The sea calls!

The best part of living in Coney Island was the easy access to the water. Gravesend Bay to the north, the Narrows to the west, the open Atlantic to the south and Sheepshead Bay to the east. Surrounded by water. My mother's apartment looked out onto the ocean from 13 floors above the ground. It didn't take long for my brothers and I to find a deep interest in the ocean.

The most exciting thing I recall seeing afloat was not the great ocean liners like the QE ll or the Staatendam, but the steam powered floating derrick "Century." The crane was built in the early 1960's for Raymond International, successor to the venerable Meritt Chapman & Scott Corporation. The crane boasted a lifting capacity of 600 tons, and boy, did it look the part!

The first time I remember seeing it was while playing a game of punchball on the beach one summer. It came into view from around Norton Point, and I stood frozen by the sight. Steam trailing out of the stacks, huge boom lofted into the air, enormous block and tackle at the ready. The tug towing the rig was the "Timothy McAllister." The Timothy regularly towed the derrick to her assignments when I was young. It was love at first sight. Huge equipment moving slowly amid the droves of pleasure boats and sailboats that suddenly seemed to be of no consequence. Here was something worth looking into.

It was then that I knew what path I'd take.

In 1978 my mother took us to the Statue of Liberty. I finally got to see the harbor tugboats up close. From the pier on Liberty Island I could see the McAllister yard, on the shore of where Liberty State Park now is (before McAllister was kicked out to Staten Island). I remember seeing the tug "McAllister Bros." tying up at a pier next to an old covered barge with the words "McAllister Feeder Service." I was in heaven.

Amtrak Rolling In The Dough!!!

Whoa! It seems that President Bush has finally folded under a two-party assault. Major loss of points here. He has authorized a whopping $13 billion subsidy for Amtrak, in order to step up the maintenence and repair of existing rail infrastructure for Amtrak.

I am sure other industries would like to enjoy that kind of treatment. The taxpayers will be pouring $2.5 billion each year over a five year period to keep Amtrak rolling. Amtrak was one of the jumbo rail organizations (along with Conrail) that sprung up in the 1970's after the complete financial collapse of the nation's railroads along the northeastern seaboard. Conrail was said to be one of the few government managed units that actually made a profit. I believe the Postal service is the other entity that stays in the black.

Conrail was divested by the government in a much more understandable fashion. Instead of pumping it full of money, the government sold the Conrail system to two commercial concerns; CSX and Norfolk Southern.

Amtrak, for some reason, has not been sold off and continues to suckle on the taxpayer teat. The government should get out of the railroad business, and let Amtrak be taken over by one of the existing rail carriers.

After the ridiculous $700 billion financial bailout of the mis-managed financial sector, now we are ready to send an additional $13 billion to Amtrak. Our continued support of such losers makes no sense.

Shame on you George W.

New Hudson River Tunnel: Coming At Last?

Breaking news reveals that New Jersey Transit has just approved final funding for the design of the ARC (Access to the Region's Core) tunnel project. This project will finally realize the construction of two new train tunnels to serve New York's Penn Station at 34th Street.

It's estimated that the existing tunnels (nearing their 100th anniversary - thank you Pennsylvania Railroad!) will handle 44 million passengers traveling between New Jersey and New York this year. The new tunnels (estimated project cost of $7.6 billion - yes billion) are going to effectively double the capacity of New Jersey Transit, and allow for a large increase in single-seat, no transfer needed, commute between the neighboring states. How sweet it is!

Construction is supposed to begin sometime next year, with the tunnels coming on line in 2017. Boy, when I was a child, I thought we'd surely be living on the moon in the year 2017! Not yet; we're still digging away under the riverbed.

Finally, the city's dreams of having heightened utilization of its mass transit infrastructure will come to pass. If I'm not mistaken, this is the biggest capital improvement in New York City since what, the Verazanno Bridge in 1964? Ridiculous "progress" history for the greatest city in the world.

And no, the Waterfalls don't count as a capital project.

So long, waterfalls!

Love 'em or hate 'em, their outta here! Since early July, anyone walking, driving or floating around the New York waterfront saw the bewildering visage of a clutter of scaffolding perched on the water's edge, while a torrent of water flowed down from the top. the Waterfalls On New York was a public art display utilizing four man made waterfalls pumping water from the East River.

Okay, so they worked 5 out of 7 days a week, and when viewed on a windy day, they looked like someone's overflowing bathtub. They were kind of neat to see at night, and, supposedly, they generated some $150 million in revenue for the city, by spurring tourism, hot dog sales, coffee purchases, etc., etc. One big plus is that you didn't see people walking around wearing annoying foam "waterfall" hats, akin to those seen coming off of the Liberty Island ferry.


For a while, they caused quite a commotion. As an excursion boat captain, I got to hear numerous opinions on them. Most frequently, there were "oohs" and "aahhs" when people marveled at them from a distance. However, upon bringing the people up close to these structures, most started shrugging and asking the person next to them, "Is that all there is to them?" A favorite question by one part spectator was, (and you better believe this) "Are these waterfalls man-made?"

I guess one person's waterfall is another person's construction scaffold. But it's okay. Sometimes I think any attention to the waterfront can lead to good things.

So today I saw a crane being nudged up alongside the Governor's Island waterfall tower, as they begin dismantling the structures. Hardly a day was wasted, as they wrapped up their display this past Monday.

Now it appears that attention is being diverted to the planned creation of "Brooklyn Bridge Park," which is to convert piers 7-11 along the waterfront of Brooklyn Heights, to a public recreation area and greenway. But tonight it's too late to weigh in on what I feel is the latest move in strangling what could be a viable industrial waterfront. I'm saving up my steam for the next post, so stick around!

Coney Island - a stream of conscience

I have a deep, inseparable and genuine love for Coney Island. I was born in Coney Island Hospital during the city's g(l)ory days of 1968. My family first lived on Canal Avenue just outside of Sea Gate at Coney's western end. We then moved to an apartment building (nee projects) on Mermaid Avenue. Finally, we settled in O'Dwyer Gardens on Surf Avenue and 33rd Street in 1976. My mother still lives there.

I moved out of Brooklyn in the early 1990's to make a living at sea. But I always returned when I could. I still return. How can you not when you've shared a past with such a historic community.

These days I hear people talking (foaming) about their walk-up in Chelsea, or their brownstone in Brooklyn Heights or wherever. Sometimes I think about my childhood...throwing snowballs at each other in a half-lit deserted playground behind P.S. 188 in the early winter dusk...walking from 33rd Street all the way to Sheepshead Bay along the boardwalk to try to get a job on one of the Bay's head boats...Buying the prized pink "Spaldeen" (for you Facebook-generationers out there, go look up Spaldeen on your Wilkipedia) from Jack's discount store on the corner of Stillwell and Mermaid. Nah, you can keep your nuveau (did I spell that right?) hip diggs in Williamsburg (place was an industrial dump when I was a kid, fun to explore, but a dump). I'll never want to trade anyone for my years in C.I.

Good afternoon...

Everyone is invited in here for a cup of joe, a day-old copy of the Daily News, and a place to sit by the pot belly stove.

I am interested to hear your coments on all things pertaining to the waterfront of New York Harbor. Subjects such as the "Waterfalls on New York", the Ikea development in Erie Basin, Red Hook, the development of waterfront Williamsburg are all worth talking about. Whatever side of the fence you happen to be on, let me know what you are thinking.