Ocean liners still rule the seas

Created in the 19th century, eclipsed in the 20th, ocean liners have survived to enthrall passengers into the 21st.

Fetal Exposure to Two Toxins Can Increase Epileptic Seizures

Exposure to two environmental poisons—DDT and domoic acid–during brain development can increase the number of epileptic seizures and their intensity in a laboratory model for human epilepsy, according to a report by NOAA scientists.

The Recession Takes Down a Yacht Club

It’s safe to say that before this economic collapse runs its course, there will be many sadder stories than the demise of the Knickerbocker Yacht Club.

Insuring Homes Near the Water in New York

In New York, particularly on Long Island in Nassau County, Suffolk County, Queens County, Brooklyn County, and Richmond County in Staten Island, homeowners may be faced with the prospect of trying to obtain home insurance

Joe Sitt Happy To Get Going in Red Hook, Mum on Coney

At least that’s the main point the largest Coney Island landholder impressed upon me Tuesday afternoon when I bumped into him after a Brooklyn Historical Society real estate luncheon.

In Gowanus, City Wants 3,200 New Neighbors for Charming Canal

The Bloomberg administration has released new details about its planned rezoning of the area surrounding the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, currently noted for the unappealing industrial sites that dominate the neighborhood.

CB 1 approves city plans for store parking, waterfront acreage

Waterfront acreage and store parking lots wouldn’t seem to have much in common.

Oceana to get bigger

With a single dissenting voice, Community Board 13 approved a planned expansion of the Oceana housing complex in Brighton Beach.

Where the Sea Air Meets Its Match

The M/V North River, a twin-screw tanker out of Brooklyn, steamed past Rikers Island, swung to port, then slipped into its mooring in Hunts Point, in the Bronx.

Governors Island’s future as a tourist attraction in jeopardy due to budget

More than 125,000 people took the ferry last year to Governors Island for summer concerts, free bike rides on carless paths, and breathtaking views of New York Harbor.

Additional $20M Stimulus Money for The Brooklyn Navy Yard

The Bloomberg administration appears to be fast-tracking federal stimulus money for the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Beer Distributor Makes a Deal to Move to Two Piers in Red Hook

One of the city’s largest beer distributors has reached a tentative agreement to move to two piers on the waterfront in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where the distributor, stevedores and government officials hope to revive and expand once-bustling cargo operations.

A Haunting Presence: Pirates, Then and Now

Indeed that was an apt and true reply which was given
To Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized.
For when that king asked the man what he meant by keeping
Hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride,
‘What thou meant by seizing the whole earth; but
because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, while
thou dost it with a Great fleet art styled emperor-

– Saint Augustine

Maritime Industry Museum tackles Project H.O.P.E.

A museum that has been free and open to the public since it was first founded in 1986 has a new exhibit honoring those who sailed around the world and provided medical attention to people in developing countries.

7, not 11, on the waterfront

Before ever moving to Red Hook’s Pier 11, Phoenix Beverages has already been reborn – on nearby Pier 7, this paper has learned.  The city’s Economic Development Corporation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, American Stevedoring International, the container terminal that currently occupies Pier 7, and Phoenix have hammered out a bombshell deal that would bring the region’s largest beer distributor to Pier 7, according to information received by this paper. 

When Diners Pick Up Stakes, and Vintage New York Is Lost

Now that an Alabama couple have purchased the Cheyenne Diner on Ninth Avenue and 33rd Street, they say they are eyeing the historic Ridgewood Theater in Queens, which played movies from 1916 until it closed last year.

Plan would let island buildings burn for 30 minutes

Fires on Governors Island could burn unchecked for half an hour or more before help arrives.

Ferry Islander to be auctioned on eBay

The ultimate Martha’s Vineyard souvenir will soon be available on eBay, but the shipping and handling costs will likely be considerable. The corporation responsible for Governors Island in New York City announced it would put the former Steamship Authority (SSA) ferry Islander on the Internet auction block.

Gov. Island budget cuts halt university expansion

The Governors Island ferry may be slowing down soon and with it, NYU’s plans for expansion.

To grow the greenest jobs, invest in N.Y.C. public parks

Seventy years ago, when this nation suffered its last great economic crisis, New York City was transformed with Works Progress Administration support for major construction projects. Through the WPA, hardworking New Yorkers built bridges, tunnels and highways – but it was the investment in parks, swimming pools, playgrounds and public open space that most profoundly changed the face of the city.