Everything You Need To Know About OpSail 2012 ..... Via Red Hook's PortSide New York!

This Memorial Day weekend will offer many great events, but greatest of all will be OpSail 2012.

What is OpSail 2012? Their press release says it best -

OpSail 2012 is "the 2012 Operation Sail Parade of Sail and U.S. Navy Parade of Ships .... featuring some of the most magnificent sailing vessels in the world, and a parade of military ships representing the U.S. Navy and coalition navies from four countries."

The first event is tomorrow, Wednesday! - This, via PortSide New York: "Wed 5/23/12 8:00am the ships will cross under the Verrazano Bridge.  Then, lead by the tall ships, the flotilla of twenty-seven vessels will sail past the Statue of Liberty and proceed up the Hudson to the George Washington Bridge. There the tall ships will turn and head back down the river."

 

Now, if you really want to check this all out, the  best place to be will be Brooklyn, and specifically, Red Hook. PortSide NewYork has done an incredible job of putting all the information you'll need together on its web site (here).

PLEASE look at all the amazing info about Brooklyn docking locations (including Pier 6 - Brooklyn Bridge Park @ Atlantic Ave,  and Piers 7 & 8, inside the Brooklyn Container Terminal), information about all of the ships, the neighborhood (food, drinks, etc.) and places to generally check out along the way

From PortSide - 

"Brooklyn rocks! We will have more ships than at the two other OpSail locations in NYC, Manhattan and Staten Island. Ten ships representing eight nations will be open to the public."

Click on the poster (below) to make larger.

PortSide says, "OpSail, the nation’s premier tall ship event, began in NYC  50 years ago, but has not been in these waters since 2000."

PortSide NewYork Director Carolina Salguero said about OpSail 2012, "PortSide is all about connecting people and ships, so we are very excited to have OpSail visit NYC--and especially Red Hook. We are proud of Red Hook's assets that make us a perfect home for OpSail. We have deeper water than Manhattan and piers built for ships. PortSide salutes the Port Authority for embracing this historic maritime event and opening the container-port to the public. We stand by to help in whatever way possible. We hope thousands will come enjoy these ships, discover the unique appeal of our area and come back again."

Below is a site map from PortSide's downloadable guide (available from their web site)
 

 The only disappointing thing about this event is that the most obvious location for ships to dock, the Atlantic Basin -  the historic, actual tall ship harbor behind the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, right in the heart of Red Hook - will not be utilized during this event. 


The irony is that PortSide New York was also to have a home in the Atlantic Basin, that is until this year when the NYCEDC and the Port Authority had a change of heart. Since the decision was made to exclude PortSide and its ship, the Mary A. Whalen, from this location, PortSide has been scrambling to try to find an alternate location for their activities on the Brooklyn Waterfront - preferably and hopefully in Red Hook. So far they have a temporary storefront at 145 Columbia Street, in the Columbia Street Waterfront neighborhood, but as yet, no permanent maritime home has been found.



View The Atlantic Basin! in a larger map
  
It's a shame that the Atlantic Basin won't be "activated" during this event - but it's even more of a shame that this historic harbor, right in the heart of our neighborhood, isn't being activated at all. Plans for the use of the Atlantic Basin have been up in the air for years. Before PortSide was promised the use of part of the basin and Pier 11, there was a plan for using the space for a marina and boat building. Then there was the potential for it to become the home of NY Water Taxi. The NYCEDC has put out RFPs over the years to use the basin for everything from a "tug boat parking lot" to "commercial boat tie-up". Still, nothing. Of course, the beer distributors Phoenix Beverage's is using the Pier 11 shed adjacent to the Basin for its garbage and recycling activities - this is the shed that was going to be used partially for PortSide's home. But nothing is happening in the harbor itself - the "Blue Space", as PortSide calls it. It's a shame. 

Regardless, this event will be a great one for lovers of ships and residents craving more activities on our waterfront. So, take PortSide's information and get out there and make the most of it. Enjoy it. And perhaps imagine what might be possible on other parts of our waterfront.

 The Atlantic Basin, Circa 1911 - via www.flatbushgardener.blogspot.com

 

Why We Love Red Hook - Upcoming Events

In this blog, I have focused a lot on the challenges that Red Hook has faced in the past, and is continuing to face - from cruise ship and container ship pollution, poor planning - both with development and transportation - continuing and increasing congestion and pollution from trucks, and, the most recent affront to our neighborhood's quality of life (sadly, courtesy of the New York City Economic Development Corporation ... again!), tourist helicopter noise. There will be more on all of these subjects in subsequent posts - oh, you bet there will! - but I also wanted to remind myself, and anyone reading this blog, why this place - Red Hook - is so worth fighting for.

In this post I'd like to just touch on a few unique Red Hook institutions that enrich our community and give a lot of joy to our residents and many who come to our waterfront neighborhood to enjoy themselves. They have programs throughout the summer that I'm sure will draw many patrons - both from Red Hook and the city beyond.


SHOWBOAT SHAZZAM - 2011 Shows: June 5th, 19th, 26th and July 24th.

