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Photo: ©Mitch Waxman / NewtownPentacle.com
Working Harbor Committee’s Official photographer Mitch Waxman caught wind of a special happening on the harbor last week. The Caddell Dry Dock and Repair Co. would be moving one of their dry docks down the East River to their operation on Staten Island’s Kill Van Kull.
He grabbed his rig and headed for the waterfront to capture the event for posterity.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman / NewtownPentacle.com
From NewtownPentacle.com: The Doris Moran and the James Turecamo- towing a floating dry dock past midtown. The Caddell company’s gargantuan… dare I say cyclopean… equipment is an amazing maritime structure. A floating dry dock will submerge itself, whereupon a boat will be floated into position over it, and the structure will rise up and capture the vessel. The dry dock will fully resurface and lift the ship into the air, allowing repairs and maintenance to be performed.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman / NewtownPentacle.com
Caddell Dry Dock and Repair Co. was founded in 1903 and initially operated out of Erie Basin in Red Hook section of Brooklyn. It relocated to the Kill Van Kull in 1916 where it has stood in continuous operation for almost a hundred years.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
The Army Corps of Engineers is conducting a public information session about scheduled dredging and blasting an area along the north side of the Kill Van Kull. The session will be held at the Bayonne Senior Center, 16 W. Fourth St., Bayonne – Monday, April 29, 2013, from 6 to 8 p.m. Ask questions and get information directly from representatives of the Army Corps and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company.
Image: Dredging Today
From Dredging Today: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are improving the main shipping channels in the Port by deepening them to a depth of 50 feet, allowing more efficient access to the world’s largest oceangoing ships.
The Army Corps will hold a public information session (Monday, April 29, 2013) to advise the public about dredging and blasting to take place in a localized approximately two acre area off Collins Park, Bayonne, New Jersey along the north side of the Kill Van Kull Federal Navigation Channel.
Photo: Mitch Waxman
This work will be performed for the purposes of enhanced navigational safety by easing a bend in the channel. To remove underlying bedrock in the channel, this contract involves precision controlled underwater staggered detonations to fracture the rock in order for it to be dredged.
Blasting in a localized area is expected to begin no earlier than mid-May 2013 for approximately two weeks.
Residents of Bayonne, particularly those south of 3rd Street between Humphrey and Ingham Avenues, and those near Richmond Terrace between Port Richmond and Heberton Avenues, Staten Island, New York, are encouraged to attend to learn greater details of this project. Read more here…
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Postcards 9/11 Memorial, St. George, Staten Island.
Photo: ©Mitch Waxman
The “Postcards” 9/11 memorial in St. George has been vandalized for the 3rd time since it was dedicated in 2004. 5 of the 274 granite plaques with the silhouettes and names of Staten Islanders who died in the 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center were either removed or damaged sometime in the past two weeks.
From the Staten Island Advance: “It’s disheartening,” said Borough President James P. Molinaro, whose office funded the $2.5 million memorial. “This is a cemetery for the families.” Molinaro said that the damage occurred over the last two weeks. One plaque was entirely removed or destroyed, while four others were partially damaged. He said some written graffiti that had been found on the memorial had already been cleaned.
Postcards 9/11 Memorial plaques, St. George, Staten Island.
Photo: ©Mai Armstrong
Molinaro said the city Economic Development Corp., which manages the memorial, had been alerted and that new plaques would be constructed from existing molds. It’s the third time that the memorial has been damaged since it was dedicated in 2004.
“It’s hallowed ground,” Molinaro said. “You shouldn’t touch it.”
Molinaro said he was alerted to the vandalism by Joanne Barbara, widow of FDNY Assistant Chief of Department Gerard Barbara, who perished on 9/11. His body was never recovered. “It’s very upsetting,” said Ms. Barbara, a former West Brighton resident. “It’s hard enough not to have a cemetery to go to pay your respects, a plot to put flowers or to sit and think.”
Postcards 9/11 Memorial, St. George, Staten Island.
Photo: ©Mai Armstrong
Ms. Barbara said she was concerned about the memorial’s being damaged again in the future. “How are we going to prevent this from happening again?” she wondered.
Chief Barbara was a close friend of FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano, a Huguenot resident. Molinaro said that Cassano had called him to make sure that repairs would be undertaken. “It’s troubling that somebody would deface such an important and hallowed memorial,” said FDNY spokesman Frank Dwyer. “I hope that whoever did this is quickly apprehended.”
