FEMA needs input to Region 2 Coastal website - due 8-16-14

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ALERT! Get info to FEMA by Wed 8/6/14.

FEMA realized that they need to revise the region2.coastal website and are looking for input and feedback. Send info directly to Heidi Carlin below.


From: coat-bounces@marine.rutgers.edu On Behalf Of Carlin, Heidi
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2014 2:51 PM
To: coat@marine.rutgers.edu
Cc: Song Thomas
Subject: [Coat] We need your input on the Region 2 Coastal website by August 6, 2014

Dear COAT Members,

You are a valued member of a large team of professionals along the New Jersey and New York coast interested in promoting flood risk communication. We would really appreciate you taking a few minutes to review the www.region2coastal.com website, then fill out the attached questionnaire, and send back to Heidi.carlin@urs.com by Wednesday, August 6, 2014.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Heidi M. Carlin, CFM
Senior Strategic Communications Specialist
URS Corporation
Office/Mobile: 410-725-7414
Email: Heidi.Carlin@urs.com

*** here is the questionnaire ***

This questionnaire is intended for local community officials and other key stakeholders to determine usability of the www.region2coastal.com website. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!

1. What is your primary function? (Please circle)
a. Floodplain Manager
b. Building Official
c. Elected Official
d. Emergency Manager
e. Academic
f. Non-Profit Organization
g. Private Sector
h. Federal/State Government
i. Other, please describe: ____________________

For the following questions, please write your answer in the space provided. Use the back of this sheet if
you need more space and indicate which question you are writing about.

2. Which parts of the website are most useful to you?




3. What do you need the most from this website in terms of content now or in the future?




4. What would you like the website to do for you? How can the website assist with your job needs?




5. Is there information you need that you cannot find, or have difficulty finding, related to the coastal flood study, the NFIP, or related topics? If so, please list the specific topics.




6. What do you think the public needs the most from this website?




7. What do you think about the overall look and feel of the website? Do you have any suggestions for improving overall usability?

PortSide NewYork "Heavy Metal" Fundraising Sale! New Items Added!

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“Funds raised help PortSide continue our mission to bring life to the BLUEspace of NYC’s WATERfront and our hurricane Sandy recovery. ”

Sunday 7/27/14, 11am to 4pm

3 tractor trailers of marine hardware for sale! Cash (or credit card) on the bollard -- this is not an auction!

Great deco items for home, loft, restaurant.  Get your souvenir red hooks here! 4-foot tall turnbuckles! Shackles of all sizes up to multi-ton lift capacity!  Blocks (pulleys), weld-on cleats, pad eyes, wire clips, 4 large bollards. Tension testing machine.  Vintage scale and wire rope measuring device. Barrels of chain.  1,400 Unislings for bagged cargo, 90 Portabulk bags.    Jet Portable folding hydraulic 2-ton hoist.  (3) jet 1-ton trolley, (1) each of Jet 1/2-ton hoist w/20 ft, Jet 2-ton pallet puller, Jet 2-ton trolley, and more! EVERYTHING MUST GO!

Riggers, this is real working hardware of industrial scale. 

New items added!

WWII Armory gun rack
Viking 10-person liferaft (distinctive kiddy pool!)
Pilots ladder
Antique Potbelly stove
Large wood crate
2-wheel welder’s trolley
vintage hand truck for moving barrels
modern Wheel barrow
Elliptical hatch frame with bolts (industrial photo frame)
Storage:

  • HUGE steel shelves
  • steel crane basket
  • Large wood bin-shelf system painted grey
070214_2014 Acquisitions for Sale_0876 bollards label.jpg

***Inventory in Word or Excel (approximate. minus a few things we culled for our ship MARY A. WHALEN) does not include the New Items above***

Sale Location: Pier 11 loading dock, south end, Atlantic Basin, Red Hook, Brooklyn

Vehicles enter at Bowne & Imlay (follow signs for Brooklyn Cruise Terminal entrance). Pedestrians and bikes can also enter from the south at a pedestrian gate at the corner of Pioneer & Conover Streets.

Funds raised help PortSide continue our mission to bring life to the BLUEspace of NYC's WATERfront and our hurricane Sandy recovery.  As of last count, our Sandy damages run about $300,000.  We protected the MARY A. WHALEN, with our offices aboard, from the storm; but Sandy got to everything off the ship on the pier. Many historic items were damaged. Some things floated away forever.  We suffer strong indirect Sandy effects. Sandy stalled the urgent search for a home we declared in 2012, since all waterfront sites with which we were negotiating were damaged and dropped negotiations for a while or for good; and we have been unable to earn money with the ship where is it now for about three years.

For scale, in photos below, yellow tape measure is extended to 12"

New Items Added!

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Trailer #3

Trailer #2

Trailer #1

Sparkling renovation of tanker Mary A. Whalen galley

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The transformation of the galley will knock your socks off! Decades of paint were removed from steel, bronze and Monel surfaces.  The bulkhead was painted one of its early colors, a light, bright green typical in the 1930's when the ship was launched.

What made this project so challenging (beyond the scope of work) is that we are limited, since February 2012, to just 5 visitors at a time who do not have Homeland Security TWIC cards, and 5 such visitors can only be escorted in and out by our Director Carolina Salguero who has to stay aboard (eg,  not leave for meetings) while they are aboard.

These rules have so impeded access to the ship that they have largely stopped volunteer shipwork (and programs) on the tanker.   What inspired us to take on this big project is that Erika Stetson donated her entire month of December to us (as training for her entry to SUNY Maritime Academy) which broke the back on this work (and fortunately not on her!).

Paint removal and painting volunteers included Carol Salguero (Carolina's mother), Carla and Andrea Oviedo (visiting from Spain), Max Powell (driving 3 hours each way from Waterford for a few weekends), and our advisor Paul Amico.  As this project went along, we also got assistance from The Red Hook Volunteers, FEMA Americorps members, and various individuals.  Peter Guaracci, an actor and teacher, is our latest regular volunteer.

Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together Again

Putting the space back together was a project unto itself!  Shipcat Chiclet was most engaged during the unpacking of the boxes.  She did not like the noise of the paint chipping portion of this project. Needleguns are not for her!

Metal polishing work

We all delight in the gleam!

