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I’m always on the lookout for tidbits on the harbor for the blog and I came across this fascinating, historical educational video on youtube. From 1949, it talks about how the port of New York came to be the largest (at the time) port in the nation. Really great close-up footage of the working harbor.
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This Tuesday, May 21, glimpse into the future of our port. Join us on the inaugural voyage of WHC’s new series of tours – Beyond Sandy: Keeping the Conversation Alive.
Expert guest speakers will inform on the many challenges we face post-Sandy, and the different solutions on the table. Come be a part of the discussion. Click here for tickets.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Last October, Super storm Sandy swept through our neighborhoods flooding reaching far beyond the anticipated 100-year flood maps.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman / NewtownPentacle.com
Post-Sandy, Working Harbor Committee has designed a new series of tours that focus on potential ideas and solutions from government agencies, private industry, think tanks and universities and experts from a variety of disciplines.
On Tuesday 21 May, we launch our inaugural Beyond Sandy Hidden Harbor Tour® that will cruise our harbor from Hoboken to the Verrazano Bridge and includes the Brooklyn waterfront, Staten Island’s Kill Van Kull, New Jersey, Liberty & Ellis Islands and more.
High Seas on the Inner Harbor: From Wall Street to Snug Harbor
*Click for Tickets*
Tuesday – 21 May: High Seas on the Inner Harbor:
From Wall Street to Snug Harbor
Our expert speakers will discuss proposals for massive sea gates and beach dunes to hold back surge waters. Wetlands restoration and oyster reefs could help to soften the hard edges of our shorelines to combat sea-level rise. Learn what zone modifications are being implemented for flood resistance and what methods are being devised for better clean-up of contaminants in a flood.
Special Guest Speakers:
Photo: Via Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance
Lucy Ambrosino
Manager of Outreach for the Port Commerce Department of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Photo: Via PhilipOrton.com
Philip Orton
Research Scientist, Stevens Institute of Technology
Photo: Via CoroNY
Jill Eisenhard
Founder & Executive Director of the Red Hook Initiative
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman / NewtownPentacle.com
I’m sorry to announce that we have to postpone the May 26 Newtown Creek boat tour. Despite our best laid plans, the NYC DOT announced they will be painting the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge over the next 4 months. What this means to us is, at various (unscheduled) times, the bridge could be locked in the closed position for up to 6 days at a time.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman / NewtownPentacle.com
From federalregister.gov: The Commander, First Coast Guard District, has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operation of the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge across Newtown Creek, mile 1.3, at New York City, New York. The deviation is necessary to facilitate bridge painting operations. Under this temporary deviation, the bridge may remain in the closed position for various times up to six days at a time during a four-month period.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman / NewtownPentacle.com
Working Harbor Committee’s Captain John Doswell, together with Mitch Waxman, after much calculation and debate over vessel draft and tides, came to the mutual decision to reschedule the trip for the Fall, when the three-hour tour is not apt to be stopped in its tracks barely 30 minutes into the exploration.
Ticket holders should have already received an email from Captain John and refunds are on their way.
Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience and look for our rescheduled Newtown Creek boat exploration to take place in the Fall.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
AP Photo via The Telegraph
Last October, we were hit hard by Super Storm Sandy, which affected many vulnerable spots all around the harbor. Working Harbor Committee ahas developed a new series of narrated Hidden Harbor Tours® that focus on climate change and protective measures from sea-level rise being discussed by government, private institutions and citizens.
Presenting Beyond Sandy, Keeping The Conversation Alive- a series of special Hidden Harbor Tours® exploring the many issues and plans arising from Super Storm Sandy, from the Working Harbor Committee. Select expert speakers from government agencies, private industry, think tanks and universities, will discuss ideas like massive sea gates, building beach dunes, wetlands restoration, modification of flood zones, re-imagining our infrastructure, updated flood mapping and much more.
Tour 1
- May 21, June 18 , July 16, August 6, September 3
Tour 1: High Seas on the Inner Harbor: From Wall Street to Snug Harbor
This tour is from the Verrazano Bridge to Hoboken, including Brooklyn, Staten Island, New Jersey, The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. See where giant sea gates are proposed.
