Waterpod to Staten Island

Waterpod, the 30-by-100-foot self-sustaining (more or less) eco-barge/art project, makes landfall Tuesday in New Brighton with a welcome party thrown by the Council on the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island and SIcoLab happening later in the week.

First Annual New York Harbor Festival of Lights

Holiday Boat Parade
a project of the Working Harbor Committee

Crew tears out remnants of old NY river fort

Crews dredging PCBs from the Hudson River on Friday ripped away remnants of what was once Britain’s largest fort in Colonial America, a mistake that incensed local officials who had feared the cleanup project would damage such relics in the area.

Fears Rise Over Health of Fishers Who Eat Toxic Bay Ridge Fish

While summertime fiction stories exploit the fear of sharks in the water, the year-round facts are that most fish caught in our city waters contain toxins that can seriously damage people’s health.

Life, Art and Chickens, Afloat in the Harbor

ABOARD THE WATERPOD, in New York Harbor

State caught in ‘Superflop’

The Paterson administration has backed away from its surprise call last year to have the federal government lead a Superfund clean-up of the Gowanus Canal — and now says the Environmental Protection Agency should “carefully review” an alternate proposal from Mayor Bloomberg for decontaminating the waterway.

DEC: Careful review of Gowanus alternative needed

 The agency that initially requested the feds to include the Gowanus Canal in the Superfund program is now advising careful consideration of the city’s alternative clean-up plan.

PUSH FOR SI FERRY CARS

Honk if you love the ferry.

Corruption Found at Waterfront Watchdog

The Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, created in the 1950s to break the mob’s grip on the docks, became its own bastion of lawlessness, employing some of the same corrupt, self-serving methods as the gangsters it was supposed to pursue, investigators said Tuesday in a scathing report.

Cleaner water off the Rockaways brings back fish, and some unwanted followers

In Gateway National Park at the western tip of Rockaway, a sandy peninsula that is part of Queens, a large, solitary tower overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. At first glance, it resembles the lifeguard towers on Rockaway Beach, a few miles to the east. Yet the resemblance is not exact. 

Across the Harbor, a Historic Gem

Many visits to Staten Island go like this: Ride the ferry from Lower Manhattan. Catch a free glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. Disembark. Take the next ferry back.

Move Over, High Line: Hudson River’s Pier 57 Looks Amazing

Officials announce a winning proposal to create a cultural center on Pier 57, adjacent to the city’s newest jewel.

Scientists Sail to Pacific Plastic Garbage Patch

It’s not your average garbage dump: Out in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean lies the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” an area of open sea hundreds of miles across littered with floating bits of plastic debris.

New York City joins the Netherlands for NY400 Week

The occasion will highlights the water-related problems for urban area like the Netherlands and New York City.

Ask About Sailing in New York

This week, Bob Roistacher, the chairman of the New York City Community Sailing Association — which offers affordable sailing lessons, racing, cruising and day sailing — will respond to readers’ questions about sailing in New York harbor.

Harboring Doubts

To begin with, Kazan’s story revolved entirely around the 1950s NY harbor docks, and was based upon a twenty-something piece exposé published in the New York Sun.

Nathan’s Famous on Coney Island could be saved by landmark status

Nathan’s Famous at Surf and Stillwell Aves. in Coney Island has been an unofficial landmark for decades,

NOAA report: Saltwater angling a sign of coastal vitality

Saltwater recreational fishing continued to provide important economic benefits to America’s coastal communities in 2008,

Even Tiny Organisms Can Stir Up an Ocean

What gets the sea all riled up? Winds and tides do, certainly, but scientists have long wondered how the movement of fish and other organisms — even tiny ones, like zooplankton — might contribute to ocean mixing.

‘Landmark’ study suggests fishing stocks can rebound

It shows catch quotas, ocean zoning, and different fishing gear is helping to restore fisheries and their ecosystems. (Christian Science Monitor)