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September 2012. Some Governors Island buildings as seen from the Staten Island ferry. Notice the excavator demolish the gradual way.
February 2013.
Building 877 May 2013.
Today, June 9, 07:15 h, as seen from Valentino Pier, Red Hook. Eleven stories about to go down.
Click on the image below to see my YouTube of the implosion.
All fotos and video by Will Van Dorp.
Click here for a view from Jersey City.
Springtime . . . and motion gives a renewed sense of life to the watery boro. Emerald Sea‘s been around all winter, but she’s not moved loads like this. Diner? Prefab beach buildings for post-Sandy reconstruction? Many thanks to Ashley Hutto for this shot taken along Roxbury, Queens.
Eclipse, the huge yacht in the distance has taller masts than Clipper City, the tallest sailing vessel operating in the the harbor. Eclipse left the harbor Tuesday, headed for Gibraltar.
Schooner Virginia left Wednesday, headed for Virginia . . . by way of Portland, Maine.
Anyone know the manufacturer of the speedboat in the foreground? In the background is Zephyr, launched 10 years ago from the Austal Shipyard in Mobile, AL . . . and Wavertree, launched 128 years ago in Southampton, UK.
I could almost imagine this boat has a bowsprit.
Smaller workboats seem more commonplace this time of year like Henry Hudson,
this Oyster Bay government boat,
an OCC vessel,
and of course the ubiquitous all-weather sludge tanker North River, frequently mentioned on this blog.
Thanks to Ashley for the first foto, and I’d love to know what that structure on the Weeks barge is. All other fotos by Will Van Dorp, who feels the urge to go somewhere too.
This gateway to the sixth boro dazzles at dawn, with out traffic or with.
Know this ship? You saw this funnel before in a foggy October post as well as in a sunny September post in the past twelve months.
Here are the specs for the 12-year-old vessel going under the almost 50-year-old bridge.
In the distance, that’s the Newark Bay Bridge, located north of Ports Elizabeth and Newark.
Inbound . . .
outbound, and
closely monitored.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who finally watched Saturday Night Fever for the first time, because of the bridges scenes. It turned out to be a much better movie than this non-discoing blogger ever imagined. See it if you haven’t, for a throwback to Bay Ridge (mostly) back in 1977 . . . which started with a president named Ford , new computers were Commodore PETs and Apple IIs, and the Concorde started to fly to NYC.
On July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote this to his wife Abigail: ”The day will be most memorable in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival…It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade…bonfires and illuminations (fireworks) from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.”
I wonder if Abigail believed him.
Last night around 1900 hr, Brendan Turecamo (above) and Catherine Turecamo pushed their Macy’s loads upriver. I think two other Macy’s barges were pushed by Kimberly Turecamo and Jennifer Turecamo.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think that the Macy’s 34th Street megastore had embarked on short sea shipping of goods. Do you know that as a teenager, R. H. Macy worked on a Nantucket whaling ship, Emily Morgan, during which time he got a tattoo, which is the star that still today in the company logo.
A motley crew of spectators ventured into the river for the show,
a very motley crew indeed.
Other tugs took some time off as well . . . Maurania III here, and Quantico Creek and the other Pegasus over on the other side of the river. Maybe others too.
The two Harley tugs–HMS Liberty and St Andrews–hung out with 1907-built Pegasus at the sanitation pier.
It appears here that a contingent of the NYC Air Force is escorting in Hornblower Infinity. As it said, it APPEARS that way. Anyone I know working there?
343 summons the safety spirits.
Lots of spectators wait on a contingent of NYC’s passenger/dinnerboat fleet.
Darkness falls. Tension builds as thunderstorms do their own illumination to the north and the south.
Around 2130 h . . . opening salvo.
These fotos do not capture that percussive blasts and echoes off the sanitation pier . . . so use your imagination.
Too bad John and Abigail and all the other signers weren’t here.
Well, maybe they were.
I did hear some creaking and squeaking on the pier.
Happy
Independence
all the time.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
AND Pegasus and you have something else to celebrate. Remember the Partners in Preservation voting lots of you all did back in May? Pegasus and Lehigh Valley 79 ended in 14th place, and I thought that meant they got no money. Au contraire, they DID get a hefty sum . .. $140,000 to split! . . .to be used for preservation, and on a 1907-built vessel, there’s a lot of preservation to be done. So thanks much for voting. If you want to see Pegasus close-up, come down to Pier 25 west side of Manhattan . . .
