MWA News

A Digest of the Doings of the New York’s Metropolitan Watefront Alliance

By Carter Craft and Ethan Yankowitz
Edited by John Bollinger

The Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance on Increased Ferry Service

This is a huge step because it strengthens the waterfront hubs on each shore of Lower Manhattan.  But we also need to address the opportunity the waterways provide to make connections between waterfront communities on opposite banks of the Hudson, but along every waterway in the region such as Lower New York Bay, the East River, and Long Island Sound.
More options for commuters is critical to supporting Downtown’s recovery, but it’s also important that we find ways to move goods such as express packages and air freight between the various commercial centers of the region.

Waterfront Open-Mike Night

Nearly a hundred policy makers, ferry operators, advocates and planners crowded a City Council hearing room on March 7th to testify before the Select Committee on Waterfronts of the New York City Council. Public Officials ranging from DOT Commissioner Weinshall to business leaders such as Jim Whalen from MetroTech/ Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce spoke enthusiastically in support of efforts to expand ferry service in the region. MWA offered our own testimony as well as nearly 50 emails, letters, and faxes from passengers and participating organizations including the Women’s City Club, RiverKeeper, and the North Shore Waterfront Coalition.

Most interesting in the hearing was the description by George Cancro of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey of the agency¹s numerous ferry initiatives including: a new ferry route along the Hudson from Yonkers to Manhattan. Improvements underway at Hoboken and Newport in Jersey City and the south shore of Staten Island to Manhattan
DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall reported that the City was supportive of the Brooklyn ferry, and that a private ferry operator would be sought to pick up the route once FEMA funding runs out later this winter or spring.  Jim Whalen of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce detailed that there was great interest in creating direct ferry links between Brooklyn and Staten Island, as well as Brooklyn and Jersey City.

For a copy of MWA’s testimony please email carter@waterwire.net and put “Testimony” in the subject line.

Passionately Prosaic on the Passaic

In the 1950s, poet William Carlos Williams called the Passaic River “The vilest swillhole in Christendom.” It’s no wonder: Factories dotting the shoreline dumped dyes and other waste products for decades, leaving it contaminated with factory effluvia like dioxins, PCB’s, lead, mercury, as well as sewage treatment byproducts.
Today it’s still a sick river to many, better placed firmly out of mind. But to Leigh Hermey, president of the Nereid Boat Club in Rutherford, the Passaic, which flows from the pristine New Jersey Highlands to Newark’s industrial heart, is a little piece of heaven. “The rowing on the Passaic River is fantastic,” says Hermey, citing long stretches of calm water and virtually zero motorized boat traffic.

His colleague Robert Kluck is equally smitten, but he remembers the old days. “When I grew up in Clifton in the 1970s,” he says, “the river was a bad joke.” Kluck notes that a Star Ledger article referred to the river as New Jersey’s most crossed river, referring to its multiple crossings by the Garden State Parkway, the Turnpike, and Routes 3,46, and 80. “To most of the people who cross over the river, it is invisible,” he says.

But not to Ella Filippone, of the Passaic River Coalition. To Filippone, the 935-acre Passaic River watershed a source of drinking water for 2 million North Jersey residents‹is a giant fix-it project. “In 1970 it was a pit,” she says of the river. “It’s improving now.”
Filippone supports the Army Corps of Engineer’s plan to dredge the contaminated sediment in the lower part of the river, from Dundee Dam to Newark Bay. One school of thought says the old sediment should be capped, she says. “But to me there’s nothing like a good housecleaning.”

If this housecleaning happens, it won’t be for another 10 years, says Filippone, who’s frustrated by the slow pace of change. She keeps on the Corps by meeting with them periodically and says Senator Robert Torricelli “yells and screams” for her when doesn’t receive a requested report from the Corps.

Filippone has had her successes. In 1995 her organization played a pivotal role in the NY/NJ decision to fend off development on a chunk of Passaic River watershed land, and create Sterling Forest State Park. Lately, she’s set her sights on the Passaic’s Great Falls, in Paterson. These falls are the second highest on the east coast next to Niagara, and have great potential. But this is another uphill battle. Area amenities consist of McDonalds, she says. “The area around the falls is depressing,” she adds, citing the weed-coved black fences placed around the falls by a previous mayor.

But signs of hope abound on the Passaic. “The wildlife is noticeably coming back,” says Hermey. “Our members have recently spotted osprey nests, herons, and healthy numbers of fish.” Hermey adds that interest in rowing on the Passaic is at an all-time high, for both youth and adult rowing programs.

People rowing on the Passaic truly see it, unlike those flying over it in a car at 70 mph, says Kluck. “They notice there is wildlife and beauty,” says Kluck, “and that it is not a swillhole anymore.”

The Passaic River Watershed Conference will be held on Wednesday, April 10th, at Silas Condict Park in Kinnelon, NJ. The event, sponsored by NJDEP’s Watershed Management Program, goes from 8:30 to noon. Breakfast will be served. Admission is free, but registration is required. Contact Allison Moehlis of the Passaic River Coalition at (908) 766-7550 to register.
The 3rd Annual Head of the Passaic Regatta will be held on Saturday, October 5, 2002 at Nereid Boat Club. This event is “recreation on the Passaic at its best! People come from Baltimore to Connecticut to row on thePassaic,” Hermey says.