The first time I came to Red Hook, over a decade ago, before moving here (which my family and I did shortly afterwards), I came to take my family to see "CIRCUSundays", the amazing mini-Circus that David Sharps has been hosting on the Lehigh Valley No. 79, a historic barge that he literally dragged out of the mud years before and lovingly restored and reincarnated as the "Waterfront Museum".


That wonderful program continues this year in its 15th season under its recently updated name, "Showboat Shazzam", and, in that tradition, the shows (two daily - 1pm and 4pm) will be held on the barge on three Sundays in June (5th, 19th, 26th) in Red Hook at the Waterfront Museum's permanent home pier on Conover Street (right next to the Fairway overflow parking lot). Additionally, in an effort to expose this wonderful experience to even more New Yorkers, between July 14th and July 26th the barge will temporarily relocate to Pier 6, Brooklyn Bridge Park, at the bottom of Atlantic Avenue, and "Showboat Shazzam" will take place on the barge at that location on July 24th.

Please check out the "Showboat Shazzam" schedule and buy tickets here.



The barge will also be visiting other city neighborhoods throughout the summer including Riverdale and Hudson River Park. Check the Waterfront Museum site for details.

This unique Red Hook experience is not to be missed - for young and old alike!


ENVIROMEDIA MOBILE MUSEUM - Summer and Fall Series - First Event, Sat June 25th - "SOLAR FEST 2011"

The Urban Divers and their Director, Ludger Balan, have created a mobile museum they call the "Enviromedia Mobile". Essentially this is a huge trailer - a mobile museum on wheels - that is parked at the Erie Basin Waterfront Park (part of the IKEA site) and from there they bring a series of exciting children and families programs.

You may have caught Ludger's educational events - sometimes about falconry, the ecology of our estuaries - including New York Harbor - and other environmental issues. The Urban Divers' mission is to provide "quality and innovative public engagement programs in Environmental Literacy and Maritime Cultural Enrichment". Ludger and his organization are passionate advocates for these causes, and the Summer and Fall events at the Enviromedia Museum will expand on these themes and - most excitingly - incorporate music in events including the "Solar Fest 2011" (Saturday, June 25th), a "Pirate Festival" (Saturday, July 30th), and "Sunset Concert and Movies" (Saturday August 20th) and as well as tours of the museum, "Truck Farm" and much, much more.

From the Urban Divers' blog (here), the events will include -

Environmental Education, Conservation Support, Community Stewardship, Youth Development , Cultural Enrichment & Maritime
features:
LIVE ACOUSTIC MUSIC CONCERTS , VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL RECREATION STATIONS distributed throughout the Waterfront Park, PUBLIC TOURS of The MOBILE MUSEUM, The MOBILE MUSEUM GIFT SHOP, RELAXATION and REFRESHMENTS.

Here is a flier with all the upcoming events (click to enlarge). You can get there via the IKEA Water Taxi. Check out some of the great things coming to our waterfront!





PORTSIDE NEW YORK

Carolina Salguero's excellent organization, PortSide New York, has been creating programs on the Red Hook waterfront for many years. Activities mostly center on PortSide's ship, the Mary A. Whalen, a re-purposed oil tanker, on which PortSide has held a wide variety of events - from "Tanker Opera", to the "Roots and Ruckus" festival (in collaboration with the Jalopy Theatre), tours, waterfront education, community outreach and other cultural activities. PortSide also hosted the excellent "Dutch Flat Bottomed Boats" event at the Atlantic Basin, and co-ordinated events over the last year or so that brought tall ships such as the "Gazella", "Clipper City", and historic tug "Pegasus", that drew hundreds to Red Hook's waterfront and gave us all a first hand glimpse of the wonderful waterfront that is mostly inaccessible to our residents.

PortSide's future permanent home in the Atlantic Basin, the unique and historic harbor nestled between Red Hook's residential blocks and the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, their creation of a "cultural center" and headquarters in a part of the adjacent Pier 11 shed (the major part is used by Phoenix Beverages for garbage and recycling), and use of 600 feet of water frontage is going to give them an opportunity to hold more of these events and share the waterfront with more of our neighborhood's and city's residents.

Here's what PortSide says -

Our plans for Atlantic Basin include direct service to the working waterfront; visiting vessels (from tugs to tall ships); more H2O arts, cultural tourism products and harbor advocacy; youth programs, a marine career center; and a maritime interpretive center—programs for diverse economic groups and individuals.

In 2011, PortSide plans for this space, and our vision in general, were affirmed in New York City’s new comprehensive waterfront plan, Vision 2020.

I don't have any specifics on PortSide's planned activities over the Summer, but check their web site, here, for information and below is a snippet from their most recent email news letter (subscribe via Constant Contact here).

In case you missed our BIG NEWS from May, the Mary A. Whalen was determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. This is very exciting because eligibility increases funding opportunities and visibility for the ship, for PortSide and for Red Hook

This summer PortSide can employ five youth from Brooklyn public housing to complete the restoration of the Captain's cabin through NYC's Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). Below, see how to help us offer this program or go straight to the fundraiser page here. To learn more about the restoration work click here.