If you have a chance to get to Pier 25 in Lower Manhattan, you should see Carolina Salguero‘s Maritime 9/11 exhibit on steamer Lilac. Click here for info.
Also, check out this very moving 12-minute video called Boatlift, an effort to evacuate Lower Manhattan 10 years ago using the fastest, safest route out. In the past week, New York harbor aka the sixth boro has seen a large vessel as
well as these small ones, RIBs. They seem to be everywhere, but
maybe it’s just a few flying hither and yon
actively intercepting
anyone in the wrong place. That’s QM2 leaving town after being escorted across the Upper Bay last week.
Try intruding on a safety zone and
these folks will intercept you in the most
convincing and
intimidating fashion.
No matter the time and weather . . . and
the sixth boro’s seen enough weather of late to take on Mississippi mud colors…
these patrol vessels zoom around.
along with RBMs (in the distance) and vessels
of other agencies like NYPD.
I’m not posting tomorrow. I’m going off to a meditative place. The closing foto today comes thanks to Capt. Justin Zizes. Thanks, Justin.
A parting thought . . I think it’s possible that folks who have never lived in NYC might have a hard time understanding New Yorkers. I’m just a transplant here, but I understand the sentiments described in this NYTimes article by N. R. Kleinfield.
All fotos except the last one by Will Van Dorp.
Fotos here were taken last Friday, much colder than today.
Conflicting jurisdictions? It felt so cold along the water the other day that I totally understand a chase for no other reason than . . . to speed up blood flow and heat, not that I’m saying this is happening here. By the way, in blue, it’s Launch #4, the 55′ 1994-launched Kenny Hansen. In yellow, it’s the 1980 Arkansas-built 85′ Gelberman, named for Jack Gelberman, who was chief of operations of NYC-area USACE until 1973.
I move from “office” to “office” too, simulating chase maybe, staying warm. And I track down Zachery Reinauer and the great Herbert P Brake.
A quick dash further east, I catch Sassafras with DoubleSkin 36 in push gear and Rhea I. Bouchard light, passing on the north side of the KVK, Bow Architect and LaFarge barge Adelaide.
Still not quite out of breath, I spot Cape Cod spritzing past Theo T.
Moving again . . . jogging to keep warm . . . I espy (l. to r.) the bow of Bow Architect, a light Norwegian Sea, an approaching Conrad S, and (possibly) Davis Sea.
Three things about Conrad S give me pause for reflection: the last name initial, the seriously tubular bow deck (not sure that’s the technical term), and the containerized tanks belonging to R. M. I. Food Logistics. Here’s what I found. So . . . alcohol, oils, syrups . . .. ?
It seems my day for single-letter last names, as in Gunes K, which
enjoys a bridge with big glass for perspicacious watch-keepers.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who really needs to rest in the shade of a palm tree for awhile listening to sweet music and honeyed conversation.
Unrelated: For a look at shellfishing and much more happening around Nantucket, check out Martie’s blog: http://nantucketwaterfrontnews.blogspot.com/
I have deliberately declined ads on this blog, as you know. Occasionally, I’m told, the blogging hosts runs them around the margin. If you see one of those, I have the same policy as bowsprite . . . posted upper right here: ”mention bowsprite tugster for 15% off your next cutter suction head purchase.” I understand there’s the 45th iteration of an obscure sports event on TV Sunday (Feb 6) that features ads in order to draw in viewers. Here are some of their ad examples.
But this post spotlights an ad poster (below) I noticed on the Staten Island ferry. When I saw the ad, I suddenly understood a spate of news articles of the past months, mentioning an increase in the numbers of large marine mammals congregating around the Narrows. Bowsprite, in fact, scooped this story nearly two years ago, with a foto from… of course … a working mariner. Here’s a Cornell U article, and only recently have mainstream media caught on here and here. Eureka! I get it. I know why they’re here.