April 03, 2002, Wednesday

12:00P
World Waterfronts: Rotterdam
Henk de Bruijn and Monique de Knegt of the strategic planning and research department of the Port of Rotterdam will be the guest speakers. Bring Brown Bag Lunch; drinks provided. The Urban Center, 457 Madison Avenue, NYC (between 50th and 51st Streets) Room opens at 12 noon, presentation begins at 12:30P
RSVP to MWA at 800-364-9943

April 05, 2002, Friday

9:00A
Waterfront 21C Brainstorming Session II: Waterborne Transit
MWA hosts the 2d Waterfront 21C brainstorming session: Making Waterborne Transit a Major Component in the Region’s Transportation System. Conservancy for Historic Battery Park Office, 1 New York Plaza, Plaza (lower) level. For more information, or to RSVP email info@waterwire.net

April 06, 2002, Saturday

Jersey Shore on the Hudson
Varied 13-mile walk along the rapidly changing New Jersey side of the Hudson River from Hoboken to George Washington Bridge. See exotic birds & boats. Stop for lunch in a diner. MEET: 9:30 AM at restaurant opposite PATH terminal, Hoboken. For more information call 212-686-5095 or see shorewalkers.org

9:00A - 12:30P
“Making a Difference”: An Environmental Commission Training Course
This couse is designed to provide practical information and project ideas that will assist commissions as the face the challenges of protecting their town’s natural resources. Paramus Township. For registration information, please contact the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) at 973-539-7547 or e-mail: anjecrc@aol.com

April 13, 2002, Saturday

8:00A - 5:00P
Environment 2002: Exciting Opportunities for Action
16th Nj Environmental Federation Conference at Princeton University’s New Friends Center, Princeton NJ. For more information see: Website or email: lleventhal@cleanwater.org

April 15, 2002, Monday

NJ County Transportation Association ”TransAction 2002" Conference
Largest state transportation conference in the US. The event of 60 transportation issue panels, and 100 exhibitors will be held in Atlantic City, NJ at the Tropicana Hotel Casino. For more information contact Frank Reilly, Chairman TransAction 2002, c/o Morris County DOT, POB 900,Morristown NJ 07963 or email: hjdip7@aol.com

April 17, 2002, Wednesday

HEP - Toxics Work Group
Contact: Contact: Bob Nyman 212-637-3809 for more information or see: www.harborestuary.org

April 20, 2002, Saturday

10:00A
All-Ages Earth Day Ride
Ride starts at 10am at 850 Grand Street Campus High School (corner of Bushwick and Grand, Brooklyn) or join us at tip of Manhattan at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal at 11:30am — Go Green NYC will be formally unveiled there! We’ll take the noon ferry to Staten Island, and continue to historic Fort Wadsworth, enjoying harbor views, Greenway bike paths and hilly Staten Island before returning via ferry and bridge bike paths at approximately 4pm). Co-sponsored by MWA (800.364.9943, Recycle-A Bicycle and Green Map System. Rain Date: April 21 info@waterwire.net

April 23, 2002, Tuesday

9:00P - 11:00P
America’s First River: Bill Moyers on the Hudson (part 1)
Bill Moyers, on a journey along the Hudson River, explores how it shaped American history & culture & inspired the environmental movement through interviews with historians, anglers, art collectors, working people, environmentalists, and industrialists, each with a unique relationship with the river, Bill Moyers reports on how colliding agendas have led the Hudson through a history as serpentine as its own course through the Catskills. On PBS; see local listings. For press info email: adina@kellysalerno.com

April 24, 2002, Wednesday

Introduction to Hazardous Waste Management
Two days. Fee. Rutgers, Cook College Campus, New Brunswick, NJ. To register call 732.932.9271 or see Registration Website

9:00P - 11:00P
America’s First River: Bill Moyers on the Hudson (part 2)

April 26, 2002, Friday

6:35P
Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater Picnic Fund Raiser
Prices are: Children 5 to 12 $20.00 - Adults $25.00. The price includes tickets to the game & an all you can eat buffet. Reservation & payments must be received by March 26, 2002. Send to: Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater, Inc.,POB 303, Red Bank NJ 07701, Attention: John Kapcar. For more information leave a message for John Kapcar at 732-872-9644 or email: blllhclearwater.

clearwaterbillh@verizon.net

9:30A
Ramapo River Watershed Conference 2002
Theme: geology of the 163 square-mile watershed with a particular focus on the sand & gravel valley-fill Ramapo/Mahwah Aquifer, heart of the federally listed Sole Source Aquifer area. York Room of the mansion at Ramapo College of New Jersey. For more information or to register (required) contact Geoff Welch at (854) 753-5634 or email: gwelch1@optonline.net

April 28, 2002, Sunday

1:00P
The Evolution of a Port: The Archeology of NY Harbor
The Professional Archeologists of New York City presents its 22nd annual public symposium. Museum of the City of New York. 1220 Fifth Avenue between 103d & 104th St. For more information call 212.534.1672 or see the Museum’s Website

11:00A - 5:00P
2nd Annual Poughkeepsie Shad Festival
Waryas Park on the Poughkeepsie Waterfront at the foot of Main St. Live Music, food, free taste of shad, educational exhibits, booths & exhibits by not-for-profit organizations, vendors & restaurants. Volunteers, not-profit organizations, musicians, entertainers, vendors of crafts, food, merchandise & restaurants are wanted & encouraged to sign up for space. Call 845.454.9649 or email: walkway@vh.net

12:00P
Walk for the River - Friends of Clearwater
Walk from South St. around the battery to the esplanade at Battery Park City. Meet again for folk music at 7:00P. Contact Steve Gradman at 718.282.8680 for more information.

2:00P - 5:00P
Natural Resources Protective Association Fundraiser
At the Muddy Cup Coffeehouse; Back Room, 388 Van Duzer Street (near corner of Beach St.), Stapleton, Staten Island Less than 10 minute bus ride from S.I. Ferry. Suggested Donation: $8. Pay at the door. For more information email birdsofdawn@yahoo.com

*The Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance is a growing network of organizations and concerned individuals dedicated to helping this region reclaim and reconnect to our greatest natural resource—the harbor, rivers and estuaries of the New York and New Jersey waterfront.