PortSide/Jalopy "Roots and Ruckus" event on the Mary A. Whalen at the Atlantic Basin



KENTLER INTERNATIONAL DRAWING SPACE - K.I.D.S. Event - Saturday, June 4th

The Kentler International Drawing Space, has been open in Red Hook since 1990. It's director, Florence Neal, has created a focus for artists in Red Hook, as well as reaching out to the community through educational events and programs such as K.I.D.S. Art Education.

From the Kentler site -

The gallery sponsors monthly and bi-monthly exhibitions featuring solo, group shows and installations by some of New York's most exciting emerging and under-recognized artists. Shows drawn from the international community have given traveling artists an opportunity to visit America and bring their work to a New York audience. The gallery is open to the public Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12 - 5pm.

Kentler is holding a K.I.D.S. event on Saturday, June 4th, at Valentino Pier as part of the "Red Hook Fest" waterfront arts festival. This festival is presented by "Dance Theatre Etcetera", another excellent Red Hook organization.

This from their email -

K.I.D.S. Art Education

presents

DRAWING TOGETHER

FREE Saturday Art Workshops for Families

SUSTAINABLE GROUP DRAWING
at Valentino Pier
as part of
Red Hook Waterfront Arts Festival

Saturday, June 4

1:15 - 2:45pm

OUTDOORS AT VALENTINO PIER
Drop-ins are welcome.

Kentler International Drawing Space and K.I.D.S. Art Education invite children and their adults to discover new ways of drawing through the art of knot making (sailor knots! Boat mooring knots! Silly invent-your-own knots!). Teaching artist MEGHAN KEANE invites participants to join her in making a giant growing 3D drawing out of knots and other ways of connecting recycled materials together! Materials will include cut plastic bags and other linear delights.

Designed for ages 4 & up
with their care givers (no drop offs)

For more information about K.I.D.S. Art Education:

K.I.D.S. Art Ed blog

K.I.D.S. Art Ed

KENTLER INTERNATIONAL
DRAWING SPACE
353 Van Brunt Street /(Red Hook) Brooklyn, NY 11231/ 718.875.2098
info@kentlergallery.org / www.kentlergallery.org

There are many other organizations and institutions I could mention - many other reasons to love Red Hook - from the excellent and unique stores, businesses, bars and venues (hello Sunny's!), restaurants, Latin American food vendors, Valentino Pier (minus helicopters), Coffee Park (even without our much-missed gardener, John), incredible neighbors, sense of community and so much more, but I actually have a whole other life outside of blogging ... you know, being a dad, husband, playing and teaching music, and all of that. So, that will have to do for now (my son needs to be fed!). I hope this short list gives you some reason to feel good about living in, or even visiting Red Hook.

As we battle the things that attack our quality of life in Red Hook and beyond, it's good to know that these wonderful experiences are right here - in our neighborhood - on our waterfront and within our community.

So get out there .... and enjoy!
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"Vision 2020, NYC Comprehensive Waterfront Plan" Draft Recommendations - Have Your Say - Attend the Final Public Meeting or Comment On-line

VISION 2020 DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS - LAST CHANCE FOR PUBLIC INPUT - PUBLIC MEETING, OCT 12th, or COMMENT ON-LINE BEFORE 5pm NOVEMBER 12th

Following a series of public workshops, the NYC Department of Planning has released a number of draft recommendations for its "Vision 2020 - NYC Comprehensive Waterfront Plan" - a plan that hopes to shape the use of our city's waterfront for the next decade and beyond.

You can go to their web site (here) and download the various recommendations in full (PDF) or in sections, each pertaining to the individual 5 boroughs. The section relating to Brooklyn, specifically, and our neighborhood is also available (here), as a Google doc. The recommendations for "Reach 14 South", the section of waterfront that includes Red Hook, Cobble Hill, the Gowanus Canal area and Sunset Park can be found starting on page 5 of the Brooklyn section. You can also find, (here), an additional section, containing broader "Programmatic Recommendations", that outlines the "recommendations for citywide policy and programmatic changes".

These are "draft" recommendations, so the Department of Planning is still looking for public input. If you would like to have your say, you can still do so on line - HERE - till 5 p.m., November 12th. Additionally, you can attend the final public meeting that is being held on Tuesday, October 12th. The details of the meeting from the Dept. of Planning are here, but please find below the main details from their web site -

The Department will be holding a public meeting on October 12th. At this meeting the Department of City Planning will give a presentation, which will be followed by an opportunity for public comment. Many thanks to all those who have participated so far, and we hope you will continue to be a part of the process!

Public Meeting on Draft Recommendations
Tuesday, October 12th, 6 p.m.
Rosenthal Pavilion, NYU Kimmel Center for University Life
60 Washington Square South, 10th Floor, New York, NY
(corner of La Guardia and West 4th)

Subway:
A,B,C,D,E,F,V at West 4th St.
R,W at 8th St-NYU
6 at Astor Pl.

As the Dept. of Planning is stating, "participation is a critical component of the Vision 2020 process", so make sure you make your ideas known.

What do you think of these draft recommendations for Red Hook and surrounds? (click to enlarge) -

There's some good stuff here, but is there something else you think should be addressed? For instance, I don't see anything specific about increased access to waterborne public transportation here - ferries, water taxi. etc - at the Atlantic Basin or elsewhere. There is nothing that acknowledges Red Hook's connection to Governor's Island via its close proximity to it, or anything that works towards strengthening that connection via transportation or other means, something that would benefit our residents and small businesses. It would be a shame if Governors Island - with its new parks and other development - essentially turned its back on Red Hook, its closest neighbor.

