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Comet, Eva Leigh Cutler, Manhattan skyline in September 2009.
Ditto . . . . September 11, 2012.
Buildings are replaced,
trade flourishes,
channels are carved deeper,
the open is
closed up,
precautions
are exercised, but
we remember. Many thanks for the foto below to Capt Jack Joffe, Liberty V of the National Parks Service in the sixth boro.
We heal although scars at times recall pain.
Unrelated: An NYTimes story about a revival in moving raw product to steel mills on inland waterways.
Actually that title captures 98% of this blog’s +1800 posts. And just as elsewhere in Gotham or anywhere else, so on the sixth boro what work you see depends entirely on your station. And my station this particular day was Tchefuncte River’s Equitable Equipment‘s hull # 1428, delivered in August 1966 as Red Star Towing‘s New Haven. Now she’s Freddie K. Miller; I took the foto below just over five years ago when she was Stapleton Service. I use this foto here because a downside of being on the tow is my inability to get a foto OF the tow.
At 0520 hrs, dawn was sweetest and coolest, from this point a mile south of Miller’s Launch. When I reported at 0530, the Miller’s yard was already busy.
The crew of Freddie K Miller’s had a job: pick up Weeks Crane Barge 552 and its crew and proceed to the East River ConEd. By 0615, crew was making the tow.
0645 we were crossing west to east across the Upper Bay. Buchanan 1 was towing a scow and
Douglas B. Gurion headed west for passengers. The ferry is named for a victim of September 11.
0715 . .. near Red Hook container port, we passed this ex-MSC vessel Transatlantic. I will post more MSC soon.
0730 . . . we had passed under the Brooklyn Bridge and now could feast on this potpourri of Manhattan skyline. Side by side on the right are Gehry’s flowing-facade 8 Spruce (2011) and Gilbert’s spiky-tower (1913).
0745 . . . we pass GMD Shipyard, where morning shift has already started its work on Massachusetts Maritime’s TS Kennedy (1967).
0815 . . . the crew have tied to the ConEd dock and Weeks’ crew has begun setting the spuds, for stability as the load is transferred. My very general understanding of this load is that ConEd purchased equipment from Manufacturer M. Company A trucked it to the Weeks yard because installation by land (by Company B) was less feasible than installation from water. Miller’s job was to move equipment on crane barge to ConEd so that Weeks–with collaboration from Company B–could set equipment exactly where it will be used.
0915 . . . first equipment is lifted and rotated over the East River counterclockwise to avoid obstacles on land, and at
0920 . . . crew guides unit into exact location. If half an inch off, then lift and get it right.
1010 . . . next piece of equipment is moved. While the tug stands by with the crane barge, Miller crew does fine carpentry work in wheelhouse.
Since my self-appointed job is to record details, check out Carolina IV, sailing westbound on the East river . . . hailing from Stockholm, Yes, sailing! and . . . yes . . . that Stockholm while
eastbound are Gage Paul Thornton and a floatplane.
1115 . . . heavy-duty pipe elbow gets lifted into place. Tower protruding from the building just right of MetLife is Chrysler Building.
1215 . . . the spuds are up, the crane boom lowered and secured, Freddie K Miller has spun off the dock and now heads back westbound for the Weeks yard. If the grayish vessel in the foreground is locally known as a “honey boat,” then this has to be one of the sweetest scenes possible in these parts.
1300 . . . as we approach the Weeks yard we cross Buchanan 12 towing three stone scows, possibly headed for a quarry up the Hudson.
1330 . . . Freddy K Miller is now “light,” having left the barge at the Weeks yard. Ever Decent is outbound for sea, and by this writing is southbound off Cape Hatteras.
Meanwhile, close to Manhattan, Asphalt Star takes on bunker fuel from a Vane barge. That black hose . . . that’s like the hose at the pump where you fill your car tank.
By 1400, I’ve said my thanks to the crew of Freddy K Miller —who await their next job on this or another vessel–and the dispatcher, and take a break to examine a familiar sight: Alice, she who inspired my first ever blogpost!!
Back on the bank and before heading home, I get another shot; she’s loaded deep with her Canadian aggregates.
Imagine my delight, then, later that day getting a foto from Mike C. of Alice Oldendorff north of the Navy Yard self-unloading her cargo of crushed stone.
Many thanks to all the folks at Miller’s Launch. Also, thank you Mike for sending along this last foto. All other fotos by Will Van Dorp.
I zoomed in on details in some Panama posts here and here, so how about closer to home . . . . All of the following fotos were taken in New York harbor, except one. But that one could just have well been taken here. Can you identify it?
Otherwise, just enjoy the fotos. Doubleclick almost always enlarges. For me, pleasure maintaining this blog comes from the locale and endeavor. I respect the livelihoods. But things the camera helps me see I admire also for the sculptural beauty,
the play of light and shadow over diverse surfaces,
qualities of suntime and angle,
texture and weathering . . . aging,
universality and timelessness,
employ of color and volume,
imagined or real vignettes,
power and evocation of sound and temperature,
coexistence of natural and industrial,
labor’s wear and erosion,
tirelessness,
elegant design . . . .