Whales have been attracted in by lucrative contracts in the advertising sector. I can see the future, and it involves a lot of breaching, large cetaceans . . . in exchange amounts of krill and sardines . . . leaping and playing in the bay to show off the text on their sandwich boards or painted or –ouch!! . . . tattooed into their flanks. If whales can manage flight, we may soon see a Fuji whale or a Goodyear one. Advertising is vibrant . . . unarrestible! ever dynamic!
If you’re wondering which obscure team I back for this event tomorrow, my answer is “neither.” I’m wearing some red underwear and off to drive away the sea beast (or mountain beast) called Nian. Why wear red? See below the foto. Why this foto? Answer comes next week. A clue though . . . this foto was taken mere hundreds of feet from where mermaids waddle ashore each summer solstice.
From wikipedia: ”Hongjun Laozu was the monk who is told about in the myth of Chinese New Year. He was the person who captured Nian, the great beast that terrorised the people of China every Chinese New Year.
Every Chinese New Year was a time of suffering and fear for the people of China because of Nian, the great beast. One Chinese New Year’s Eve, a monk named HongJun LaoZu came to a village in China. He saw how everyone looked sad and frightened, so he went to a young man and said “Why are you so sad? It is Chinese New Year, a time for celebration.” The man replied “Do you not know? Have you not heard about Nian? He comes every New Year and terrorises us, even eats us.” The monk said “I will go and reason with Nian.” So off he went, to find Nian.
When HongJun LaoZu came to Nian, he said “Nian, I have come to reason with you. Stop eating and terrorising the people of China.” But Nian Said “HoHo. You have delivered yourself to me old man, now I will eat you.” “Oh, but what will that prove? Eating me isn’t great! Would you dare to eat the poisonous snakes on the mountains?” “Bah! What’s so difficult about that?” So Nian went to the poisonous snakes and ate them up. “How is this? Am I not great?” “At the back of the mountain there are many great beasts. Can you subdue them?” So Nian went and scared all of the dangerous beasts out of the back of the mountain.
“Old man, now its time for me to eat you!” “OK just wait while I take my clothes off, I will taste much better then”. So the old man took his clothes off to reveal his undergarments, which were red. “OK you can eat me now.” But Nian said “Ah! a red undergarment! I dearly hate red, get out of my sight quickly.” “HaHa! I knew you were afraid of red!” so the old man went into the town on top of Nian and said “Dear villagers, do not be afraid. Nian is most terrified of red. From now on each house must paste red on each of their doors to prevent Nian creating havoc.”
After that, the people started to paste red paper on their front doors before New Year’s Day.
Happy Rabbit Year!! And another eureka flash: when Patty Nolan finally gets her new bikini, it MUST be red.
The foto above here by Faith. Two top fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Unrelated: Congratulations to Aleksander Doba, a 64-year-old who paddled across the Atlantic!
Actually I’m creating the mystery, but I uncreate it after the fourth foto. You might try to guess what’s happening. I put in some lovely distractors. What was happening on Coney Island this morning between 7 and 930 am? Man with red shorts, a swimmer, and tug Edith Thornton (1951, ex-Signet Defender, J. K. McLean).
SUNY Maritime’s Empire State--all flags flying– returns from its three-month summer training cruise to the Mediterranean.
Man with red kite in the air; black spot in between.
Man with green bathing cap wades in as a brace of jetskis bobs nearby. So far, it’s all men with head gear, but
then Bowsprite approaches with camera; yellow kayaks and NYPD as background. She didn’t say, “We have you surrounded.” This could mean only one thing: click here and find out. Here’s the site for CIBBOWS.
Swimmers in green caps (warming and limbering up) did the 5 km race.
Long Island City Community Boathouse spotted, as did the jetskiers.
Cristian read the rules.
And the first wave went in, heading for the first
turn around the buoy.
The second wave (white caps) began their one-mile race to the Coney fishing pier and
back.
Bowsprite served as beach-spotter at the finish line, where here arrive the first finishers in green caps. After
five kilometers in one hour and 18 minutes it was this close.
Now the man with the kite . . . that speck was a camera. Click here and here to see Scott Dunn’s amazing photography with kite-suspended camera.
Empire State and Edith Thornton . . . their role was to bless the race with their beauty.