Something that is included in these recommendations - something that wasn't included in the initial goals set by the Dept. of Planning for "Vision 2020" - is the "support for green port initiatives, including cold-ironing" at Piers 7-12, which would include the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. When the initial Vision 2020 Plan was announced, there was actually no mention of the impacts of port pollution on the residents of our city. I made note of this point in my post (here), written after attending the Brooklyn Workshop in May this year. I wrote -

"In all of the points listed in the various handouts, including the “Preliminary List of Goals and Issues” distributed at the workshop – a list that contained 7 goals, and 27 specific issues under the headings: Natural Waterfront; Working Waterfront; Public Waterfront, Mixed Use, Residential and Commercial Waterfront; and Blue Network (which includes transportation and freight movement, alternative energy, etc) - not once was mentioned the idea that the activities of the ports are actually polluting, and that the Vision 2020 Plan should acknowledge that fact and seek out a strategy to mitigate this pollution and its detrimental health effects."

It's good to see that these issues are now being taken somewhat seriously by the Dept. of Planning and not only in Brooklyn. As part of the broader section I mentioned before, (here), titled "Programmatic Recommendations" that outlines the "recommendations for citywide policy and programmatic changes", there is a 'goal' titled, "Support Economic Activity on the Working Waterfront". Under this goal is a section encouraging the use of "green technology and practices to make waterfront industrial areas and ports throughout the city more environmentally sensitive and to reduce negative impacts on neighboring residential areas". Outlined are a number of potentially port 'greening' initiatives, including encouraging the use of shore-based power and cold ironing. If this is a city-wide recommendation, then this is a thankful acknowledgment of the impact of port pollution on the residents of our city and the urgent need to mitigate it - especially when the Environmental Defense Fund estimates that pollution created by ships visiting the Ports of New York and New Jersey is equivalent to the pollution produced by 7.8 million new cars, and when the Port Authority itself acknowledges that the monetized health cost of the pollution from cruise ships visiting Red Hook, Brooklyn (alone - not including the container ships) is estimated to be $9 million a year.

Hopefully these recommendations will spur serious and urgent action on these issues - something that has been lacking so far, even with the "lowest hanging fruit" - the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal - where, despite serious commitments both financially and otherwise from the cruise operators, the Port Authority and others, the promise to initiate cold-ironing at that terminal has languished in some sort of limbo, lost in a void between the impenetrable deliberations of the Public Service Commission and a mindset at Con-Edison that refuses to provide an electricity power rate to make this practice economically viable - thereby saving lives, and taking carcinogenic gasses and asthma causing particulates out of the air and the lungs of our children in the process.

So, while you wait (don't hold your breath!) for the cold-ironing situation at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal to be sorted out - something that Rich Kassel from the National Resources Defense Council described as being a "no brainer" at the New York City Council's Committee on Waterfronts' "Oversight - Clearing the Air: Greening New York City's Working Waterfront" hearing in June - have a look over these other draft recommendations.

Have a think about what you might want included in plans for our waterfront. More transportation? Better waterfront access? More connection to the upland residential and commercial communities? Creation of a connection to Governors Island? Better and more equitable use of publicly owned property - e.g. Cruise Terminal site, Atlantic Basin? More programs like the successful ones PortSide New York mounted over the summer?

Let your thoughts be known - at the meeting, details HERE, on Tuesday October 12th - or on-line HERE before 5pm November 12th.


(Photo: The Atlantic Basin and tall ship, Clipper City - an event made possible by PortSide New York)

10 Days Left of "PortSide New York" Activities @ the Atlantic Basin on the Red Hook Waterfront.

Smitty, Tall Ships, Pirate Burlesque, Knots, Roots and Ruckus, Talks and Tanker Time ... all at the historic Atlantic Basin on the Red Hook Waterfront in Brooklyn ... and if you'd like more of it, come along and, while you're at it, let the NYC Dept. of Planning know that you'd like more of this on our waterfront. Please read on ....

PortSide New York has been bringing some fantastic programs to the Atlantic Basin over the last six weeks. Since the beginning of July they've brought tall ship sails, ferry tours of the harbor, educational tours on the historic tug "Cornell", youth programs, tours of their flagship vessel, the Mary Whalen, "City of Water Day" celebrations, music, food, the Urban Divers EnviroMedia Mobile, movies, talks, story telling, Brooklyn Greenway walks, and more.

PortSide has only 10 days left until their temporary permit at this location expires, and the way to ensure that PortSide snags a permanent home at the historic Atlantic Basin at the foot of Pioneer Street (as has been assured by the New York City Economic Development Corporation), allowing us all to benefit from the waterfront access that our neighborhood and its residents so crave, is to make sure that this last week or so of activities is as successful as the previous month's activities have been.

This information is from PortSide's Carolina Salguero -

You have less than 2 weeks to make it to PortSide programs in Atlantic Basin. We leave on 8/24.