Since I deliberately wrote these captions quickly, spontaneously recording what I associated with each foto, I could have captured something different no doubt upon examining each, . . . but then again . . . I’m interested in what they evoke in you. And here I invite your response.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp . . . in the past month.
The bottom foto was taken in Panama of a container ship I’d seen in the KVK earlier in March.
Here was #1 of this series, started earlier this month, featuring quite random fotos and thoughts. Here’s a shot looking toward Shooters and Elizabeth, NJ. In the foreground just off the street and that bell tower and to the left of the cement silo are three . . actually four identical brown brick structures; the fourth one is mostly obscured by the silo. I have no clue, although they look like pylons to a structure long gone. Help?
To give a sense of scale of vessels in the KVK, I’m fairly tall, measuring 1.8796 m by last calculation. If I could stand on the waterline, the spritz here would come up past my knees.
Standing here, I could barely reach up past the bottompaint green into the MOL blue.
Tides were quite extreme last week, although I haven’t researched beyond that. The indicator was
stuff like this long submerged engine showing off its transformation.
In a bit, I’m hitting the road . . . gallivant time, so many places to see along so much highway and way too little time. The blog may vacate for a few days . . . But on the 26th, whether I post or not, this blog has its fifth anniversary. This is post #1608 in the past 1825 days. Post #1 was prompted by my huge stone-bellied muse. Thanks so much for reading; I’ve had a blast. I’m eager to get gone and then get back.
PS: If you haven’t voted or asked a half dozen friends to vote for this blog as “best neighborhood blog” and “best photo blog” (#5 and 24), please do so now. A few of you have written to say you like thinking of the sixth boro as one of the overlooked neighborhoods of NYC, the place said to be comprised of five terracentric boros.
No phantasmagoria today, just the cold hard facts, or in this case . . . the wet, crumbling ones: exploring Binghamton felt like visiting a hospice. Hopes to see what remained in the engine room were dashed halfway down the companionway below the main deck. Nasty cafe au lait post-Irene river water, at least five feet of it at this point, barred the way. It didn’t seem a heathy or productive place to snorkel.
The southernmost wheelhouse–here with a view of a southbound Vane unit in front of Manhattan–is stripped and relegated to attic status.
In this section of the menu, I love the last sentence of the fifth paragraph: ”She took the population of the eastern United States eight times around the world,” and she did so without leaving that section of the river between Barclay Street pier (now no more) and Hoboken. Fotos of Binghamton at work can be found in Railroad Ferries of the Hudson: and stories of a deckhand by Baxter and Adams, which I highly recommend.
The craziness of the internet where nothing dies is illustrated by this restaurant review of Binghamton. Wonder what would happen if you called that number to make a reservation.
I tried to take this foto so as to give the illusion of being on a vessel about to depart for Manhattan.
The wheelhouse at the north end is equally stripped although
the joinery–alluding to wooden wheel spoke days– dazzles. Imagine looking up at this in your workspace, sans paint chips of course. Let your fancy add braided cords leading to steam whistles.
Atop the wheelhouses are these lanterns, and
a running light system.
From the wheelhouses, here is the view of passenger and vehicle ingress and egress. I love the folding gates, and although I know they have a technical
name I’ve heard, I can’t recall it. (Note: thanks to Les, pantograph gates, they are.)
Shoreside south end of the the ferry shows greatest recent damage to the deck; in fact, as tide flooded, the river poured in here.
Like all crumblings and ruins, here is a depressing metaphor of mortality and transience. Oh to have a jolly drink here, a meal with trimmings and revelry, a time spent
in good company, a celebration that takes you to the heights.
On the floor of the main deck . . . lay this 3′ x 4′ foto of an unidentified happy couple from maybe not even that long ago who chose this vehicle to take them to “that other side . . ,” a foto soon to be obliterated by . . . the river and time.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who needs to get to work now to hold back melancholy.
I walk into this bar . . . on the river across from Manhattan. It’s to be a day of revelry with the veiled but elegant woman on my arm. I don’t know her myself, but this happens to be that kind of day.
The ceiling is wood and festooned with pine boughs, the finest plastic to be sure, but I fancy greenery of any carbon form. The refined joinery is so palpable . . . I feel light-headed . . a good thing because the wine
selection must be in the cellar, where daylight cannot destroy the rare vintage, maybe.
The liquors, too, remain hidden. While waiting for a waiter or maitre’d, we
could look at the menu.
Then I see a man at the far end of the bar. He sees the beveiled one and I, and comes over.
(Hear the quoted section with a French accent) ”Monsieur et madame . . . we are currently hoping to refurbish our establishment. Maybe I can
find a table with a view of the bridge, the George Washington Bridge.
By the way, madame et monsieur, this is a somewhat unusual restaurant . . . may I ask what I might call you? William, ok . . . and Irene. Irene?!”
At this very moment, my lunch partner begins to remove her veil. Then she stands and walks toward the river side of the restaurant.
The waiter, by now trembling, shouts, “Madame . . . do not go through that door! Stop!
Really no! no! You must leave. Haven’t you done enough damage already!