Tour 2
- May 28, June 25, July 23, August 20, September 17
Tour 2 – Fire, Floods and Floating Containers: East River – Hell Gate to Governors Island
This tour traverses the East River from Queens to Governors Island, including the East Side of Manhattan, Newtown Creek & Brooklyn Navy Yard. See the site of the giant electric sub-station explosion.
Tour 3: Tuesday – 4 June
- June 4, July 2, July 30, August 27, September 24
Tour 3 – Protecting Our Ports: From Red Hook to Newark Bay
How the working harbor fared & helped. This tour traverses Kill van Kull to Newark Bay, including container terminals, oil docks, tug yards, & rail yards. Learn how close we came to a goods delivery crisis.
From PRWEB: Starting May 21, 2013 through September, every Tuesday, tri-state area residents and visitors are in for a true adventure this summer as they embark and enjoy Hidden Harbor Tours® aboard the luxury yacht Zephyr, and are taken behind the scenes to see the inner workings of the bustling New York Harbor. New for the 2013 summer season is the tour series: “Beyond Sandy, Keeping The Conversation Alive” featuring three different areas of interest each week with noted speakers and charities onboard (see website for full list). The exciting and educational tours are presented by the Working Harbor Committee (non-profit) in partnership with the New York Water Taxi/Circle Line Downtown.Tuesday sailings depart at 6:30pm from Pier 16 South Street Seaport, New York, New York (Fulton Street and South Street).
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman / NewtownPentacle.com
“Beyond Sandy” tours provide three themed sailings as follows:
- Tour 1: High Seas on the Inner Harbor: From Wall Street to Snug Harbor;
- Tour 2: Fire, Floods and Floating Containers: East River – Hell Gate to Governors Island;
- Tour 3: Protecting Our Ports: From Red Hook to Newark Bay.
Additionally, Hidden Harbor Tours will feature its popular Newark Bay Tour and North River Tour on select Tuesday sailings as well. Pricing: Adults $39, Seniors $32, Children ages 3-12 $25, Under age 3 are free. Ticket information and full tour schedule visit: https://www.circlelinedowntown.com/tours/hidden-harbors, 212-742-1969 by phone or http://www.workingharbor.org. Zephyr, a luxury yacht, features two fully enclosed decks, plus an open-air roof deck – all decks boast panoramic views. A portion of the ticket price goes to the Working Harbor Committee to support its programming.
Featured Speakers: Captain John Doswell, Working Harbor Committee; Chris Ward, Executive Vice President, Dragados USA; formerly with The Port Authority New York & New Jersey; Helena Durst, President, New York Water Taxi; Lucy Ambrosino, Outreach Manager of Port Commerce, The Port Authority New York & New Jersey; Dr. Philip Orton, legendary research scientist, Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey; and Jill Eisenhard, Executive Director, Red Hook Initiative. Read more here…
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
The City plans to demolish the sludge storage tank on Commercial and Dupont Streets in Greenpoint, near the mouth of Newtown Creek. The DEP is in the process of constructing a new loading dock next to the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant to give their sludge vessels direct access to the plant. Dredging will have to take place in Newtown Creek and Whale Creek to depths ranging from 9 feet to 13 feet.
“East River Sludge Loading Facility” – NYC DEP Presentation, East River Sludge Storage Tank Removal. Via GWAPP
From The Brooklyn Paper: The plan is to dredge as deep as nine feet in some spots of the creek between the East River and Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant at Provost Street near Greenpoint Avenue, and as deep as 13 feet in Whale Creek, an inlet just past the Pulaski Bridge that will give boats direct access to the plant. There, the city will build a new loading dock and two new vessels to hold the nasty fluid. Those depths will allow the boats to travel beneath drawbridge during low tide without having to raise it.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman/NewtownPentacle.com
And even though the Newtown Creek is a federal Superfund site that needs a serious clean-up, the city claims that the sediment is scoops from its banks is not toxic according to sediment sampling the city ordered in 2009.
Some Creek advocates agreed that work is necessary, but are still worried about what will happen with the polluted silt that is brought up. “Any kind of dredging is a concern,” said Kate Zidar, executive director of the Newtown Creek Alliance. “If the sediment has high levels of contamination, we need to dispose of them appropriately.”