The Porthole Challenge

Dear Workboat crew,

Never paint the polished bronze!  SO many layers of paint are on Mary Whalen's portholes and Monel porthole surrounds. 

At first, we hoped to take the portholes entirely out, but getting them separated from the ship's steel proved too much. We are sending the swing plates, nuts, hinge pins and deadlights out for dip and strip polishing. The dogs will be another tedious matter.

Getting the hinge pins separated from the cast iron deadlights, which have corroded and swollen around the pins, has been a project requiring Zen patience, regular application of PB Blaster lubricant, heat, tapping, and prayer.

You can still help! Here is what we still need:

Tile restoration: Replace missing tile. Clean and restore existing tile. The white tiles are very discolored.

Repair of the wood paneled fridge and freezer: glue down some veneer bubbles, some re-varnishing. Change of freon, gaskets and compressors from DC to AC motors (or installation of a rectifier)

7 vintage cabinet latches. We can provide dimensions and details.

Furniture restoration and upholstery work: Restoration of the table stools.  They should have backs. Some of the seats are not original. All should be reupholstered. New back and side cushion for the banquette, and re-upholstery of the banquette seat cushion to match.

Wood refinishing. Some sanding and varnishing of wood shelves and trim and parts of the fridge.

Two vintage fans. One was mounted on a wooden shelf, the other a "wall-mounted" model was on a bulkhead under the skylight. (We can provide dimensions).

Donations as ever!

Thanks!




From 1934 to our 2013 White House award: PortSide board member John Weaver's trips to DC

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A year ago today, some of the PortSide NewYork crew and colleagues traveled to Washington, DC to receive a White House "Champions of Change" award for our Sandy Recovery work in Red Hook, Brooklyn. 

John Weaver

Much is made of youth culture these days, but at PortSide we have developed a deep appreciation for senior culture thanks to the wisdom and long perspective offered to us by people such as John Weaver, one of our board members. John's connection to PortSide is through the tanker MARY A. WHALEN. John's father in law Alf Dyrland was captain of the MARY from her rechristening in 1962 to 1978. 

John has had many careers in his life. On his first acting gig after graduating from Columbia he shared the stage with Katherine Hepburn.  He was in Greenwich Village when it was The Village and met Ed Koch when he was just a real estate lawyer.  John went to Woodstock, drove Diane Arbus to her photo shoots because she didn’t have a car, and traveled the country as actor and stage manager.  John’s work as a director in live TV was notable for his creative approach to the use of multiple cameras, and he was the Producer/Director of the first season of "Like It Is" a public affairs show focusing on issues relevant to the African-American community that ran from 1968 to 2011 until its host died. Here is what he wrote about PortSide's trip to DC in 2013:

It’s April 23rd, 2013 and Carolina Salguero, Peter Rothenberg and I have just arrived in Washington DC after four hours on the BOLT Bus. Union Station is Grand Central large but not Grand Central dirty. We all remark on how clean it looks feels and smells.

We wend our way to the street and the line for a taxi. No pushing, shoving, bumping. It’s all so very civilized and pleasant. As we exit out into the fresh air Carolina asks me:

“When was the last time you were in Washington, John?”

I replied: “I believe it was maybe 1934. My parents brought us down here for the traditional Easter Egg rolling on the White House lawn”

This did get a laugh along with a few strangers turning their heads to see the relic who had just said that. Then it was our turn to climb into a cab and head for our lodgings. I recalled that I actually had been to Washington more recently, on two separate trips. One was on the occasion of Dr. Martin Luther King’s address, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. “I have a dream” resonates for me today as if I am hearing it again, for the first time. I traveled that day on a bus with a delegation from Actors’ Equity Association to support the Civil Rights movement that Dr. King was leading. I sat on the steps a few feet behind and to the left of Dr. King.

Some years later, 1968, I was once again on a bus. This time it was with a group from the 15th St Meeting of the Friends, Quakers, from Manhattan. We had traveled to Washington to protest the Vietnam War. Highlights of that trip: sleeping on the floor of the Smithsonian, We had left New York at 6am and all of us found someplace, indoors, to take a nap. Next getting to experience tear gas on an open field…Mr. Nixon did not want us to feel that he welcomed our presence. And last, when we returned to the location where our bus was meant to be, there was no bus. Earlier arrivals from our group told us that, when they got there, the driver told them he wasn’t going to drive any “Commies” back to New York and he drove off. We found our way to Union Station in tears, literally, and got a train home.

This time around, Union Station welcomed me and I was here, In Washington DC, as the most very proud member of the PortSide delegation on the occasion of PortSide being honored as a Champion of Change for the work done on behalf Hurricane Sandy relief.

We were invited to the White House where our President resides as one step, one giant step forward toward the realization of Dr. King’s dream for us all.

Red Hook flood assessment info: our watershed, sewers, buried creeks, prior shoreline & more

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Amended 11/12/14 to include the following link and background about Eymund Diegel:

For related info, see our blogpost that includes Jim McMahon's Sandy flood map of Red Hook and info on how to assess your flood risk in future storms." 

More info about Eymund Diegel:

Original post:

To further support flood prevention planning in Red Hook, we offer the following information.

The data and points of view in the following bullet points are courtesy of Eymund Diegel:

  • General imagery of the Sandy Flood impacts available here
  • Base map data showing where flood waters are likely to come from next time Blue lines show general direction of drainage flows, and in reverse, the likely path of rising flood waters. Green shows the original tidal marshes. Sandy essentially flooded anyone who built on the former tidal marshes.
  • 1844 Coastal Survey showing original sand and mud banks off Red Hook whose alteration from harbor dredging is affecting how storm surges impact Red Hook
  • The reconstruction of the historic bay bottom, in particular it's now damaged and altered offshore banks, should be studied to see how reconstructing some of these protective features may help reduce Red Hook flood damage the next time.
  • I am attaching some ideas from the excellent work being done by SCAPE landscape architects, (slide show above) exploring how we remove soil from some areas (eg Red Hook Park) to recreate a better flood holding basin, and use those soils to create surge breakers further offshore. All expensive and controversial, but we need to start this dialogue as we are only going to get more flood events, and the next one will be worse than Sandy. We got off lucky because we didn't have heavy rains.
  • I did a 2013 Sandy Flood saline impacted tree survey for the Parks Department
  • The most impacted trees (London Planes and Dawn Redwoods) were typically on "topographic sinks" where salt water sat for longer, affecting soil quality and damaging non salt tolerant trees.  These "sinks" generally correspond with the location of the historic mill ponds that were landfilled and subsided.
  • The planning recommendation I made to the City is that street grading needs to be improved to allow flood waters to recede more rapidly. This recommendation will contradict some of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenways Green Infrastructure work (eg on Columbia Street) where storm water is being diverted to pond swales and holding tanks to reduce combined sewer overflows. Both (flood management and green infrastructure sewer overflow reduction are good goals and should be supported. One compromise strategy may be sluice gates, like those used by the original millers of Red Hook to better manage tide waters.
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Rain_Sewer_Flow.jpg
Built up to 1902.jpg