I recognize you now . . . a month ago you came through here and blew out
the river side of the boat! The main deck wall has come off its support and the saloon deck has sagged. The vessel no longer floats. And we are doomed, as she is.”
Then the phantasmagoria dissipated. I was on ferry Binghamton in its last days, its 105-year-old structure gored by Irene. More fotos tomorrow.
So here’s an old diesel, visible at low tide. By its current habitat, I’d be accurate in saying it’s a submarine engine. But that would not be a statement about the vessel it once moved. Can anyone deduce any identification from the foto?
And another whatzit . . .. This vessel is between 25 and 30 feet loa. I’m guessing it had a military role, but, as is true with the engine above, I’ve no clue what this vessel was called.
But here I do have an idea about the metal cage in the center of this wooden lighter. I’ll share my idea at the end of the post, but conjectures/tall tales I’ve heard include . . . a gorilla cage for the sixth boro harborman who had a large pet primate,
a lock-up for valuables that were being transshipped between ship and shore, and still others have said it was a brig. In fact, from about a year ago, here was a post in which I speculated about the purpose of just such a structure.
The most credible explanation is this: this metal cage served as a fireproof seal between the pot-bellied stove and any flammable material shipped on the barge. A foto I saw yesterday but have no copy of shows the barge and cage in better state of repair; on that foto, lockers were mounted on the bars to hold ice to keep the cargo somewhat chilled.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Guess the vessel and river?
The small red one with all the rowers is DC Dragons, and by now some of you already know the large gray one.
If you haven’t identified the destroyer yet, it was named for a man from County Wexford, Ireland, but that’s misleading because
John Barry was born in 1745.
Click here to read of USS Barry‘s service record. Click here to read of my visit to another Forrest Sherman-class destroyer here. Question here: is the small vessel called a tender? a launch?
Barry has two of these stacks.
Another question: what is the function of the horizontally-oriented drum here on the stern of Barry?
And while I’m asking questions, does anyone recognize this panel? What transportation-related building bears it? More clues tomorrow, unless someone identifies the building . . .
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who can’t wait for life to slow down a bit. Oh, and the river is NOT the Potomac but the Anacostia.
“Ghost gallery” returns to scenes from several years back with fotos I’ve not used, at least not in this version. Take Peking‘s last move . . . the whole harbor exudes gravity on a cold mid-January afternoon as McAllister
tugs Elizabeth and Responder assist in slipping her back into hibernation (a terminal coma?) beside Pier 16. Compare the colors here with those in Rick’s post about this other Blohm + Voss vessel.
Some years back I went to a BWAC show in the old warehouse, but the only image left in my head from that day intruded from beyond the window . . . this dome
now gone to leave nothing but a trestle leading to a scar.
Brian A. McAllister . . . where does it now operate?
Time to bring back some color, like the
“Gardens in Transit” decals that covered many moving objects–including ex-LT-2089– in NY some years back.
Last shot here . . . Cosette used to transport the used cars out of New York, a task now performed by Grey Shark and others. Cosette once occupied the niche of Danalith in Narragansett Bay. I wonder two things: where is Cosette today and what great Bolivian port of registry did/does she wear on her stern . . . Potosi? Salar de Uyuni?
All fotos from the archives of Will Van Dorp. Got any good fotos to share from your sixth boro archives? I’d love to see them.
Janis Joplin did my all-time favorite rendition of Summertime. I like how she takes it furiously into flight, almost like these boats, her sibilants and band’s cymbals in places like electric cicadas.
Boats are jumping . . . er getting on plane . . .
If your daddy’s rich . . . or at least willing to put some money into a boat . . . that is if he can after the S & P downgrade . ..
One of these mornings you’re gonna rise up singing…
Then you’ll spread your wings and take to the sky . . . or not. This one seems more like it’ll head for the submarine races or something . . . .
But hush little baby . . . one of these will
take to the sky . . . one of these mornings . . or afternoons.
If your daddy’s rich and your moma’s good looking
Or if you’re lucky when you play the flight board . . . with StndAIR…
Then you really might finally spread your wings and (leaping over the East River Ferry) . . . .
take the sky… topping the crown of Queens.
That’s Will Van Dorp’s version, who took these fotos. Here’s Janis Joplin’s, once when she kept it together and did nothing to harm herself. A seaplane on the East River appeared here quite long ago. Still, these booted seaplanettes pale in comparison with the old Aeromarine airships that used to link the North and Raritan Bay with Florida.
Some interesting postscripts:
1) BRBRbrooklyn caught FDNY’s greeting SUNY Maritime’s Empire State return this morning . . . while I was still drinking my coffee!!
2) Hats off to Stephen Askew, superintendent of North River Waste Treatment Plant, for his recent heroic captaining of a raft, a true friend of all denizens of the sixth boro.
3) News about the “troop carrier” found buried deep in the foundation of the World Trade Center . . . . Revolutionary War troop carrier that is.
A WTF!@#@! postscript too”
Lady Liberty appears in many fotos on this blog, including one above. Do you know what Rev. John Benefiel thinks about Bartholdi’s lady? Fie!!!
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