An Island in the Hudson, Plundered in Search of Indian Artifacts

For more than 3,000 years, this alluring isle of stone in the Hudson River north of present-day Kingston has beckoned strangers.

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

A fish farmer brought oysters to buyers in Yuxi, a town in Fuqing County, Fujian.

Here in southern China, beneath the looming mountains of Fujian Province, lie dozens of enormous ponds filled with murky brown water and teeming with eels, shrimp and tilapia, much of it destined for markets in Japan and the West.

Frank O. Braynard, Ship Maven, Dies at 91

Meyer Liebowitz/The New York Times

Frank O. Braynard organized four gatherings of old ships in New York, most notably in 1976.

Frank O. Braynard, the organizer of Operation Sail, the historic 1976 gathering of tall ships in New York Harbor that heralded the start of the city’s recovery, died Monday in Glen Cove, N.Y. He was 91 and lived nearby in Sea Cliff, N.Y.

WATERFRONT ACCESS BILL NEEDS CONGRESSIONAL CO-SPONSORS

Increasingly, recreational boat marinas and launch ramps, repair yards, commercial fish docks, bait shops and other water-dependent businesses are being pushed off the waterfront as a result of residential development pressures, skyrocketing tax burdens and shortsighted planning. But a bill now in Congress, H.R. 3223, would provide federal funding to coastal and Great Lakes states to help preserve and expand water access and protect working waterfronts.

Helping to Preserve Brooklyn’s Waterfront, Council Votes to Landmark Former Domino Sugar Refinery

At the Stated Council meeting of Tuesday, December 11th, the City Council voted to landmark the former Domino Sugar Refinery, one the most widely recognized symbols of Brooklyn’s industrial waterfront.

Albany: Nominee for Waterfront Commissioner

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has nominated Ronald Goldstock to be New York State’s commissioner on the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, a bistate agency that certifies dockworkers and polices the waterfront.

DEP’s fresh idea stinks up Ridge

Move over Dior, Chanel, and Ellen Tracy, the Department of Environmental Protection has unleashed a new perfume just in time for the holiday season and residents are giving it a big “thumbs up” — up their noses to plug up the stench.

Scientists: Seaweed Could Stem Warming

Slimy, green and unsightly, seaweed and algae are among the humblest of plants.

A group of scientists at a climate conference in Bali say they could also be a potent weapon against global warming, capable of sucking damaging carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere at rates comparable to the mightiest rain forests.

CHANGING NYC: Proposed high rises could dwarf UN building

The United Nations is one of New York’s most recognizable landmarks, a sleek modern slab that has soared above its more modest-sized East River neighbors for more than half a century.

But a proposal for seven slender glass towers just south of the U.N. complex could dwarf the 39-story Secretariat _ and, residents say, strain the largely residential Manhattan neighborhood known for its quaint Tudor-style apartment buildings.

City Living: Columbia St. Waterfront, Brooklyn

The Dutch dubbed it Red Mills, old timers call it Red Hook, real estate brokers describe it as “Carroll Gardens West,” and newcomers have given it the clunky designation, “Columbia Street Waterfront District.” Whatever you call it, this little (literal) slice of South Brooklyn can’t quite be thrown in with its neighbors to the south or east.

RFA LOBBIES FOR FISHERIES

LOCAL politicians and representa tives of recreational anglers testified before Congress last week that changes need to be made in the rebuilding of our fisheries.

The Girl Beneath the Gilding

ANDREA GEYER, a German-born artist, would later describe her first encounter with the famous statue as a moment of intimacy between two living beings. It was the spring of 2004, and Ms. Geyer was starting a residency in a studio on the 33rd floor of the Woolworth Building.

Look Homeward, Angels

Jeff Swensen for The New York Times

JUST before midnight on Nov. 3, a white truck pulled up to the Frank Viola Homing Pigeon Club, on a dark and quiet stretch of Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island. The air was cold and smelled faintly of the sea. Two men hopped out of the truck. One opened its rear doors. The other approached a handful of older men who were standing in the street. “How many you got tonight?” the man asked.

Fish-Flavored Fish

As stocks of ocean-caught fish dwindle in the face of overfishing and environmental changes, farmed fish has flooded the market, helping to meet our growing appetite for seafood. But one sector of the seafood industry has remained elusive. Fast-food restaurants, which serve hundreds of millions of deep-fried-fish sandwiches every year, have always chosen wild species over farmed ones, because the flavor is better.

Tompkinsville, S.I.

DURING the morning rush, commuters from the rest of Staten Island, bound for offices in Manhattan and elsewhere, exit the Staten Island Railway at Tompkinsville, a stop before the ferry terminal in St. George, and head out to the street in droves.

Authorities Investigate a Watchdog of the Docks

The Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, an agency created more than 50 years ago to root out corruption on the docks that was immortalized by Marlon Brando, is itself now at the center of a wide-ranging investigation.

New towers to raise Brooklyn’s skyline

Here’s lookin’ at you, Brooklyn.

From Williamsburg to downtown Brooklyn and beyond, neighborhoods across the ­borough are watching new buildings rise so high that they could soon give Manhattan’s famed skyline a run for its money.

Ikea offers job training in Red Hook

With six months to go before the Red Hook Ikea is slated to open, the home furnishing giant has been quietly providing area residents with free job and computer-training classes.

Is a ferry feasible?

Board members passed a resolution supporting a “feasibility study” for ferry service in Riverdale

A ferry treasure trove in the works

Come 2011, when tourists ride the Staten Island Ferry, they’ll have one more reason to get off once they arrive on these shores: Museum space dedicated to the most famous ferry in America, within walking distance of the St. George terminal.