Please come. The sea breezes are cool; so are the programs.

You will be supporting locals who are performing in many of these last programs.

And... a big turnout will help get you future programs on Pier 11.

We are in lease negotiations, and the Powers That Be need to see that the community wants access to this waterfront, that you want H2O Arts, TankerTime, visiting tall ship, and a permanent PortSide here.

Please see our summary of activities below, please come, and please forward this email.

Full info at www.portsidenewyork.org/PortSideNewYorkSummer2010programs.htm

HERE ARE THE DETAILS OF THE COMING WEEKS' ACTIVITIES - from PortSide

Fri 8/13 - 8:30pm Pioneer St resident Smitty plays wicked steel guitar w/drums + keyboard... on the whining side of Mississippi delta blues.. traces of bluegrass, country, Tejano and Hawaiian... truly hot and really cool. Just $10. cash bar with beer and wine. Buy tickets here or at the door.

Sun 8/15 - 11am local resident Seth Goodwin with captivating show n tell about knots, rope and the history of their uses. FREE reserve here

Sun 8/15 - 5-9pm TankerTime - make the ship deck your own. Bring dinner, drinks, the kids, your dog and enjoy sunset. FREE

Tue 8/17 - 8:30- 8:45pm Pratt Inst Chief Engineer Conrad Milster on the romance, commerce and technology of steamships of the Hudson, a slide show & talk. FREE, reserve here

Wed 8/18 8:30pm - Jalopy Theatre brings their weekly Roots & Ruckus show to the deck of the Mary Whalen with Two Man Gentlemen Band AND Stephanie Nilles and Dayna Kurtz and Feral Foster. $10 includes great music, ziit, lasagna, salads. Cash bar with beer and wine. Buy tickets here or at the door

Thurs 8/19 - Mon 8/23
We make history by hosting the tall ship Gazela, the oldest wooden square-rigger in the USA still sailing, which has tried to come to NYC for years. Daytime tours at the dock: Thurs, Fri, Sun, Mon (no Sat) $5 donation requested. In the evening, 2 shows of pirate cabaret burlesque aboard (t'aint just about sailing pirates, the pirates of Wall Street make the story line) on the deck of the Gazela with soaring masts overhead. $25 for 8 or 10pm show. Tickets here.

You can make history and be named the sponsor of the Gazela visit by bidding on the eBay auction to be named the sponsor. See http://bit.ly/cCFJhl. No corporate sponsors have been found for Gazela's visit, so please help PortSide cover the costs of rental generator and dock fees for the Gazela by bidding now!

Sat 8/22 11am Walking tour, Norwegian American history of Red Hook. FREE reserve here

Event info and fotos at www.portsidenewyork.org/PortSideNewYorkSummer2010programs.htm

And, below, there's some more info from the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance about the visit of the "Gazela", the on-line auction PortSide is holding for sponsors, and the activities that this event will bring to Red Hook - including tours and "pirate burlesqe".

..... and while you're at it, if you want more of this sort of stuff on Brooklyn's Red Hook waterfront, make sure you submit your comments regarding what you would like to see on our waterfront to the NYC Dept. of Planning's "Vision 2020 : NYC Comprehensive Waterfront Plan" web site. The comment period is almost over, closing on August 15th, so make sure your voice is heard in this process that hopes to shape the use of our waterfront for decades to come.

Online comment form can be found HERE.

This from the MWA -

Philadelphia's flagship offers education by day, pirate cabaret by night
For the first time in a decade Philadelphia's flagship, the barkentine Gazela, will be visiting New York City.

Presented by PortSide New York at Pier 11 in Atlantic Basin, Red Hook, from August 19 through 23, Gazela is the oldest, wooden squarerigger in the USA still sailing. She was built in Portugal in 1883 as a fishing vessel.

During the day, Gazela offers ship tours. Visitors will learn about the vessel's history fishing for cod in the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. Evenings will bring pirate burlesque aboard the barkentine.

Why has it been so long since the white sails of the Gazela have been seen in New York Harbor? In part, the answer lies in lack of docking infrastructure. Eric Lorgus, president of the Gazela, said, "Tall ships have found it increasingly hard to visit this place. and I've been trying to crack NYC for years. We really appreciate the efforts PortSide has made on our behalf."

To cover the costs of the ship's visit, PortSide New York has taken the unusual step of instituting an online auction for sponsors. Click here for the auction.

"PortSide was founded to bring the BlueSpace, or the water part of the waterfront, to life in New York City," said Carolina Salguero, director of PortSide NewYork. "We are excited that the Gazela is coming, because tall ships are education and inspiration afloat. We hope her visit opens the door to more visits by more boats-of all types -- at this pier and other piers. We are encouraged by recent government initiatives focusing on the water itself and grateful that the EDC [New York City Economic Development Corp] has made Pier 11 available to us for Gazela's visit."

See you there!

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PortSide New York Activities this Weekend - "City of Water Day"

Hi all,

At the moment my family and I are visiting relatives down in the other "city of water", Sydney, Australia, but I wanted to make sure you knew of the fantastic activities taking place in the wonderful waterfront neighborhood we call home - Red Hook, Brooklyn - over this weekend and over the next week, courtesy of PortSide New York.