Rosebank resident Steve Jezycki on Wednesday saw the vandalism when leaving flowers at the undamaged plaque of his sister, Peggy Jezycki Alario. “It’s cowardly,” he said. “It’s disgusting and disgraceful. I would love to get my hands on whoever did this.” Read more here…
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Pier 11 in Red Hook. Photo: tugster
Some exiting news about our waterfront. The City is trying to encourage more pier use by selecting BillyBey Marina Services LLC, an offshoot from a local ferry company to take over the management of 7 city-owned waterfront sites.
The seven sites are: In Brooklyn, Piers 11 and 12 at Atlantic Basin in Red Hook and Pier 4 at the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park. In Manhattan, the West Harlem Piers in the Hudson River and Pier 36, Skyport Marina and an area in Stuyvesant Cove in the East River and on Staten Island, Homeport Pier.
From the Wall Street Journal: Under a five-year contract from the New York City Economic Development Corp., the company will join with the nonprofit Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance to form what it calls DockNYC, to handle reservations, market amenities and work to increase business along the waterfront.
Skyport Marina. Photo: Andrew Hinderaker for The Wall Street Journal
The move to private management of the sites acknowledges a critique of government: It can take a while to get clearance from the city to use its marine facilities. City officials hope that consolidating management under a single operator will bypass cumbersome procedures for permits and boost traffic among businesses using the waterfront.
The new arrangement “will increase efficiency by streamlining administrative functions at these sites,” EDC Executive Director Kyle Kimball said. “BillyBey’s experience will help attract new commercial, transportation, and recreational opportunities to the waterfront, advancing the city’s strategy to reconnect New Yorkers to the waterfront while allowing the city to maximize resources along the coastline.”
Pier 36. Photo: Andrew Hinderaker for The Wall Street Journal
BillyBey already operates berthing facilities for other government entities, company Chief Executive and co-owner Paul Goodman said.
They include the landings at World Financial Center and Hoboken for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, he noted, along with Pier 79 on Manhattan’s West Side.
“The problem has been that the city process just takes too long for most people,” Mr. Goodman said. “You need quicker turnaround time. With the city, it could take weeks to issue a permit; that just doesn’t work for most in the marine world.”
Stuyvesant Cove. Photo via The New York Squirrel blog
In addition to recreational and commercial customers, BillyBey hopes the waterfront alliance will drum up business from nonprofit and educational users. City officials said the number of facilities under DockNYC management could be expanded, and pointed to the possibility that one of the seven locations—the Stuyvesant Cove area—could eventually be turned into a mooring field, an East River equivalent of the 72nd Street Boat Basin on the West Side.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee hat tip to
Dr. Roberta Weisbrod, Principal, Sustainable Ports and Chair, Working Harbor Committee
Arthur Kill Deepening Project Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The $41.4 million contract for the deepening of the Arthur Kill channel to 50 feet in the Port of New York and New Jersey, has been awarded to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock.
The dredging will be along Newark Bay, New Jersey and Staten Island’s Arthur Kill and will consist of drilling, blasting, dredging to deepen the channel to accommodate the mega-ships.
Photo: Mitch Waxman
Dredging the Arthur Kill Channel is part of the larger project to deepen the shipping channels of the port of NY/NJ to accommodate the mega-ships expected when the Panama Canal widening project is completed in 2015.
Photo: Mitch Waxman
Press Release from Marine Link
Monday, February 04, 2013
“The Army Corps is committed to a timely completion of navigation improvements within the harbor,” said Tom Shea, Project Manager. “The Arthur Kill channel approaching the New York Container Terminal is now underway with work scheduled to be completed by 2014.”
The overall Harbor Deepening Project involves deepening nearly 38 miles of shipping channels between New York and New Jersey to bring them to a safe depth of 50 feet. The 50 foot deepening project is scheduled for completion in 2014. Read more here…
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Aerial view of damage to the Great Kills Marina area. photo: NPS/Cunningham
Nichols Marina’s 350 floating slips were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, and now boaters have been told that the National Parks Service has refused to renew the lease that would allow the marina operators to rebuild.
The NPS owns the marina which they lease to Marinas of the Future Inc., an operator that oversees and maintains Great Kills Park in the Gateway National Recreation Area. Marinas of the Future wants to rebuild the docks, but as the NPS site notes: Hurricane Sandy destroyed all docks at the Great Kills Marina, so marina services for the 2013 summer season are not possible.
Nichols Marina at Great Kills Park is gone. Boat owners may store boats by at the park until April 15, 2013. photo: NPS/Dennis Bosak
Although the marina lost all of its floating slips during the storm, most of the pilings remain. Marina management reports that the bulkhead and infrastructure were not badly damaged and that their office facilities, restrooms and equipment are all in working order.