But city officials said the dredging would not adversely affect the environment because shovels wouldn’t go too deep.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman/NewtownPentacle.com
“Everyone is concerned, because this is a Superfund site,” said Christine Holowacz, a spokeswoman for the city-run plant. “But they’re not going to go very far down.” Holowacz said more testing is needed to determine how the sediment will be disposed.
The move will allow the city to tear down a massive concrete sludge tank that looms over prime East River parkland at DuPont and Commercial streets. For years, wastewater sludge has poured from the plant through a pipe under several blocks of Greenpoint in to the tank…
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman/NewtownPentacle.com
…The dredging is tentatively slated for either spring or fall of 2013 — there is a moratorium on dredging in the creek during the summer — and the sludge tank on the East River should be demolished sometime in the first part of 2014. The dredging work could go on 24 hours a day, according to the city.
See the creek before the landscape changes on our upcoming tour. Hidden Harbor Tours®: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman.
Join us on Sunday 26 May, at 10 a.m. (sharp) for a three hour tour of the Newtown Creek on a comfortatble NY Water Taxi leaving from Pier 17 South Street Seaport.
Tickets $59. Limited seating available, get your tickets today.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Tour season is here! We have been working on a slew of new tours for you this season. On Sunday, 26th of May, Working Harbor Committee presents the Hidden Harbor Newtown Creek Tour with Mitch Waxman, WHC’s official photographer and Newtown Creek Alliance Historian. Mitch has written all about it in his blog post below. See incredible things, learn new facts, explore the heart of the industrial revolution. Join us on a comfortable NY Water Taxi for our 3-hour narrated tour of Newtown Creek. Come be amazed!
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman
On Sunday -the 26th of May- the Working Harbor Committee is producing and offering a boat tour of the Newtown Creek for any interested parties to attend. A special emphasis on the waterway’s storied history and maritime legacy will be made.
I’m going to be doing the history part, speaking in my capacity as the Newtown Creek Alliance Historian, and am tasked with highlighting the various points of interest encountered along the route. Anticipated to be some three hours in length, this boat tour will be delving some three miles inland, proceeding to the Metropolitan Avenue Bridge crossing English Kills in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman
The Maritime History of Newtown Creek is one largely forgotten in these decadent times, but even now an odd tugboat and barge might be spied making their way down the waterway on any given day. Property owners were considered to have been blessed by some of the finest industrial bulkheads in the world a mere century ago, yet many of the businesses based along the Creek today ignore this invaluable resource, allowing their waterfront property to decay and decline.
Nevertheless, a staggering amount of maritime traffic is still observed here, and towing companies such as Reinauer, K-Sea, DonJon, and Poling and Cutler are regular visitors.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman
Vast operations will be witnessed by those onboard, many of which are involved in the scrap metal and recyclables trade. Responsible for an enormous amount of cross harbor shipping, companies such as SimsMetal are heavily reliant on the maritime trades for their economic success.
Not all that long ago, Newtown Creek carried a greater tonnage of cargo than the entire Mississippi River.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman
An active and thriving industrial zone in the center of New York City, from the water one can truly grasp the sheer scale of Newtown Creek’s busy waterfront. Normally hidden by high fences and obscured by street facing structures, the intensity of the Newtown Creek is laid bare before the admiring gaze of first time visitor and veteran urban explorer alike.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman
A tributary of the estuarine East River, Newtown Creek extends some 3.8 miles from its junction with the more familiar waterway, and provides demarcation for the currently undefended border of much of Brooklyn and Queens. Named to the Federal Superfund list, the Creek suffers from a history of environmental degradation and municipal neglect.
An era of great change is upon the Newtown Creek, and this trip will be one of your last chances to see it in its current form.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman
We will see four moveable bridges, and this year will be your last chance to see the static Kosciuszko Bridge as the NYS DOT has indicated that construction on its replacement will begin as early as the Fall of 2013.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman
Along it’s banks, great fortunes have risen.