Here's the info from PortSide -


This weekend is PACKED with activities in Atlantic Basin. Saturday, Pier 11 will be bustling with activity for City of Water Day. Sunday morning, Mary Habstritt gives a walking tour of Red Hook Industrial History. Sunday evening, the Mary A Whalen opens up her deck for TankerTime.
Saturday: Come to "City of Water Day in Atlantic Basin!"

For the first time, City of Water Day has expanded off Governor's Island, and PortSide is proud to have created a City of Water Day site with unprecedented activities. Come to Atlantic Basin in Red Hook, Brooklyn this Saturday, July 24th from 10am to 4pm for a wide array of water-themed activities for all ages. (entrance at Pioneer & Conover Streets)

We are very excited to have the impressive Steamship Lilac alongside for her first tours ever in Brooklyn. Plus, tours of our own Mary A. Whalen will be given throughout the day. There will be food from Kevin's Restaurant and Kustard King ice cream truck, kiddie pools, a Port-Side nautical-themed photo booth, make-your-own fish t-shirts, water-themed books from BookCourt, and the boisterous musical entertainment of the Red Hook Ramblers. Underwater NY's SoundTank will be on the scene recording your thoughts about the waterfront and stirring up some interactive fun for kids.

Ever wonder how shipping containers get scanned? You'll also get a close look at a US customs marine security display with a VACIS container scanner, sniffer dog and videos. American Stevedoring is lending a reach stacker container mover.

Join PortSide NewYork for a City of Water Day you'll never forget!

Volunteers still needed! Email research.portsidenewyork@gmail.com

Sunday 11am: Walking Tour - Red Hook Industrial History

Join industrial historian Mary Habstritt for a walk along the Red Hook waterfront and discover the many 19th and 20th century remnants of the area's maritime and industrial history, from the New York Dock Co. to Lehigh Valley Railroad Barge #79 to Todd Shipyards.

The tour will take about two hours so wear comfortable shoes, dress for the weather, and bring a water bottle. We will end near Fairway Market, which has a café with waterfront seating where you can buy lunch or a cold drink. Mary is Past President of the Society for Industrial Archeology, Museum Director of the Lilac Preservation Project, and a historic preservation advocate.

Space is limited, reserve your spot here: http://walkingtoursmaryhabstritt.eventbrite.com

Sunday 5-9pm: TankerTime

Come aboard the Mary A. Whalen! Hang out, enjoy the sunset, meet fellow Red Hookians, and enjoy summer on a boat while you can.

Coming Up Next Week

Wed, July 28 7am: TankerTime
Wed, July 28 8:45pm: TankerTalk - Conrad Milster
Fri, July 30: 8:45pm: TankerTunes: Sara Bouchard and The Union Street Preservation Society String Band

VIEW OUR COMPLETE SUMMER CALENDAR HERE

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PortSide New York - Breathing Life Back Into Red Hook's Waterfront.

PortSide New York is having a "Funraiser" on July 3rd to help support their Summer "BlueSpace" programs being held on, and in conjunction with, their flagship, ex-tanker Mary A. Whalen, moored at their new summer home at Pier 11 on the historic Atlantic Basin.

Buy your tickets HERE!

PortsSide has been given a temporary permit to operate out of (what will eventually be) their permanent home at this location from July 1st to August 24th. They will be doing programs and events throughout this 55 day period, including tall ship sails (such as was done recently with "Clipper City"), ferry tours of the harbor, educational tours on the historic tug, "Cornell", youth programs, tours of the Mary Whalen, "City of Water Day" celebrations - including music, food, and and the Urban Divers EnviroMedia Mobile, there will be movies, talks, story telling, Brooklyn Greenway walks, and much more. Have a look at their entire program, HERE.

PortSide has been working over many years to create a more vibrant waterfront in Red Hook, and has had some wonderful successes with "Opera on the Tanker", and the hugely popular Dutch Flat Bottomed Boat Event. Earlier this year, they facilitated the "community sails" on the tall ship, "Clipper City", and that event may lead to the "Clipper City" operating out of the Atlantic Basin commercially this summer.

As a great advocate of more waterfront access in our neighborhood, I'm excited to see how PortSide is reinvigorating our waterfront in this way - by bringing people to it. That was also seen with the Dutch Flat Bottomed Boat event (pic at bottom, post here), where my family and I had our first chance to experience both this enriching and interesting event and the "blue space" of the Atlantic Basin that's only a few steps from where we live.

To my mind, the NYC Economic Development Corporation did a great disservice to our community when it grabbed most of Pier 11 on the historic Atlantic Basin, for what has turned out to be Phoenix Beverages recycling operations (my post here). Most of Phoenix's operations are housed in the much larger Pier 7 - that's why, despite EDC promises, the empty Phoenix (a.k.a.Long Feng) Trucks are now clanging and racing down Columbia Street. This deal was made at the expense of many of the "people friendly" elements that our residents were craving, ones that were supported by Community Board 6 and outlined in our 197a Plan, that would have balanced the uses of the Red Hook Piers and reconnected our neighborhood and its small businesses to the waterfront.

