Pegasus traveled with a few dozen stalwarts into one of the least known creeks of the sixth boro yesterday, a rainy late spring day.
I’d been there before, once on a sunny fall day. Then, as yesterday, the car shredders
well . . . shredded cars (See this slide show.) and loaded
remnants onto barges for a jaunt to the bulkers that’ll transport the scrap to China or wherever.
Ditto plastic bottles that delivered a one-time infusion of water–colored, sugared, or not.
Farther in begin the petroleum product tanks, the commodity that made Newtown Creek famous and infamous.
Still farther in, Robert Romano, a truckable tug, stands by a dock building project. By the way, the barge name is Plan D. I wonder what happened to Plans B and C. Notice the camel moored to starboard on the tug.
Still farther up the Creek is the lift bridge at Metropolitan Avenue. Overheard: “I hear they’re planning Newtown Canal between here and Jamaica Bay.” Facetious, but a couple-mile canal connecting to Fresh Creek (aka Fresh Kill) in Canarsie would have changed history.
By the time we backtracked the Creek, Brian Nicholas (ex-Banda Sea and other names, launched 1966)
was already on its way to the loading pile over in Bayonne.
More Brian Nicholas and Robert Romano soon. Up more creeks soon too.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Less than a week until . . . Coney Island Mermaid Parade.
tugster: a waterblog 
2 comments
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June 15, 2009 at 8:43 am
TheLongIslandGuy
What was the occasion?
I’d like to participate in something like this. I checked workingharbor.org and tugpegasus.org, but didn’t see anything on the calendar.
Are there other organizations that offer tugboat tours of New York Harbor?
June 15, 2009 at 12:22 pm
tugster
hi long island guy– the tour was thru the am. museum of nat. history. one way to find ops for trips like these is to be involved as a volunteer/donor with organizations like pegasus preservation and portside new york. southstreet seaport also has a sail volunteer program. south street has a tugboat called w. o. decker, but i believe it is currently being refurbished. i’m not sure where you are located, but i once met a south street volunteer who came in from port jeff. thanks for commenting and reading.