Redbird Reef — Subway Cars, Fish and Hurricanes

Redbird Reef lies sixteen miles out in the Atlantic Ocean from the Indian River inlet, near the ominously named Slaughter Beach, Delaware.  One of three explanations for the town’s name is that the first postmaster was William Slaughter. Likewise, while many … Continue reading

Rocking the Boat in Hunts Point — Where Boats Build Kids

I recently learned about Rocking the Boat, a wonderful organization in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx, one of the five boroughs of the City of New York.  Since 1998, the after-school program has been teaching neighborhood kids to build wooden boats. In … Continue reading

New York City — Once The City of Ships

Sometime during the Civil War, the poet Walt Whitman wrote a poem about New York City, titled “The City of Ships.” The first stanzas begin: City of ships! (O the black ships! O the fierce ships! O the beautiful, sharp-bow’d … Continue reading

Labor Day Festivities – Festival of Sail in San Diego and 21st Annual Great North River Tug Boat Race and Competition in New York

Great activities on the water, on both coasts, this Labor Day weekend. In San Diego, the annual Festival of Sail began yesterday with a Parade of Sail and continues through Monday with lots of great activities. as described by San Diego … Continue reading

Space Shuttle Enterprise Arrives in New York

The Space Shuttle Enterprise arrived in New York today on its way to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.   The Shuttle Enterprise rode piggy-back on a NASA 747, flying a loop over the Hudson River before landing at Kennedy Airport.  The shuttle will … Continue reading

In Blistering Heat Wave, Sewage Plant Fire Keeps New Yorkers Away from the Water

The timing could not have been worse. In the midst of a blistering heat wave in New York City, what has been described as a “catastrophic fire” at the North River Waste Water Treatment plant yesterday allowed millions of gallons of … Continue reading

Collision between New York City Fireboats Firefighter II and 343

In  a lawsuit  a whistleblower is charging that New York City’s new $27 million Fireboat 343, named after the number of New York firefighters killed on 9/11, was damaged in a storm last winter when sideswiped by another fireboat, the Firefighter II, … Continue reading

Happy New Year – New York & Key West Style: Crystal Ball, Conch Shell, Pirate Wench & Drag Queen

In New York City tonight, just on the other side of the Hudson River from where I am now typing, roughly one million people gather  in Times Square to watch a crystal ball being dropped on exactly midnight to celebrate the … Continue reading

City of Water Day 2010 – Celebrating the New York City Waterfront

New York City is metropolis of eight million organized into five boroughs, four of which are islands or are on islands.   This Saturday, the 3rd Annual City of Water Day Festival will be hosted by the Metropolitan Waterfront  Alliance to help remind … Continue reading

The General Slocum Tragedy

One hundred and six years ago today, June 15th, 1904, the  Paddle Steamer General Slocum caught fire in the East River and burned killing an estimated 1,021 of the 1,342 people on board.  The steamer was carrying members of St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church … Continue reading