Amongst others- Peter Cooper (BO Railroad, Canton Iron, and Cooper Union), Charles Pratt (Astral Oil, and Pratt University), and ultimately John D. Rockefeller (Standard Oil)- all grew richer than the dreams of avarice in this place. Alongside them, the darkest mills of the industrial revolution- rendering plants, yeast distilleries, bone blackers, and acid factories provided tens of thousands of jobs to the immigrant populations of Brooklyn and Queens. Today- National Grid, BP, Amoco, ExxonMobil, and a host of other multinational companies still maintain an enormous investment in this valuable industrial canal.
Upcoming tour: Hidden Harbor Tours: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman.
On May 26th, Mitch shares his unique point of view and deep understanding of the past, present and future conditions of the Newtown Creek as the narrator and expedition leader for this years’ Hidden Harbor Tours: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman.
Our NY Water Taxi leaves from South Street Seaport at 10 a.m. (sharp) for a three hour tour of the Newtown Creek. From the East River we’ll move into the Newtown Creek where we’ll explore explore vast amounts of maritime infrastructure, see many movable bridges and discover the very heart of the Hidden Harbor.
Limited seating available, get your tickets today.
Tickets $59, trip leaves Pier 17 at South Street Seaport at 10a.m. sharp.
We will be traveling in a comfortable NY Water Taxi vessel with indoor and outdoor seating. There will be refreshments and snacks available for purchase at the bar.
For a full listing and schedule of tours and events, click here
reblogged by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee via Mitch Waxman, Newtown Pentacle
The Working Harbor Committee and their partners have been working on some new exciting Hidden Harbor Tours® content! Details will be posted in the next few days. Stay tuned!!
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman/NewtownPentacle.com
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman/NewtownPentacle.com
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman/NewtownPentacle.com
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Stuttgart Express with a couple of Moran tugs on the hip. Photo: Mitch Waxman
Working Harbor Committee’s Official Photographer, Mitch Waxman catches the Stuttgart Express with her Moran tug escorts, on her way into Port Newark on a recent WHC Hidden Harbor Tour®.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Lucy Ambrosino. Manager of Outreach and New York/New England Sales for the Port Commerce Department of the Port Authority of NY and NJ.
Lucy Ambrosino is the Manager of Outreach and New York/New England Sales for the Port Commerce Department of the Port Authority of NY and NJ, where she has been working since 1990. A member of the international freight community since 1975, Lucy has worked for major steamship lines such as CAST, Seatrain Pacific, Mitsui OSK Lines and SEALAND and, just prior to the Port Authority, for the rail company CSX Intermodal.
You have extensive experience in the shipping industry. Is this unusual for a woman?
When I started women were basically secretaries or they worked in HR. I started as an administrative assistant. They wouldn’t put women in sales because they said these guys cuss, but eventually I did go into sales. It was tough. Now there’s tons of women in the industry – although it still is a male-dominated industry.
What do you do at the Port Authority?
We sell the port. We basically try to make sure companies know the benefits of coming to our port, and we make sure we find out what their needs are. If they need truckers, for example, we can help with lists of trucking companies. There is some satisfaction to knowing you gave them knowledge they didn’t have, so that now they can save time, save money, go green. Another part of my outreach is being on the Harbor Safety Navigation and Operations committee – Harbors Ops for short. I’m working with the waterside of the harbor – the harbor pilots, the terminals, the Coast Guard, the Army Corps, NOAA. It’s a very cooperative group.
What’s the most important water-related issue to address in NY/NJ Harbor this year?
Draft. Whether it’s the air gap – raising the Bayonne Bridge – or completing the 50-foot-deep shipping channel. You want your vessels to come in and not run aground. Also all the safety issues – making sure the recreational and commercial users stay safe.
Working Harbor Committee Hidden Harbor Tours®. Photo: Mitch Waxman
You are a regular guest narrator on the Working Harbor Committee’s Hidden Harbor Tours®. Tell us about those.
Of all the extracurricular things I do for my job, that’s the most enjoyable. The general public does not understand the maritime industry, and the Working Harbor Committee does a fantastic job with educating them on these tours. I have a lot of fun doing it. It’s amazing how interested people are. And, every time I go on one of these tours, I myself learn something new.