Brooklyn Greenway Stormwater Study for West Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn includes ideas to consider

Activating Atlantic Basin & Brooklyn Cruise Terminal - Red Hook NY Rising CRP discussion

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Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook. Photo Courtesy of Adam Armstrong, A View From The Hook blog

Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook. Photo Courtesy of Adam Armstrong, A View From The Hook blog

PortSide Director Carolina Salguero is on the Red Hook committee of the NY Rising "Community Reconstruction Program" (CRP) resiliency planning process. She has encouraged the committee and consultants to consider several aspects of Red Hook's waterfront in terms of emergency preparedness/recovery and economic resiliency (the latter being close to what used to be called community revitalization around here).

Lately, the Red Hook committee of the NYS long-term resiliency planning process “NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program” or CRP has been discussing Red Hook’s waterfront a lot via email, conference call and committee meeting.

Below we present some information Salguero and PortSide crew pulled together pertaining to "activating Atlantic Basin & Brooklyn Cruise terminal."  Also, see prior related blogposts:

Sydney, Australai Cruise Terminal. Photo Courtesy of Adam Armstrong, A View From The Hook blog

Sydney, Australai Cruise Terminal. Photo Courtesy of Adam Armstrong, A View From The Hook blog

Committee member Adam Armstrong, a Pioneer Street homeowner and blogger of View From The Hook, shared his 2009 blogpost comparing Sydney Australia cruise terminal and waterfront to Red Hook’s.

Adam Armstrong’s email prompted Carolina Salguero her to share some thoughts. Below, we cull from some of her emails to the committee:

"Sydney is surely great.

There is also a good comparison in Portland, ME, a place closer to use (we can visit to understand) and more likely to share regulatory and funding similarities with us.

My mother, brother, his 2 tweens and I sailed into Portland in August 2012 on a 45’ sailboat my uncle built and brother designed.  Here are my impressions of a brief stay from 6pm to 11am.

In that short time, we used 2 moorings, got permission over the marine radio to tie up at the shipyard next to the travel lift to get breakfast at the diner, and spent 2 hours on the free town dock to buy groceries and ice. There were no permits involved, no vetting of our insurance by anyone. This is how coastal New England works.

The cruise terminal is in an old part of town which has a few things in common with Red Hook: a main street of Victorian, low rise buildings, some legacies of prior urban blight which in their case had their voids be big parking lots a block or so inland of a Victorian commercial main street.

Their working waterfront was very active with workboats of many sorts, ship repair with a large travel lift, fishboats unloading, chandleries supplying workboats and was a just a half block behind the main drag (and not fenced off). There was a high end marina in the strip and a bunch of condos nested in that.

There was a government-run pier with fire boat, ferries (including the mail boat to small islands), a homeport for historic vessels providing day sails (“headboats”), and a town dock with free dockage.

120825 portland pier caution sign rtch.jpg

Btw, There were no fences around their finger piers despite their very high tides and a some 20’ drop to the water at low tide. 

Maritime activities, diners for the blue collar locals and destination retail catering to cruise tourists were cheek by jowl.

The cruise terminal anchored one end of the main drag and the historic main street was clearly an attraction for it.

Yes, that section of Portland had more grand commercial buildings than does Red Hook (we lost our Carnegie library), but the key thing to me is how integrated all the components were in a very small space (essentially a ribbon along the water) and how similar some of the retail nodes were (the fruit and veg place with it’s link to local farmers comes to mind) and that there were similar whiffs of the hip, the alternative, and the artist."

Maine.jpg

Here is some info culled from the web about Portland, Maine.

“The Ocean Gateway terminal in Portland, Maine was built primarily to accommodate the increasing number of cruise ships that are coming to Portland each year. It is owned by the City of Portland and the facility is also available to be rented for occasions such as weddings, auctions and other events that people may want to have take place. The view from the facility offers a one-of-a-kind look at the Portland waterfront and the eastern prom.”

From a 2013 Boston Globe article:

"It’s the biggest city in Maine, a bustling urban center with a historic core. Old Port is chock-full of 19th-century brick buildings that now house chic boutiques, local shops, taverns, cafes, and trendy restaurants. Yet the former shipping and trading center, set on a peninsula poking into Casco Bay, still maintains its hardworking, unpretentious soul.

“Greater Portland Convention & Visitors Bureau. Old Port historic center in Portland, Maine, has brick alleys, cobblestone streets, and 19th-century buildings, all on the foundation of the city’s success as a seaport.”

Enhancing Red Hook ferry service - Red Hook NY Rising CRP discussion

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Red Hook ferry walk times map.jpg

PortSide Director Carolina Salguero is on the Red Hook committee of the NY Rising "Community Reconstruction Program" (CRP) resiliency planning process. She has encouraged the committee and consultants to consider several aspects of Red Hook's waterfront in terms of emergency preparedness/recovery and economic resiliency (the latter being close to what used to be called community revitalization around here).

Below we present some information Salguero and PortSide crew pulled together pertaining to "enhancing Red Hook ferry service" and "activating Atlantic Basin."  Also, see prior related blogposts:

Comparison of Walk Times - ferry vs subway

During a committee conference call there were questions about walking distances to proposed ferry landings.

PortSide's CUNY Service Corp crew researched walk times to transportation and compared Smith & 9th St subway to ferry landings, existing and proposed.  Walk times were provided by Google Maps.

