Here’s a pictorial review of City of Water Day.
This is the tug Pegasus, heading toward Erie Basin or Gowanus Bay on a tour:
Karen got this dramatic shot of the Mary A. Whalen and one of American Stevedoring’s gantry cranes:
They’re one of the companies keeping the working waterfront working.
Here’s another shot of Puffin, secure at Pier 101. That’s Karen standing in the stern:
There was an exhibit on Governors Island discussing the role of the oyster in the ecological and commercial history of New York City. It also explained the efforts to bring the oyster back to New York Harbor. Accompanying the exhibit was a small oyster shell midden:
To learn more about oysters and New York City I highly recommend Mark Kurlansky’s The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell. (Yes, I know. That’s the second time I’ve recommended a Kurlansky book. I’m not on his payroll; I just really like his stuff.)
The scene at the boat landing:
This plaque commemorates the purchase of Governors Island by Wouter van Twiller in 1637. The remarkable thing about the plaque is that it mentions the names of the two Manahatas from whom the island was purchased:
Here’s good old Wouter (second from left, I’m guessing):
I wonder what “two axe heads, a string of beads and a handful of nails” would buy today.
The tug Cornell passes the Brooklyn waterfront:
Governors Island is also hosting various art installations. This is one—made up of light and smoke—inside the chapel:
For a lot more information about Governors Island, and particularly for some fantastic historic maps and images (including one of Wilbur Wright taking off), go to the Web site of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC).
And if you, like us, would like docking for recreational boaters to be part of Governors Island’s future, please let GIPEC know.
For more pictures from me and Karen, visit my web gallery.