Ms. Ambrosino is being honored for her commitment to the Port of New York and New Jersey by the Working Harbor Committee at a Gala on February 26. The Gala will take place at India House, One Hanover Square. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.workingharbor.com
reblogged by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee via Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance WaterWire by Alison Simko
Working Harbor Committee’s Hidden Harbor Newark Bay tour offers an seldom seen look at the working harbor of NY/NJ – Brooklyn’s Erie Basin, Staten Island’s Kill Van Kull and the container ports in Newark Bay – as we tour our vital working harbor.
photo: Mitch Waxman
Hidden Harbor® Newark Bay
Departs Pier 16, South Street Seaport
Tuesday August 21 at 6:15 p.m.
Click for Tickets
The tour will be narrated by maritime expert Ed Kelly, executive director of the Maritime Association of the Port of NY/NJ and member of the Newtown Creek CAG together with Captain John Doswell, executive director of the Working Harbor Committee. They will describe the ins-and-outs of our working harbor, 3rd largest port in the nation, its role in global economics and the bright future ahead in the age of post-panamax ships.
Ed Kelly narrates a Hidden Harbor tour. photo: Mitch Waxman
“We are a maritime nation, and people don’t know that,” said Ed Kelly, executive director of the Maritime Association of the Port of NY/NJ, who will be the special guest narrator on the August 21 Hidden Harbor Tour. “The maritime industry delivers the American way of life. It is essential to the nation’s security and economic well-being. But because we have gotten so good at what we do people don’t even know we do it any more. It is hidden away. That’s why tours like this are so important.”
photo: Mitch Waxman
Departing from South Street Seaport, the Zephyr* will tour along the Brooklyn waterfront, past the Red Hook Container Terminal and into Erie Basin, home of Hughes Brothers Barges and Reinauer Tugs.
Then across the harbor to “Tugboat Alley” (Kill Van Kull), one of the busiest maritime highways in the world. The KVK, as mariners know it, is a narrow waterway separating Staten Island and Bayonne, New Jersey.
photo: Mitch Waxman
Cruising by tug yards, oil docks and marine repair facilities to the Bayonne Bridge, we will see the giant container ports of Newark Bay, Port Newark and Port Elizabeth where the world’s largest container ships dock.
Passing by Military Ocean Terminal, we will visit the 9/11 Teardrop Memorial, a gift received in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 2001 before sailing on past the Robbins Reef Lighthouse. We pause at the Statue of Liberty for a photo-moment at dusk before returning to South Street Seaport, Pier 16.
photo: Mitch Waxman
“This tour amazed me. I’ve lived in New York City my whole adult life, and I had no idea all this activity was going on in the harbor,” Stuart Dworeck, a media professional and recreational sailor, said at the end of the July Newark Bay Tour. “I am coming back and bringing friends.”
Hidden Harbor® Newark Bay
Departs Pier 16, South Street Seaport
Tuesday August 21 at 6:15 p.m.
Click for Tickets
$29 adults
$22 seniors (65+)
$15 children (3-12)
Snacks and beverages, including wine and beer, will be available for purchase.
Zephyr* will depart from South Street Seaport’s Pier 16 at Fulton Street and the East River.
Directions to Pier 16: Subway: 2,3,4,5, E, J, Z or M trains to Fulton Street, or A and C trains to Broadway – Nassau. Walk east on Fulton Street to the pier
*The tour boat is subject to change to a New York Water Taxi pending day-of conditions; if so, Water Taxis board at Pier 17, South Street Seaport
photo: Mitch Waxman
Upcoming Hidden Harbor Tours:
Brooklyn Waterfront Tour: September 4, at 5:30 p.m. Narrated by Dan Wiley, Community Coordinator for a Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez in southwest Brooklyn and will talk about Brooklyn’s maritime heritage and the changing Brooklyn waterfront from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Sunset Park.
Newark Bay Tour: September 18 at 5:30 p.m. Featuring the Kill Van Kull and Ports Newark and Elizabeth. Guest Speaker to be announced.
The Working Harbor Committee is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to spreading the word about the rich history, current vitality and future potential of the New York/New Jersey Harbor including an extensive youth education program, senior tours and other events. For more information, visit www.workingharbor.org.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