Conclusion:  The Atlantic Basin ferry stop which is currently the focus of discussion by the NY Rising CRP committee is closer than the subway for much of Red Hook. Times for the proposed ferry stops in Valentino Park and Wolcott Street by the new Est4te Four development are also included in the document.

See the full data set here.

Carolina Salguero did some research, spoke to various ferry professionals and emailed info to the committee. Below is an edit of information sent via several emails.

Use of Atlantic Basin "as is" for ferries

It is possible for ferries to use Atlantic Basin “as is” for special events.

The Brooklyn Cruise terminal in Red Hook was the site of The Taste of the NFL, a big fundraising event the Saturday of Super Bowl weekend.  Boats were used for this event both as floating commissaries and to move guests back and forth.

If this event came as as a surprise, look to Marty Markowitz’ office.  They were involved, and Brooklyn was announced as the location at a press event on 6/19/13 on steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall

Here is what I observed about the Taste of the NFL vessel plan.

The HORNBLOWER INFINITY arrived a day or two before the event and docked on Pier 12 where cruise ships tie up.

Saturday, from the MARY WHALEN, I saw ferries going in and out of Atlantic Basin and checked www.marinetraffic.com to see what was going on.  See the screenshots below for graphic representation.

  • The east side of Pier 12 was a ferry landing for the ferry GARDEN STATE.  

  • The HORNBLOWER HYBRID stayed in a static position on the east side of Pier 12.

  • The HORNBLOWER INFINITY stayed in a static position on the west side of Pier 12.

BillyBey/NY Waterways said that the Hornblower vessel in the Buttermilk brought in some top tier guests from Pier 15 (near South Street Seaport) and then stayed and served as a commissary before taking passengers out. The Atlantic Basin Hornblower delivered passengers in, stayed, and then brought passengers out.  The NY Waterway ferry GARDEN STATE made several trips in and out of Atlantic Basin. They moved about 500 out and they figure Hornblower did about the same for about 1,000 people.

In terms of docking, the tide (a particularly low low tide) did present some complications, but essentially the piers can serve as ferry landings “as is” for special events.

Ferry company freeboards (freeboard is height from the waterline to the deck):

  • NYWT small and large bowload at 6’

  • NY Waterways bowload 7’  except for their boats the Bravest & the Finest, used on the Belford,  NJ ru which bowload at 9’6”

  • SeaStreak bowload 9’ and side load 7’

Without a spud barge, the ferry freeboard has to closely match the pier freeboard for the ferry to use the spot. As the tide drops, that pier freeboard grows.  My guess is that the smaller NYWT boats are too small to use Atlantic Basin “as is” save close to a very high tide. That can be answered with a tape measure.

Fyi, in 1999, NY Waterways working for the EDC installed a temporary ferry terminal in Atlantic Basin the event of an MTA strike.

Red Hook Maritime conditions affecting choice of ferry landing sites

  • Valentino Pier – a little tougher operationally due to shape of the pier, the shoaling (shallow water) making for rough water sometimes. T-boning (docking perpendicular) against the current is a bit harder. As the water space is small, there is limited turning space for boats, and all of the above adds up to several conditions to handle in a tight space.

  • Wolcott Street – no issues

  • Atlantic Basin - no issues

SeaStreak would be interested in looking into a Red Hook stop and suggested that, rather than adding Red Hook to the current Rockaways-Sunset Park-Manhattan run, it would be better to break the current run into a Rockaways-Manhattan and a Sunset Park-Red Hook-Manhattan.  According to Rockaways ferry advocate Joe Hartigan, the Sunset Park stop added 11 minutes to the Rockaways run, and the Rockaways people want no more delays.

East River Ferry people and EDC and Est4te Four people are all in discussions about Red Hook (as we have heard).  Some feel “Red Hook is not ripe yet.”

Costs

A ferry landing for front-loading ferries these days usually involves a spud barge and has been costing $750,000 - $1MM for a 30x90’ spud barge with 50-60’ of ramp.  Given with new federal ADA requirements for vessels and other factors, cost may change.

All East River ferries are subsidized. Right now subsidies for ferries are similar ( $.02 difference) to the per passenger subsidy for buses (see EDC ferry study that Adam Armstrong referenced in a meeting.)

  • Subsidy requirements for ferry routes are on page 6

  • Transit Fares and Subsidy per Passenger Trip, see Figure 3.1 on page 12

PortSide team feels that it would help to have additional info:

  • information on ability to activate BCT.

  • info on what kind of retail will be on the lower two floors of 160 Imlay.

  • what kind of visitation numbers and type Est4te Four expects for their Coffey Street art center and what is going into their building at the end of Wolcott.

  • what kind of jobs and B-to-B opportunities are there on Governors Island with the new hotel and spa.

Regarding cruise passengers taking ferries, BillyBey/NY Waterway said that they have low numbers from Port Imperial to the Manhattan Passenger Ship Terminal and the ferry option has to be embraced by the cruise operator to work.

Introduction to New York City Council and the waterfront

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4/25/12 Waterfronts Committee Meeting. Photo courtesy of www.JimmyVanBramer.com

4/25/12 Waterfronts Committee Meeting. Photo courtesy of www.JimmyVanBramer.com

On January 22, 2014, the City Council announced its committee and committee members.  This is PortSide NewYork’s guide to the City Council and the waterfront.

The Council has a committee dedicated to the waterfront; and, at times, waterfront matters may be taken up in hearings jointly run by committees such as Land Use,  Transportation or Sanitation and Solid Waste.  There is a new committee Recovery & Resiliency which will surely deal with waterfront matters.

The size of the committees says something about NYC priorities.  Waterfronts has only five members; Land Use has twenty-one members and three subcommittees. 

The Committee on Waterfronts consists of five members, headed by Deborah Rose. Her district includes this port’s vital stretch of working waterfront along Staten Island’s Richmond Terrace, including Mariners Harbor and the Howland Hook Marine Terminal.

The four other committee members are Chaim M. Deutsch representing the waterfront of Sheepshead Bay/Manhattan Beach/Brighton Beach, Daniel R. Garodnick representing the waterfront of Manhattan’s East Side, Corey Johnson representing the waterfront of Canal Street to West 59th Street Manhattan, and Paul Vallone representing the waterfront of North East Queens.  