However, Carolina Salguero at PortSide, with the portion of Pier 11 and 600 foot frontage of the Atlantic Basin that will be their permanent home, is providing our community with the opportunity to get a taste of what is possible on our waterfront - how we can reconnect to it. It's our chance to get our foot in the door and to say - "We want more of this".

I hope you can get along to the Big PortSide BlueBQ Funraiser.

Here are some more details -

BBQ from 6-8:30. Guests are invited to linger later to watch the sun set over the harbor.

Food from The Good Fork, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Tom Cat Bakery and more

Featuring:

• Peter Waldman, the Balloon Meister
• Jack Putnam of South Street Seaport channelling Herman Melville
• Live auction
• kids wading pool, games, chalk, bubbles n balls
  
• music by Smitty & more TBA

Produced by: Brooklyn Based and Brooklyn Based Kids

P.S. from Carolina at PortSide - "Atlantic Basin is open more hours than city parks even when PortSide isn't there. The vehicular gate has been open for several years from about 530am to 1130pm. PANYNJ is going to shorten the hours of that (i think making it dawn to dusk but I don't have exact hours) and will open the pedestrian gate at Pioneer and Conover for equivalent time. I don't have exact hours, but access is already there and increasing."

PortSide NY and "Clipper City" offering Free Sails - Tickets Available Tomorrow

This just in from PortSide New York regarding the much anticipated free sails on the United State's largest passenger sailing vessel, "Clipper City". Sailings will be from PortSide's future home at Pier 11 on the Atlantic Basin. Follow the links below for tickets and directions.

158' long Clipper City

PortSide NewYork, New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), and Manhattan By Sail Inc. are making available 550 free tickets for sails on the Clipper City Tall Ship, a 158' long topsail schooner.

The Clipper City Tall Ship will depart from Pier 11, Atlantic Basin, next to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. The ship can take up to 145 passengers at a time. Rides are about one and a half hours long and will depart on the following days and times:

Fri 4/30 10:00 a.m.
Sat 5/1 10:00 a.m.
Fri 5/7 10:00 a.m.
Sat 5/8 10:00 a.m.

As of Fri 4/16/10, 240 free tickets will be distributed via the web here

If someone does not use the web, physical tickets are available as of Fri 4/16/10 at the office of Brooklyn Community Board 6 (250 Baltic Street, between Court Street and Clinton Street) from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Tickets are limited to two per person.

Tickets at Community Board 6 that have not been picked up 3 days before the sail, will become available on line.

Directions to Atlantic Basin

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Three Upcoming RED HOOK Events from - Falconworks, Urban Divers and PortSide New York.

With Spring around the corner, three Red Hook based organizations have sprung up with a number of worthy events they hope you'll support.



1) Falconworks Fundraiser, Monday, March 15, 2010. THE BELL HOUSE, 149 7th Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 7:00 pm. -

Falconworks Artists Group, in their own words, "allows Brooklyn youth to make their own, well, anything. To finish this sentence anyway they want. To dream big. Dreams beyond situation and circumstance."

You may know Falconworks for their excellent "Off The Hook" youth theater / acting / play-writing programme. They are having a fundraiser.

CHECK OUT the details and buy your tickets on-line here and details about the event here.

Here's a brief description from Falconworks-

MAKE YOUR OWN BENEFIT! 2010

Prepare to party on Monday, March 15 That's when Falconworks invites the world to Brooklyn to celebrate past victories and raise money for future successes. The acclaimed Red Hook theater organization's Annual Benefit is a fundraiser disguised as a soiree – a chance to laugh, dance, network, and raise enough green to bolster all of our upcoming initiatives.

THE BELL HOUSE

149 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY

7:00 pm

Monday, March 15, 2010

Suggested Donation, $100.

($100 at the door)


2) Urban Divers Earth Day Celebration, Sunday April 25th, IKEA/Erie Basin Park, 1pm- 5pm. -

The Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy ( UDEC), will be hosting an EARTH DAY CELEBRATION event with its ENVIROMEDIA MOBILE- the spectacular traveling NATURE and MARITIME MUSEUM on wheels at IKEA/Erie Basin Park, in Red Hook on SUNDAY APRIL 25th, 1pm- 5pm. As part of the various activities that will be offered at the event. There will also be a RECYCLING program. Bring your OLD JUNK ELECTRONICS ( Carry-by-hand), your OLD READY TO THROW AWAY SNEAKERS for RECYCLING.

You can check out more information and a complete rundown of the Urban Divers' spring events schedule here.

Also, from the Urban Divers -

More Earth Day Celebrations....preceding Earth Day, on Sunday April 18th, 11am-3pm - "The Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy returns with its tradition for the 11th consecutive Annual Gowanus Canal Earth Day Flotilla Spring Clean-up. This event will be quite special as it will also commemorate the celebration of EPA's Official nomination of the Gowanus Canal as a SUPERFUND SITE... Hallelujah!.. Hallelujah!... a beginning to real environmental quality, protection of public health and property. The Urban Divers will host an environmental education ecocruise aboard it unique 32ft indian shipping canoe that accommodates 21 paddlers at a time."





3) PortSide New York announces free community sails in the Spring.

