washed their hands of the loading. Miller's Launch, a new player in harbor towing, was assigned to load the tugs, McAllister Transportation the barges. (Thank you McAllister Transportation for allowing Carolina Salguero to ride and photograph from your tugs!) A Red Hook outfit was assigned to do the lashing of the barges
Reinauer had the Kristy Anne Reinauer outfitted with a tugcam to watch operations.
The barges were staged in the Red Hook containerport all near the Mary Whalen, putting PortSide in the cat bird seat to follow the ops, in fact, at one point we were told we'd have to move the Mary Whalen to make space for shifting fuel barges!
PortSide director Carolina Salguero got back into photojournalism gear and documented the saga. She recently joined colleagues Rick Spilman, Will Van Dorp (Tugster), Jonathan Atkin and Ed Fanuzzi at a Ship Lore & Model Club meeting in making a presentation on the story. Look for an upcoming PortSide TankerTalk that will present this story to the general public. For now, we offer you the following images by Salguero. Will Van Dorp compiled a chronology slideshow, but his narration at the TankerTalk is what will knit it all together (plus he adds some great overheard quotes that capture some colorfully misinformed speculation as to what is going on.)
The goal was to get four of the tugs loaded near the house of the Blue Marlin, with one tug at the stern, and with all the barges laying athwartships in between.
| McAllister Port Captain Pat Kinnier dispatches tugs that will move the Reinauer fuel barges on Load Attempt 1 |
| Four of the loaded tugs on Load Attempt 2. This is the after end of the Blue Marlin house, at the stern is another tug, The Maverick, which lived up (or down) to its name on this job and was the SNAFU on Load Attempt 1 and participated in SNAFU on Load Attempt 2 |
| Tug John Reinauer listing over as Load Attempt 2 goes south. At the stern of the Blue Marlin, the Maverick is also listing over. |
Good luck to the crews working on this load attempt; and hats off to Reinauer for having only one vessel left for sale. Their salesperson sure earned a bonus this year.
11/16/11 update: The Blue Marlin never returned. Harbor gossip says that this is because Dockwise had a hard time being paid by the Nigerian buyer of the vessels. This is unconfirmed at this time.
The harbor grapevine also reports the following (also unconfirmed):
In 2011, the Reinauer Transportation Tugs Janice Ann Reinauer, Dean Reinauer, John Reinauer, and Curtis Reinauer, and Boston Towing and Transportation tug Maverick where acquired by Runner Marine Limited, a division of Capital Oil and Gas Industries limited of Lagos, Nigeria.
The tugs where renamed as follows:
Tug Maverick - Tug Alfa
Tug John Reinauer - Tug Bravo
Tug Janice Ann Reinauer - Tug Charly
Tug Dean Reinauer - Tug Delta
Tug Curtis Reinauer - Tug Echo
Chiclet issues 1st ever press release - response to TONY mascot list
/PortSide NewYork
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7/22/11
contact: Chiclet
Chiclet says Time Out!
PortSide cat hurls furball at exclusion from TONY list of “Animal mascots of NYC”
PortSide cat hurls furball at exclusion from TONY list of “Animal mascots of NYC”
Chiclet, ship’s cat at PortSide NewYork, today expressed her resentment at being left off the list of NYC mascots published recently by Time Out New York:
She called some of the mascots “fly-by-nighters who laze around all day, and disappear when there is real work to be done, like catching mice and birds, and supervising humans.”
Chiclet referred to her active supervision of work on the Mary Whalen, the 172’ repurposed oil tanker that serves as office and floating venue for PortSide NewYork.
Chiclet also crowed about her computer work. “I designed the Twitter page for PortSide, although it was under false pretenses – I was led to believe it would attract birds. It took great willpower learning to use the mouse without picking it up it my mouth and offering it to my human, Carolina Salguero.”
Another job Chiclet takes pride in performing is her role as the boat’s official greeter, which was caught on camera last year. “When Charlotte Rampling came on the boat to film an interview show for European television, I hit my mark perfectly, reaching the actress just as she was about to climb the gangway. She reached down and stroked my head right on cue. It was a pleasure working with a real professional.”
Chiclet suggests that next time inclusion in the mascot list should be done democratically. “Make it like the All Star Game, not that I actually know what that is. Let us mascots vote for who deserves to be on the list. And get the humans out of the picture.”
More on my activities below:
| Streaming Netflix and looking for Charlotte Rampling who I much admire |
| Inspecting during NY1 shoot. I'm sitting on their equipment case here. |
| Helping John Weaver cut foam |
| Attacking bikinis |
| Hiding in the pier Savannah |
| Fishing |
| Pipe inspection |
| Inspecting from the office |
Report from Waterfront Sunday 6/19 in Red Hook
/PortSide assembled a Power Team to man our set-up at the Red Hook sidewalk sale organized by RHED. Fresh off the Mermaid Parade, we had Will Van Dorp Tugster; and Frank Hanavan, the creative omnicompetent and maker of the Schooner Pioneer and Admiral Nelson costumes; from PortSide, Stephanie Ortiz, one of our interns, Dan Goncharoff and Carolina Salguero, and Michele Kogon, copy editor, ensuring that all our written emissions were spot on.
Smitty played the guitar for a while.