According to their official Council biographies, Chaim Deutsch is the only one listing some waterfront experience which was hurricane Sandy.  He mobilized community-based volunteers and coordinated with the Flatbush Shomrim to help evacuate residents, he helped in actual evacuations; coordinating with government and aid organizations, and helped distribute aid.

The City Council has a Progressive Caucus of which the Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is a member.  The Progressive Caucus released a 13 point plan for change. We were pleased to see “Waterfront” listed in point # 3 "Smart Economic Development- Reduce inequality through smart and accountable economic development."  Click on that to find:

“Strengthen the city’s core blue-collar and middle-income sectors by focusing subsidies in diversified economic clusters. Invest in more balanced, innovative, mixed-use development to meet a broader range of goals developed with community stakeholders, such as preserving and strengthening manufacturing and small businesses, creative use of waterfronts, and the community infrastructure needed to sustain growth and share its benefits (e.g. schools, child care, open space, etc.)”

Their "creative use of waterfronts"  certainly describes PortSide NewYork!  We hope this means that the Progressive Caucus will embrace the PortSide cause and help us speedily find a home, and we hope that we can work with the Progressive Caucus and the Waterfronts committee and share our waterfront expertise and further our goal of bringing NYC's Sixth Borough BlueSpace to life!

Gotham Gazette's article on City Council committee appointments includes links at the bottom with summaries of the major activities of each committee last session, predictions about its upcoming role, and stipends paid to the councilmembers.

The first "hearing" of the Waterfronts committee is a tour of Brooklyn Bridge Park Friday, 2/28/14 at 10am.  These meetings are open to the public.

Great strides on the galley renovation! Update on "This Old-Ship-Kitchen" project

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In between bouts of snow shoveling (will it ever end?!) we have been beavering away on the galley renovation.

Carolina Salguero & Paul Amico getting ready for sanding.

Carolina Salguero & Paul Amico getting ready for sanding.

As happens with renovating old things, the project got bigger as our work uncovered hidden problems which we will then fix. Thanks to this project, the MARY A. WHALEN will be stronger as well as better looking! 

As also happens with an educational institution like PortSide, renovation has strong components of historical research and becomes a program, an opportunity to teach you the reader, our December volunteer, and even us!

If you are joining the story here, this galley project kicked off when someone got in touch out of the blue to volunteer 40+ hours a week throughout December. That hero was Erika Stetson, an Air Force vet who was going to benefit by getting a crash course in ship maintenance to better prepare her for entering SUNY Maritime College in January. 

Working with Erika had a double benefit for PortSide NewYork: it enabled us to fulfill our mission to use the MARY A. WHALEN for maritime training AND get a lot of renovation done.

According to Erika her stint with us helped her!  In early January she emailed to say “I was named the honor cadet (top cadet) in my section. I also got chosen for a program with only 18 spots. It allows me to live aboard the ship full time as well as work aboard for about 20 hours per week. This gives me the chance to get a lot more shipwork experience on my resume over the next three years, a lot more mentorship from the mates, and eliminates my housing costs.”  She feels that getting familiar with air tools and the like aboard Mary Whalen probably helped her application for the berthing.

Painting is about to start. We could use volunteers! Get in touch if you want to help.

Renovation update

Erika Stetson was a December powerhouse of paint removal with HEAVY of work on chipping hammer and needlegun. She was joined over the Christmas holidays by Steve Swift, the ex-Engineer of ERNESTINA who helped us stabilize the Sandy damage to our replacement engine parts over Christmas 2012. Thank you, Steve, two years running!

Peter Rothenberg and others followed up with grinders. All paint has come off the rudder post, the exterior of the cabinets and the steel bulkhead by the stove, the skylight area, overhead beams and other spots.

The plate rack and two shelves were removed for stripping at East End Wood Strippers (recently of Union Street in Gowanus) who are donating their labor to this project.

131221 original green (5).JPG
131228 TeapotandPaint.JPG

As paint layers came off, we are tryig to suss out the original color scheme. Amidst many layers of paint, we find a soft apple green (a 1930s hue revived by Martha Stewart) on the bulkheads wrapping around the curve of the space.  The color matches a vintage teapot (at right) donated to us by John Weaver, son-in-law of MARY A. WHALEN Captain Alf Dryland.  The cabinets under sink and counter were always white, as was the rudder post and the overhead.  The forward bulkhead near the stove went through many colors, and we find the green by the stove. It was always white underneath the skylight, with the white there helping to bounce the sunlight into the space.

After Erika, Peter Rothenberg and the CUNY crew went after the detail work

We gave ourselves a lull in dust-production between the needle gunning and the sanding.  Three of our four CUNY Service Corps students Joshua Washington, Trevor Colliton and Chris  Zoupanitiotis stepped in to handle the delicate job of stripping paint off the Monel metal and the tiles on the floor with chemical stripper. They never worked in the dust. The fourth "CUNY" Renee Fayzimatova was off during January break.

The "CUNYs" were reversing the work of someone crazy for painting back in the day – some black floor tile was painted black and much of the decorative metal was painted-- the Monel porthole surrounds, plate rack and stove hood.  Getting the paint off the bronze portholes is very hard by hand, so the plan is to remove them completely and take them to the Paint Strippers Company along with the shelves.

Needle gunning inside the cabinets exposed a weakness related to MARY’s good looks.

The sides of the MARY’s house lean slightly inward which gives her lines greater grace; but that means that if portholes are not closed perfectly tight, the water running down the outside of the ship will run right into the boat.

What that means is rust from the inside.  As someone said “these old boats rot from the inside out.” Add to that sink leaks (but not our watch!) which evaporated near the hot galley stove and condensed over by the rudder post.  The galley cabinets had no air holes, so the space became a humid terrarium with cycles of evaporation and condensation.  (We will be installing cabinet vents on the sides where they will not change the look of the space.)

As a result of 75 years of the "terrarium effect," we found wasted steel: Carolina Salguero holed the exterior steel while needle gunning (though well above the waterline!), and Erika went through some of the cabinet steel near the sink.

Thanks to the wonders of the wonders of pricey Splash Zone epoxy, metal screen and self tapping screws and Paul Amico cramming himself into the small cabinet, small patches were screwed to fill the holes, with the patches to be finished off with Marine Tex epoxy.  Corroseal or Ospho (more pricey stuff, time to donate, Dear Reader) rust converter stops the rust dead before we repaint.