From the Staten Island Advance: “The fact that we’re even having this fight is ridiculous,” said Rep. Michael Grimm, an avid supporter of the cause who attended yesterday’s rally with more than 100 other boaters. “It will be devastating to the boating community if the National Parks Service doesn’t allow them to rebuild.”
Because the private community has offered to pay the costs to rebuild, Grimm said the National Park Service’s stance doesn’t make any sense. “That marina helps to drive the local economy. The National Parks Service needs to recognize the value of this marina.”
Docks at Nichols Marina in Great Kills. photo: Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel
On Sunday, boaters rallied to express their frustration and sadness over the National Parks decision.
From WPIX11: “This place is like family to me. Where else will I put my boat? “I’ve been hanging out here for 12 years with my friends,” Pete Palermo of Staten Island said. “Where else would I go?”
Palermo gets teary-eyed when he and his buddies talk about what the Nichols Great Kills Park Marina means to them.
“It’s like family to me,”
All 350 boats will have to be removed by April 15. photo: WPIX11
The current leaseholder, the Marinas of the Future, have been told they have no future here. The National Park Service said all boats have to be removed by April 15.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Jetta H. Disco.
A leaking fuel barge spilled an undetermined amount of fuel oil into the waters of Kill Van Kull, on Staten Island’s North Shore yesterday.
While transferring oil from one barge to another near Mariner’s Harbor, Staten Island, Boston Marine Transport employees noticed the fuel leaking into the water. Coast Guard was notified of the incident and the spill was reported to have come from a leak in one of the Boston No. 30 barge’s cargo tanks.
NEW YORK – The Coast Guard is responding to fuel oil discharged from a barge in Kill Van Kull at Mariner’s Harbor, Staten Island N.Y., Dec. 15, 2012. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Jetta H. Disco.
The Boston No. 30 was carrying 112,000 gallons of fuel oil. Tests are being conducted to determine the actual amount of fuel spilled into the water and oil spill response teams have placed additional containment boom and absorbent material around the two barges.
From the US Coast Guard News Release: A Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City helicopter crew performed an over flight assessment of the area at first light this morning. Coast Guard Sector New York pollution responders continue to investigate the impact of the spill.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Jetta H. Disco.
- Sector New York pollution responders, along with several personnel from local and state agencies are currently working to mitigate the spill’s impacts on the economy, the environment and public health.
- On water recovery forces: four skimmers operating, three more skimmers are en route, two shallow water barges, two more en route. Shoreline protection; 10,000 feet of boom deployed, 13,600 en route.
- Both the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection are actively involved in the spill response and mitigation effort.
- A broadcast notice to mariners is in place advising mariners to transit the area with caution due to pollution. All waterways remain open.
- Gallagher Marine has established a temporary phone number for vessel owners to call to report oiled vessels. Please call 703-683-4700 to make a report.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
The US Coast Guard has confirmed the total loss of the Old Orchard Shoal Light off Great Kills Beach, Staten Island. The historic structure was swept away by Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012.
First lit on April 25, 1893, the sparkplug lighthouse in lower New York Bay has marked a large shoal area for the past 119 years.
Post Hurricane Sandy. photo: US Coast Guard Northeast
Old Orchard Shoal Light on September 22, 2012, photo taken during WHC’s Lighthouse tour. photo: Mitch Waxman
Listed on the National Park Service’s Maritime Heritage Program as one of New York’s Historic Light Stations and one to visit, the Old Orchard Shoal Light was one of the lighthouses featured on the recent Working Harbor Committee Lighthouse tour, held just a little over a month ago on September 22, 2012.
Old Orchard Shoal Light on September 22, 2012, photo taken during WHC’s Lighthouse tour. photo: Mitch Waxman
Post Hurricane Sandy. photo: US Coast Guard Northeast
Little did we know that we would not see this historic sparkplug structure again. Now, crumbled remnants of her concrete landings on rip rap are all that remain.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Record 13.8 foot storm surge caused the tanker, John B. Caddell, to break free of its morning and run aground in Staten Island. Photo via Twitter
The John B. Caddell, built in 1941, is a Liquid Oil/Chemical Tanker. The 170 foot long, 712-ton vessel was washed aground on Staten Island by Hurricane Sandy’s record-breaking 13.8 foot storm surge. The 168-foot tanker broke free from her moorings about a mile from where she ran aground on Front Street, Staten Island. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
abcNews reports via WerewolfmanNews:
The tanker is listing and slipping into the rising tide. The vessel is not secure and the area is very dangerous. If you choose to venture out to see it in person, please keep a safe and sensible distance.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
