The fall is an exciting time, not purely because the leaves are turning into a rainbow of colors, but because the Heroes of the Harbor are celebrated and the weather is perfect for the NYC Ferry team to explore our future neighborhoods with local experts. From a charity dinner to a walking tour with Turnstile Tours, this is what the NYC Ferry has explored and experienced this week!
Heroes of the Harbor
October 5th, 2016
Once a year the Waterfront Alliance honors members of the New York and New Jersey waterfront community, to celebrate and recognize the year’s Heroes of the Harbor. The Heroes, with “their unique contributions to making the New York Harbor and waterfront an exceptional place to live, work, and play” are honored with personalized buoys for their forward thinking solutions and creative ways of using and repurposing the waterfront for the local New York and New Jersey communities. The heroes celebrated in 2016 were Paul Balser, Malcolm McLaren and +Pool.
This year, the charity event incorporating a Parade of Boats – ranging from sailboats to large ships – took place at Chelsea Piers’ “Lighthouse”, raising funds for children attending and enjoying Harbor Camp in New York City. The children’s program hosting thousands of children on the waterfront throughout the summer months and gives children and young teens in the metropolitan area a meaningful, yet splash and smile worthy summer camp experience.
The first celebrated hero, Paul Balser, was a founding trustee of the Waterfront Alliance has long been working for a more accessible waterfront, with the goal of exposing children to new things and new ideas by being on the water in the summer months at Harbor Camp. Similarly, Mr. McLaren has been interested in the New York waterfront for decades, since he dove deep into the depths of the murky harbor nearly 40 years ago. At 25, McLaren started a marine engineering firm, and is today working to improve public access to the waterfront, especially to inspire children to use the waterfront more.
Finally, the newcomer in the maritime industry, +Pool, is an exciting project showing younger generations wishing to contribute to the use of the waterfront. With a plus sign shaped pool, equipped with walls that will clean the East River as it cleans the water to swimmable pH levels, the +Pool upon its launch will not only assist cleaning the East River but also introduce the idea of swimmable waterfronts to New Yorkers!
Turnstile Tours: Brooklyn Navy Yard
October 7th, 2016
As part of NYC Ferry’s search for local experts in the future neighborhoods of service, the team continuously searches to learn about the past and present of the city’s areas from locals in each borough. This time, the trip went to the rich historic site of the Brooklyn Navy Yard with our new friends at Turnstile Tours.
Beginning the tour at BLDG92, currently a museum and welcome center “showcasing the history and innovation of the Brooklyn Navy Yard – from the Revolutionary War to the revolution in jobs and industry happening in New York City right now,” set a solid start to the tour with information on the Navy Yard’s importance in the 1800’s, through the wars, and into the services the 4 million square feet of space serve today. Today, the on-site employment center assists locals in finding internships, part- and full-time job opportunities in fields ranging from iron casting to TV production on the premises, with a goal of more than doubling the current 7,000 jobs at the Navy Yard to 16,000 jobs by 2020.
The “Inside Industry Tour” highlighted the architecture month of October, widely known as #Archtober, with a deep dive into one of the Navy Yard’s current residents: Ferra Designs. The design company, known for its impeccable metal designs cut with both heat and water lasers, creates custom designs for some of the highest priced apartment complexes and office buildings in New York City. CEO and Owner of Ferra Designs then showed how the former navy shipyard’s engine room has become the perfect house to host the company’s production line consisting of some 25 design professionals, and further explained the importance of reusing the space for today’s emerging companies of all trades.
With an informative tour hosted by Cindy and Andrew at Turnstile Tours, the hours spent discovering the Brooklyn Navy Yard with Ferra Designs and the #Archtober group, was intriguing, educational and packed with great facts – from the short fun facts to historical moments that took place at the iconic Brooklyn shipyard.