At one point, Paul couldn’t back out from under the sink and had to pull himself around through most of the cabinets!  That show (below) really fascinated Chiclet who comes in to inspect whenever power tools are not running.

We also learned are that the cabinet drawers are probably not original, thanks to Paul Amico who explains,

"The existing galley drawers are fabricated from electrogalvanized sheet metal. This process was in its commercial infancy in the 1930's and wasn't truly perfected until the 1960's. It is commonly used in duct work and rarely used where it would have abrasive contact of any sort, such as where drawers rub on the rails. This contact would wear out the thin protective film of zinc which would nullify its true intention.  That, along with the fact that I haven't witnessed any other electrogalvanized metal on board, leads me to believe these are not original."

We now believe a large fan was bolted to this shelf.  Once we did some heavy sanding of this shelf, we found the outlines of two circular items which had been bolted on it over the years.

We now believe a large fan was bolted to this shelf.  Once we did some heavy sanding of this shelf, we found the outlines of two circular items which had been bolted on it over the years.

We presume the first drawers rusted out (leaks from the counter and portholes), and we're sure the current cabinet hardware is not original.  Once the cabinet paint was removed, we found the holes and marks of earlier hardware and are looking for 1930s latches that resemble the pattern of the holes. 

Conferring with the helpful folks on the tugboatinformation group of Facebook, which includes several former crew members of the MARY WHALEN or their sons, we think we have determined that one wood shelf held a large fan, and that another fan was bolted to the forward bulkhead right underneath the skylight. 

We’ll be looking for vintage fans to fit those footprints left behind in decades of paint.  We have also acquired some 1930 kitchen implements, appliances and housewares ads to give a sense of shipboard cooking at the time the MARY was launched. 

A fun and easy way to support the educational end of this project

A fun way to get involved is to buy original 1930s ads for food, appliances, housewares and kitchens on eBay for us.  Plenty of them only cost around $10!  Search "1930s kitchen"' for starters.  To give you an idea, we have ads for Brillo, Land-O-Lakes butter and a few more.  We would display the collection of ads in a binder during tours of the ship.  We have found that the galley is of great interest to people; and the fact that we have the original cast iron stove (and use it) and a wood paneled fridge and freezer, make the galley a good place for explaining food, dietary and domestic history.  We would also welcome more 1930s kitchenware and appliances, but please get in touch before you get any of those so we don't have redundancies!

Note: This blogpost lags about two weeks behind the work accomplished. Stay tuned for more!

Red Hook NY Rising CRP Resiliency Open House Sat 2/22 & Sun 2/23 11am – 6pm

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crp_poster_02.13.13_flattened.jpg

Red Hook NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program
Open House
Realty Collective, 351 Van Brunt St
Sat 2/22 & Sun 2/23 11am – 6pm

Where you are going:  351 Van Brunt while it was PortSide's Sandy aid center November 2012

Where you are going:  351 Van Brunt while it was PortSide's Sandy aid center November 2012

Only a few months of planning remain in the Red Hook NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program and the Committee is excited to engage the Red Hook community in the critical final phase of the program. The upcoming public meeting will be an important opportunity to gather community input on the top Priority Projects that may be recommended for funding with Red Hook’s $3M CDBG-DR allocation. We encourage everyone to attend this event and have your voice heard. At this event the Red Hook Committee will share ideas that its members have heard from you to date and answer questions you may have about the program and possible resiliency projects. Details for the event are on the attached flyer and as follows:
 
Experts will be on hand to discuss specific topics on Saturday and Sunday at the following times:
12pm-1pm: Infrastructure & Coastal Resiliency
1pm-2pm: Social Resiliency & Economic Development
 
Red Hook Resiliency Innovations event Sat 2/22, 3-6pm

Guest speakers to include: HUD Rebuild by Design, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) and Architecture for Humanity, and others.

We also have a few newsworthy pieces from the past few months to share:

  • The Committee held its 11th meeting on Monday, February 10th in which we discussed benefits, feasibility, and considerations of possible priority resiliency projects.
  • Youth from the Red Hook Initiative/South Brooklyn Community High School film production program completed a video documenting the November 19th Public Engagement at the Miccio Center. This will be featured at the public meeting as well.
  • On December 18th, the Red Hook Planning Committee partnered with Good Shepherd’s Services at the Beacon Center to engage teens in the NY Rising program. At this event, teens brainstormed with planners and Committee representatives about resiliency challenges and solutions for Red Hook.
  • The Committee applauds the incredible news from Governor Cuomo’s Office of a $200M New York City & New York State combined commitment for the development of an integrated flood protection system in Red Hook. This announcement provides great momentum to our work and is proof that Red Hook can and will become a more resilient community.  

We hope to see everyone at the upcoming public event.
 
As always, thank you for your continued engagement in the Red Hook NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program.
 
Sincerely,
 
NY Rising Red Hook Planning Committee & Committee Co-Chairs
Gita Nandan
Ian Marvy

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nystormrecovery

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NYStormRecovery

www.stormrecovery.ny.gov

 

Feb 2-8 2014 Red Hook resliency events including free architect advice for building owners

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Red Hook "Sandy Helpdesk"  Feb 8-10, 2014 - pick a time slot on one of the three days and free resiliency, rebuilding advice from architects and building trades professionals. See page 2 of flyer

Feb 8-10, 2014 Asesora acerca de códigos de construcción zonificación y diseño en vecindarios afectados por Sandy para propietarios de edificios  mas Informacion 

Red Hook resiliency workshop Thurs 2/6/14 7pm at Hometown BBQ "to talk more generally about building innovative resiliency approaches people are developing in Red Hook."

Volunteer building trades professionals wanted in general (not just for Sandy Helpdesk). Please get involved! 

This information comes from an email from Pratt which we copy below.

Background info

Pratt Center is working with Architecture for Humanity, Enterprise, the NY chapter of the AIA, and also with City agencies and with local partners (Margert Community Development Corp. in Rockaway; Fifth Avenue Committee and Red Hook Volunteers in Red Hook) to pilot the Sandy Design Helpdesk. The Helpdesk offers free consultations with architects and other professionals to residents, business owners, and building owners on Sandy-related design, code, and zoning issues – we’re also adding other experts based on what we hear from local partners, so in Red Hook there will also be insurance and mortgage advisors available.