This was my first swim race; I plan to attend the one in November. About the Aquarium, it served as venue for registration and celebration; as we prepared there for the race in the wee hours before sunrise, I overheard some flush pinnipeds wagering their fishy breakfast on race outcomes.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
And here’s another swimming organization to learn about: Swim Across America. Recall the 2009 swim post by tugster . . . uh, me? And someone’s unconventional techniques?
FireFighter at the Narrows, Fort Wadsworth side . . . rainbow effect of spray . . . must be doins’ … big stuff going on or about to . . . .
Waiting on the Fort Hamilton (Brooklyn) side, I espy a huge shape some five or six miles off, here between FDNY’s not-yet-in-service 343 and the venerable Driftmaster. Iwo Jima (Mississippi-built) has returned! See fotos I took on board last year here.
The first fleet vessel through the Narrows was PC-4, Monsoon, Louisiana-built, commissioned in 1994, here passing Ellen McAllister. Scroll through this link to see a sampling of fotos of Monsoon‘s adventures.
Next visitor in was WMEC 909, Campbell, the sixth cutter to bear that name, here with helicopter above and USACE vessels all around, from left, Moritz, (I believe that’s the stern of Dobrin … barely visible), Driftmaster, and Gelberman. Campbell’s homeport is Portsmouth, NH. See a previous appearance of Campbell on this blog here… last foto).
Next in, sibling of Monsoon . . . was Squall, commissioned in same year and state.
As Iwo Jima approached the Verrazano Bridge, a gun salute from Fort Hamilton drew
Iwo Jima‘s response. By the way, the bit of land on the lower left side of the foto above is Hendrick’s Reef, on which the Brooklyn pillar of the Verrazano Bridge stands, an island that from 1812 until 1960 housed Fort Lafayette. I wonder which Hendrick that was.
Ellen McAllister followed Iwo Jima in. Is that Catherine Turecamo over on Iwo Jima‘s port side?
Next in was DDG 95, destroyer James E. Williams, named for a sailor who served in both Korea and Vietnam. Read about her namesake here.
Then it was FFG 45, frigate De Wert, named for a sailor who died in Korea in 1951.
And then Bath, Maine-built CG 58, Philippine Sea.
Closer up . . . I can’t identify the Coast Guard 47-footer other than 47315. By the way, see this type vessel’s capabilities as filmed in the mouth of the Merrimack River in all its fury. The Merrimack was my obsession during part of the 80s and all of the 90s.
I didn’t see where Miriam Moran assisted (probably up at the Hudson River passenger terminal) but a while later I caught her headed to home base as Laura K. was out to Red Hook for an assist. Check out the two crew on the afterdeck.
Hmm . . . I wonder what the story is.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
By the way, “Government Ships 5″ is the short title; a longer version is “Their crews and all those sixth-boro based supporters.”
Welcome to New York.
A century ago, a parade of ships featured the Cruiser Olympia, now in very real danger of being reefed.
Staten Island Live has an excellent schedule of events planned the next few days on Staten Island, where most of the fleet vessels are berthed. See the schedule here.
Final note: I plan to cross the Merrimack aka “merry mack” tomorrow headed north for some canoeing. See foto here. The Pow Wow flows into the Merrimack.
I missed the cinco already . . . so this seis will finish up the the graveyard report of the trip of the segundo to the barcas muertas (?). Indulge a foto of tugster aka the floater here, feeling very light. You could say . . . a lightweight, a light-hearted one, buoyed by the unbearable lightness of being, even. Actually, the water temperature requires the wetsuit even though the air temperature was in the 80s, making a periodic “float” refreshing. Cape Tallin exchanges fluids over on the Jersey shore.
Behold the other merry paddlers.
Sebago, on Paerdegat Basin, in Brooklyn
repurposes these shipping containers as colorful kayak storage.
Here’s the liverymobile.
Another highlight of the trip was seeing ABC-1, seen here in a post from 2008, high and dry.
Here’s a full frontal of an NYPD launch, with New York Central No. 13 in the background.
Parting shot: the 1930 W. O. Decker awaits . . a haul? Craves, maybe a light-headedness? Needs, perhaps a shave and a waxing? What I noticed was that headed past the graveyard, Decker stayed way on the opposite side of the Kill. Probably she was thinking: “and I alone have escaped to tell …[of sixth boro life in the 1930s and 1940s].”
First foto by frogma; all others by Will Van Dorp.
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