This from Carolina Salguero at PortSide New York who have assisted in providing a winter home for these two schooners in the Atlantic Basin -

Those masts sticking up behind Pier 11...
That's the Clipper City

She is a 158' long topsail schooner. Rafted alongside her, with masts down, is the Shearwater, a 82-foot 1920's luxury schooner yacht. Both have a winter berth on Pier 11, Atlantic Basin thanks to outreach by PortSide NewYork.

As part of the deal, they will offer some free community sails next spring once the vessels begin operating again.

The Clipper City is the largest passenger sailboat in the USA. The Shearwater was recognized as a National Landmark this March. Both vessels are operated by Manhattan By Sail. more

“We are excited about bringing the largest passenger sailboat in the United States to Red Hook, said Carolina Salguero, PortSide NewYork’s Founder & Director. “PortSide is working to animate NYC’s Bluespace, and our local goal is to bring more boats, visitors and economic activity to Atlantic Basin. We look forward to planning the community sails in the spring. We thank the EDC and the Port Authority for moving so quickly on approving wharfage terms for the boats.”

I don't have the details about the free sails yet, but keep an eye on PortSide's website, here, for updates.

Red Hook Welcomes the Dutch Flat Bottomed Boats ... and the Opportunity to Access the Waterfront.

Yesterday, in an event organized in collaboration with the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and PortSide New York, the community of Red Hook welcomed a fleet of twenty historic Dutch "flat bottomed" boats as they entered the historic Atlantic Basin and moored at their temporary home in Brooklyn. This was part of the larger NY400 Celebration commemorating the Quadra-centennial of Henry Hudson’s voyage into New York Harbor.

It was a great opportunity for New Yorkers from Red Hook and beyond to see the beautiful 19th Century boats, welcome the Dutch crews and to have the chance to access the waterfront that is right at their doorstep. As you can imagine, the residents of our neighborhoods welcomed this opportunity with great enthusiasm and turned out in large numbers to attend the event and to experience the waterfront in this exciting way. For me, a Red Hook resident who has lived mere footsteps from the Atlantic Basin for nearly 8 years, it was the first time to have the opportunity to walk through the gate and view the Atlantic Basin and the visual delights offered within and beyond with my own eyes.

It was quite a sight.

With the lower Manhattan skyline as a looming backdrop, framed by the cranes of the Container Terminal, through which you could see up the East River to the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State and Chrysler buildings glistening in the sun beyond, the flat bottomed boats entered the protected harbor of the Atlantic Basin one by one through the entrance to the Buttermilk Channel - the narrow passage between Red Hook and Governor's Island, seemingly a stone's throw away. As the fabulous "Hungry March Band" played their baritone sax driven funk, the boats and their crews were greeted by the many onlookers - waving, taking photos and cheering them as the boats hoisted their colors and sailed into their temporary safe harbor. Pier 12, home of the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, sat between the moored boats and the channel outside, with the Statue of Liberty peering over the top of the fence on the Southern side of the basin. The Dutch visitors mingled with locals and local community representatives who were there from the Red Hook Civic Association, Red Hook Houses and others, as well as representatives from the EDC, Port Authority and other dignitaries.


People walked along the basin's edge, beside the Pier 11 shed (recently leased to Phoenix Beverages for beer storage), a part of which is planned to be the new home of Portside's operations, and took in the amazing sights and views of the city. In front of the shed there were locally supplied snacks and more musical entertainment provided by local resident, J.E. McKnight - in all a very festive occasion. Some speakers were slated to say a few words about the event, however, my family and I (with some of my neighbors) had left our block party to attend, so after an hour or so we walked the few minutes back to the block and our more modest affair, missing the speeches.


As I said, a great event and congratulations to the EDC, Port Authority, Carolina Salguero from PortSide, the Dutch Government and all the others who made this happen - I'm sure it wasn't easy to get all the pieces into place to allow for this event to go forward. As I watched the people reveling in this opportunity to visit their waterfront, and chatted to some of the Dutch crews and others, I thought of another Dutch gentleman I had recently heard interviewed by Brian Lehrer on WNYC. (Thanks to "The Word On Columbia Street" blog for posting the story and link to this interview a few days ago - hear it here)

Lehrer spoke to experts on waterfront development, one being Bert Hooijer, professor of applied science at Rotterdam University in the Netherlands, who is in New York as part of the "H209 conference, a Trans-National Look at Modern Urban Water Challenges" - another part of this larger Henry Hudson NY400 celebration. Professor Hooijer spoke of developing the waterfront in the "right way", with "multiple functions". He said the goal was to "get people to it" and to "combine several disciplines" to "develop the waterfront in a new way."

Professor Hooijer went on to say, "the most beautiful thing to do is to bring the people to the water ... bring the local people to the water ... give people activities to do on the waterfront side" and "on the water" and to "use the quality of the people which (sic) are living next to the waterfront."

I was thinking about these remarks when I was down at the Atlantic Basin. I think this event, as evidence of what the Dutch professor what talking about, showed what will happen if our neighborhoods are presented with, as with events such as these, the opportunity to access and interact with their waterfront. They'll come, they'll embrace it and their presence and input will add to the richness and liveliness of whatever is happening.

In that way, with this event, the EDC, Port Authority and PortSide succeeded.