Obviously with a one-time consult, the volunteer architects can’t provide much more than suggested design solutions to code/zoning/insurance problems, and maybe a freehand sketch – but we’re finding that this can be pretty helpful, especially for people who aren’t eligible for major assistance like Build it Back, or who are trying to figure out their options while they wait to find out where they stand.

So the Red Hook Help Desk will be February 8-10 (a flyer is attached)– but in Red Hook, there’s been so much thinking done (about the many local and challenging problems) that we are adding a workshop that will take place before the Help Desk, to talk more generally about building innovative resiliency approaches people are developing in Red Hook. The workshop event will take place on Thursday Feb 6th, at 7pm at HomeTown. 

We’re also interested in adding to our volunteer pool. Volunteers get free training from NYC Department of Buildings and Department of City Planning staff on post-Sandy zoning and building code changes (and probably continuing education credits via the AIA); they are also covered by Architecture for Humanity’s liability insurance and it’s pretty-well-tested waiver. People who volunteered in Rockaway last October found it to be informative and rewarding, so if you’re willing to forward the Volunteer poster along to anyone in your professional networks, we’d much appreciate that too.

Joan Byron
Director of Policy
Pratt Center for Community Development
718-636-3468 (office)
www.prattcenter.net

This Saturday-Take-FREE-Citizen-Preparedness-Training-Governor-Cuomo-launches-program

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“Severe weather events are becoming more frequent and extreme and to make sure that our communities are safe, we need more New Yorkers than ever to be prepared and trained to respond”
— Governor Cuomo

Free Citizen Preparedness Corps training on Saturday, February 1st in Richmond and Suffolk Counties. Attendees get one free emergency kit.  Space is limited, so participants are required to register in advance. Pre-registration for the training session is available at: http://www.nyprepare.gov/aware-prepare/nysprepare/

Here is official press release from Governor Cuomo's office

For Immediate Release: January 27, 2014

GOVERNOR CUOMO LAUNCHES CITIZEN PREPAREDNESS CORPS TRAINING PROGRAM

Goal is to provide 100,000 citizens with the tools they need to be ready and able to help their families and neighbors during emergencies

Governor Cuomo: We need more New Yorkers than ever to be prepared and trained to respond


Governor Andrew M. Cuomo will launch on February 1 the Citizen Preparedness Corps Training Program that will train 100,000 New Yorkers during 2014 in the proper preparation for emergencies or disasters. The program seeks to provide citizens with the tools and resources to prepare for emergencies and disasters, respond accordingly and recover as quickly as possible to pre-disaster conditions.

“Severe weather events are becoming more frequent and extreme and to make sure that our communities are safe, we need more New Yorkers than ever to be prepared and trained to respond,” said Governor Cuomo. “The Citizen Preparedness Corps Training Program will train 100,000 citizens to help provide crucial and critical assistance in their own homes or in their own communities whenever disaster strikes.”

Citizen Preparedness Corps training will begin on Saturday, February 1st in Richmond and Suffolk Counties at:

Saturday, February 1st, 2014 - Richmond County
New Dorp High School, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
465 New Dorp Lane, Staten Island, NY 10306

Saturday, February 1st, 2014 - Suffolk County
Farmingdale State College, 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Roosevelt Hall, Multipurpose Room
2350 Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale, NY 11735

Space is limited, so participants are required to register in advance. Pre-registration for the training session is available at: http://www.nyprepare.gov/aware-prepare/nysprepare/

Training sessions will be led by the New York National Guard, working with experts from the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services’ Office of Emergency Management and Office of Fire Prevention and Control. All training sessions will be coordinated with local county emergency management personnel.

Major General Patrick A. Murphy, the Adjutant General NYS Division of Military and Naval Affairs said, “The men and women of the New York Army and Air National Guard understand the value of being prepared for any emergency, since our service members are always there to assist when disaster strikes. Our Soldiers and Airmen are proud to be part of the Governor's effort to better prepare New Yorkers to handle floods, hurricanes, tornados, snowstorms or whatever nature can throw at us. We look forward to engaging our fellow New Yorkers in this important emergency preparedness training.”

Jerome M. Hauer, Commissioner, NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services said, “I applaud Governor Cuomo for taking an assertive and proactive approach on training citizens for any type of disaster. In times of emergency or extreme difficulty caused by a disaster, it is often citizens in their homes or on their residential blocks who are immediately faced with the need to respond. This training effort will better prepare them for the types of response activities they should engage in to safeguard themselves and their families and possibly their neighbors.”

The training course will provide an introduction to responding to a natural or man-made disaster. Participants will be advised on how to properly prepare for any disaster, including developing a family emergency plan and stocking up on emergency supplies. Proper preparation in the home will be emphasized with encouragement to ensure that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, along with fire extinguishers, are all available and in proper working order. Trainers will supply information on what organizations can provide additional support; how to register for NY-Alert, the free statewide emergency alert system; and how to be aware of notifications from such sources as the Emergency Broadcast System. Participants will also be encouraged to get more involved in existing community-based emergency activities that may be organized through local schools, businesses or community-based organizations.

A key component of this training effort is the distribution of Citizen Preparedness Corps Response Kits that contain key items to assist individuals in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. As an individual, a family member, and member of their community, it is essential that citizens take a few basic steps to be prepared; their quality of life and their loved ones may depend on it. Often during an emergency, electricity, heat, air conditioning or telephone service may not work. Citizens should be prepared to make it on their own for at least 7-10 days, maybe longer. Click here for a photo of the kit.

Every training participant (one per family) will receive a free Citizen Preparedness Corps Response Starter Kit, which includes:

· Plastic drop cloth
· Light stick
· (2) D Batteries
· First Aid Kit
· Face mask
· Safety goggles
· AM/FM pocket radio with batteries
· (6) packs of drinking water
· (6) food bars
· Regular flashlight
· Emergency blanket
· Duct tape
· Work gloves
· Water bottle


As part of the training, participants will receive information about the other supplies and personal information that they should add to their personal Response Kit.