Smitty played the guitar for a while.
| Will Van Dorp aka Tugster |
We engaged in some family-friendly, maritime street theatre to raise awareness of our programs (so hard to do while locked behind the port fence!) and money for our teen Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP).
Most of us took turns being Admiral Nelson to the amusement of passersby.
Frank, who also believes a good prop is key, used the kiddie pool to flag cars.
Suited up as the traffic schooner for the first time since the Bar Tini move, Carolina slowed traffic with a flamboyant leaf-letting technique and got cars to stop, talk, donate and/or take information on PortSide's fundraising drive for the teen Summer Youth Employment Program.
Frank - creating maritime awareness one knot at a time - left one of his Turks Head Tags on the bus stop pole.
One new storekeeper of the Fulla T-shirt shop liked our hubbub so much he asked if we'd be out every weekend. He said if we were, he'd open up on weekends - even though we looked pretty strong in the t-shirt department ourselves!
Waterfront Sunday 6/19 in Red Hook
/Admiral Nelson, kayaking, seafood, circus on a barge, Red Hook-wide sidewalk sale & more...
Red Hook Sidewalk Sale 11am-4pm:
Enjoy hunting for treasures and discounts along Van Brunt Street. Or SELL. Set up your own table along Van Brunt.
Enjoy hunting for treasures and discounts along Van Brunt Street. Or SELL. Set up your own table along Van Brunt.
PortSide will be in front of 281 Van Brunt Street (just north of Pioneer) selling t-shirts, talking about our programs and raising money for our Summer Youth Employment Program.
If you can't see us in person, please donate here.
Smitty will play guitar for an hour, we will have a kiddie pool with ducks and boats, a DIY photo booth with industrial objects such as our super-sized wrench (far right), and we will be joined by Admiral Nelson.
If you can't see us in person, please donate here.
Smitty will play guitar for an hour, we will have a kiddie pool with ducks and boats, a DIY photo booth with industrial objects such as our super-sized wrench (far right), and we will be joined by Admiral Nelson.
We'll be next to Kevin's Restaurant who will be selling smoothies outside and seafood inside. Eggs Chesapeake (eggs benedict with a crabcake instead of ham) is a favorite.
Across the street and just up the block is the famed Red Hook Lobster Pound
Around the corner to the west on Pioneer is the new Filipino eatery Philly Pinoy This hole-in-the-wall centers around a sidewalk tikki hut and is targeted at the Filipino crews of the cruise ships. They're hoping that the Brooklyn foodie scene finds them*** update, they are currently only open when a cruise ship is in. Schedule here. Hot food is made on the spot, and imported bagged and canned goods are inside.
Waterfront Museum Barge is running their annual Showboat Shazzam of family entertainment and circus artistry. $10 in advance, $15 at door. Shows 1pm, 4pm
Red Hook Boaters free kayaking Valentino Pier Park 1-5pm
For last minute shoppers, father's day gifts can be found at our three garden centers or Red Hook's unusual boutiques which include Metal & Thread selling lamps made from blowfish and curious, antique hardware.
Dads can end the day listening to live music at Bait & Tackle surrounded by taxidermy.
Mary A. Whalen gets new and national recognition!
/WE ARE EXCITED! We applied to The NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (SHPO) to see if the Mary A. Whalen were eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and she is!
We've always said that we wanted to secure a lease before we could justify trying to raise money for the ship (please pick up the pace on that lease, EDC!) but enough things had aligned for us to start moving on getting recognition for the ship.A first move to be eligible for major funding is to have the Mary Whalen become a NYC Landmark, on the National Register of Historic Places or "be deemed eligible to be on the National Register" a sort of interim status that implies significant documentation work in and of itself.
Many thanks to one of our spring interns Stephanie Ortiz, an Architect in training from Puerto Rico and a Historic Preservation student at Pratt for helping to translate the preservation concepts, digging up the official guide on how to do this, doing additional historical research, and contributing to the whole process.
The process was itself gratifying because we came to realize how much information we had accumulated on the ship since 2005!
She came to PortSide with no history. Nada. Not even awareness of her role in the major Supreme Court decision US vs Reliable Fuel.
She came to PortSide with no history. Nada. Not even awareness of her role in the major Supreme Court decision US vs Reliable Fuel.
Tom Rinaldi, a young history buff working for the Central Park Conservancy, told us about the case around 2007. (This reveals how much more data has been uploaded and is now findable by google than in 2005).
We were able to fill in some gaps in our information via rushed consultations with Charlie Deroko, Norman Brouwer, Gerry Weinstein of Archive of Industry and Steamer Lilac. As Norman has helped write some of the national guides to ship preservation, his help was a real boost. Thanks to all of you!
We will be sharing some of what we learned from them in upcoming posts...
We pulled it all together and SHPO reviewed our application in record time and wrote back "Great application!" They said they were pleased to hear from us, adding "we've been watching the Mary Whalen."
Read their Determination of Eligibility letter here and check out her history page.
The Mary Whalen's eligibility for the National Register increases funding opportunities and visibility for the ship, for PortSide and for Red Hook.
Read their Determination of Eligibility letter here and check out her history page.
The Mary Whalen's eligibility for the National Register increases funding opportunities and visibility for the ship, for PortSide and for Red Hook.
We have related news of PortSide's 2011 summer youth employment program to do restoration work on the Mary Whalen. You can support that via crowdrise. More on that soon!