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Additional news available at www.governor.ny.gov
New York State | Executive Chamber | press.office@exec.ny.gov | 518.474.8418

Comment on New York City plans for Federal CDBG Sandy recovery funds

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Just in from our friends at the Brooklyn Recovery Fund of the Brooklyn Community Foundation

The following is copied from an email from the BRF of the BCF. Note the January 25, 2014 deadline!

"You may or may not know, but the City has made changes to the CDBG plan for recovery funds. If you participated in previous CDBG plan hearings or read previous drafts, you need to know that this change being proposed reallocates money and significantly changes program eligibility requirements across a number of previously planned programs. All of the changes in this amendment are substantial. Changes in financial allocations impact programs and funding for:

·         Housing

·         Business

·         City Administration

·         Infrastructure

·         Resilience Programs

Attached is a short 5 page guide to help those of us who are not familiar with the City’s planning and comment process locate the guide (both online and in hard copy), understand how to read the guide, and includes all the info you need to give comments on the guide. We have also included a section by section overview.

The City is only taking comments until January 25, so please take a moment either on your own or with your organization and provide comments about these considerable changes to disaster relief funding.

If you have any questions or need further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Noël Kepler or Gillian Kaye at development@emmp-emergency.com."

 

NYC's webpage for the plan and amendments

 

 

BREAKING NEWS - this may be last year of New Years Eve Steam Whistle Blow at Pratt Institute by Conrad Milster

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There is a special event and story in the New Years Eve midnight steam whistle blow at Pratt Institute, deemed an event that matters by the prestigious Municipal Art Society .

This year may be the last year of the New Years steam whistle event.

Event is at 200 Willoughby Avenue in Fort Greene. Brooklyn, NY.

The New Years steam whistle event is a gift to Pratt and the larger world by Conrad Milster, the septagenarian Chief Engineer of Pratt Institute's Power Plant and one of USA's leading experts on steam.  

Conrad has connected his collection of steamship whistles and his calliope to Pratt's steam system as a New Year's Eve event for over 30 years. 

The event is popular with  Pratt's students and is on the A-list of underground NYC events.

Conrad is a beloved by Pratt students and industrial archeologists for preserving the handsome Victorian power plant at Pratt, which when allowed by the institution, he turns into a teaching tool.  Conrad's love of cats, he has rescued dozens, is also legion; and the cats can be seen blissfully dozing in the heat of the plant.

Conrad has traveled the world documenting in photo, video and sound steamships, locomotives and engines and often lectures on the subject. 

PortSide NewYork has had Conrad Milster give a talk and we look forward to doing so again.

In the estimation of PortSide NewYork, if Conrad Milster were in Japan, he would surely be deemed a Living National Treasure, a designation we Americans sadly do not have.

"In 1950, the Government of Japan began to designate certain individuals or groups who embodied intangible national cultural values as living human treasures, just as places or things of great cultural value are designated as national treasures, thus becoming eligible for special protection and support." from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_National_Treasure. 

Not to mention that he's a generous and kind soul always willing to share his knowledge which he does with verve, warmth and a wry sense of humor.

Photo by Collin Cunningham from www.makezine.com

Photo by Collin Cunningham from www.makezine.com

Waterfront Assets info for NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program (CRP) Red Hook Committee

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Our Director Carolina Salguero is on the Red Hook committee of the NYS resiliency planning process "CRP."  That process has stressed that the planning exercise is about more than recovery, or flood prevention and mitigation.  It is supposed to take a long and broad view which includes economic resiliency years into the future.

This emphasis prompted Carolina Salguero to make some suggestions regarding Red Hook's waterfront assets, both their potential and the impediments to reaching their potential. She wrote a document to cover what was not being said in the CRP discussion that seemed essential to get into "Needs and Opportunities" document that was due on 10/28, a document that was first described as "a conceptual plan for Red Hook" and then later as a guide for issues to be discussed.  PortSide shares that document below.

Many of the themes about policy, permits and pier design reflect citywide issues, so this blogpost has relevance beyond Red Hook and beyond Sandy issues.

The document is marked DRAFT as it was done in a rush due to a NYS deadline of 10/28 for that  "Needs and Opportunities" document,. DRAFT signifying that it will be updated. After discussion at PortSide, we decided it was important to get this information out and shared without further delay given the pace of the CRP process -- also given the pace of the Bill de Blasio transition team. 

PortSide, along with many other waterfront operators and advocates hopes that the impediments described will be lifted. NYC created a great road map for activating the waterfront, and the water part of the waterfront, in its new comprehensive waterfront plan "Vision 2020."  Many of the changes proposed here would move the city towards fulfilling the great promise of that plan.

Download document Carolina Salguero waterfront suggestions for Red Hook CRP Committee 10/23/13

Some excerpts

“Understanding Red Hook waterfront options means understanding a lot of arcane regulation and policy, so I have written up the following observations and suggestions to help Red Hook committee members of the CRP who are not waterfront people. “

“Red Hook is a peninsula. Water is therefore our greatest resiliency challenge due to the risk of floods, but water is also the defining feature of this place and our greatest economic asset.”

“If nothing else, consider the clout: the largest land owner in Red Hook looks to be the Port Authority, and Red Hook’s relationship with the Port could be grown and improved. The Committee should be sitting down with the major property owners.”

“Understanding and capturing the potential of Red Hook’s waterfront involves understanding and engaging a constituency that is not usually at the table in Red Hook planning discussions, the maritime community.”

Action Items

Use CRP to improve NYS & NYC policy regarding pier design & use:

1.    Change State Dept of Environmental Conservation (DEC) policy regarding permits to install or repair a pier
2.    Change NYC policy, to go beyond just “access to the waterfront” to promote use of the water itself.
3.    Change NYC policy regarding pier design & management

Longer Term Improvement Opportunities

o    PANYNJ
o    Brooklyn Cruise Terminal Shed
o    Brooklyn Cruise Terminal Parking Lot
o    Atlantic Basin
            Reality Check: limitations on Atlantic Basin waterspace use
o    Valentino Park
o    A Home for PortSide NewYork

Appendices

A.    A Home for PortSide NewYork
B.    DEC Impediments to pier repair and construction

Testimony to New York City Council
Committee on Waterfronts
Re: 6/15/05 Regulatory Obstacles to Waterfront Development

C.    Frequent impediments to boat use of piers in NYC