I started this venture last Saturday, June 4th, 2006. It was a Sunday afternoon and unfortunately I did not see too much true commercial traffic. Mostly pleasure boats and cruise boats. I saw the following:
1) NY Waterways, Empire State. I saw this one twice -- once when it was going downriver and once when it was coming back up. It was very full on its downriver trip but I think empty when it was coming back up. Ironically, the NY Waterways, Empire State is docked out of New Jersey. According to its website, NY Waterways was founded in 1986 by one Arthur E. Imperatore and family, although the use of ferries in New York harbor can be traced back to the 1800s. They run excursions as well as ferry service. Imperatore was a short-haul trucking magnate until he turned his attention to ferries, at a time when there had not been a ferry service in New York harbor for twenty years. Apparently the School of Arts and Sciences at Stevens Tech is named affter him.
I think most interesting was his plan for a Venice-on-the-Hudson between West New York and Weehawken. I'd like to get the original plans. It seems to me, that after a number of false starts and financial perils, it finally got off the ground. The whole thing is called "Port Imperial" and its tied in to the new ferry terminal owned by NY Waterways of same name. From what I've seen though, the developments look hardly venetian. They just looks like townhouses and apartment complexes on the water.
2) The Skyline Princess . This thing was seriously topheavy. According to their website, "Whether you are arranging a party for four or four hundred, the Skyline Princess is your perfect choice. We exceed your expectations - not your budget." Has anyone ever rented out the Skyline Princess for a party of four? Would the staff of the Skyline Princess really think that this is normal. What's worse is that I'm sure they'd have to pretend people did it all of the time. Entirely normal. It looks like they are based out of Flushing: the World's Fair Marina .
Robert Moses , commissioner of NYC Parks and then President of the World's Fair, waxing on the philosophy of infrastructure, said "but what finally remains in the ground when the pageant has faded…and the park planners have gone to work is of more concern to the next generation than any spectacle, however gorgeous." Moses left an indelible fingerprint on New York City -- at one time he had twelve positions at the same time (at both the state and the local levels). He was instrumental in the construction of the Triborough Bridge, the Throgs Neck, the Whitestone, and the Verrazono Bridges, as well as the Belt Parkway, the BQE and the Cross-Bronx Expressway. Scrapped projects include a bridge that would have spanned the Sound between Long Island and Rye in West Chester (which may have been a good idea) and also a bridge in place of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (which was a horrible idea). According to some sources, Moses, upset that FDR had caused the Navy to exert its veto power against the project, retaliated by dismantling the Aquarium that had been located inside Castle Clinton (a fort, which was originally an island in New York Harbor, but was engulfed by Manhattan by landfill eventually) due to the Tunnel. Apparently, public outcry stopped him from destroying both Castle Clinton AND the Aquarium, but he closed the Aquarium and reopened it on Coney Island 15 years later, plunking it down on top of the ashes of Dreamland, perhaps making a statement about the "tawdry" entertainment found in Coney Island and perhaps about the Tammany bosses that helped create Dreamland in the first place. To many, Moses single-handedly turned the City into a polluted, uncaring mess. To others, Moses had little to do with it: it would have happened anwyay. Apparently, this is a debate raging in the sociology of technology.
Anyways, perhaps the most interesting thing about the Worlds Fair Marina is that the 1964 World's fair was a rogue fair. It was unsanctioned by the organization that sanctions these sorts of things, the Bureau of International Expositions . It doesn't seem like the ramifications of proceeding unsanctioned are too severe. There seem to be restrictions on how often countries can host a World's Fair.
3) The Half Moon . Seems like a fishing boat turned "party boat". This one came careening up the river, nearly running into the shore. Didn't look like anyone was on it. I like their website because it has an "In the News" where the headline of one news story was, "Bid a Fond Farewell to Your High School Days with an All-Inclusive Prom Night Cruise" concluding with "Trust Marco Polo Cruises when you want to plan a different and much-talked-about prom night." I'm not sure if there is any way that this can be characterized as a news story.
1) NY Waterways, Empire State. I saw this one twice -- once when it was going downriver and once when it was coming back up. It was very full on its downriver trip but I think empty when it was coming back up. Ironically, the NY Waterways, Empire State is docked out of New Jersey. According to its website, NY Waterways was founded in 1986 by one Arthur E. Imperatore and family, although the use of ferries in New York harbor can be traced back to the 1800s. They run excursions as well as ferry service. Imperatore was a short-haul trucking magnate until he turned his attention to ferries, at a time when there had not been a ferry service in New York harbor for twenty years. Apparently the School of Arts and Sciences at Stevens Tech is named affter him.
I think most interesting was his plan for a Venice-on-the-Hudson between West New York and Weehawken. I'd like to get the original plans. It seems to me, that after a number of false starts and financial perils, it finally got off the ground. The whole thing is called "Port Imperial" and its tied in to the new ferry terminal owned by NY Waterways of same name. From what I've seen though, the developments look hardly venetian. They just looks like townhouses and apartment complexes on the water.
2) The Skyline Princess . This thing was seriously topheavy. According to their website, "Whether you are arranging a party for four or four hundred, the Skyline Princess is your perfect choice. We exceed your expectations - not your budget." Has anyone ever rented out the Skyline Princess for a party of four? Would the staff of the Skyline Princess really think that this is normal. What's worse is that I'm sure they'd have to pretend people did it all of the time. Entirely normal. It looks like they are based out of Flushing: the World's Fair Marina .
Robert Moses , commissioner of NYC Parks and then President of the World's Fair, waxing on the philosophy of infrastructure, said "but what finally remains in the ground when the pageant has faded…and the park planners have gone to work is of more concern to the next generation than any spectacle, however gorgeous." Moses left an indelible fingerprint on New York City -- at one time he had twelve positions at the same time (at both the state and the local levels). He was instrumental in the construction of the Triborough Bridge, the Throgs Neck, the Whitestone, and the Verrazono Bridges, as well as the Belt Parkway, the BQE and the Cross-Bronx Expressway. Scrapped projects include a bridge that would have spanned the Sound between Long Island and Rye in West Chester (which may have been a good idea) and also a bridge in place of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (which was a horrible idea). According to some sources, Moses, upset that FDR had caused the Navy to exert its veto power against the project, retaliated by dismantling the Aquarium that had been located inside Castle Clinton (a fort, which was originally an island in New York Harbor, but was engulfed by Manhattan by landfill eventually) due to the Tunnel. Apparently, public outcry stopped him from destroying both Castle Clinton AND the Aquarium, but he closed the Aquarium and reopened it on Coney Island 15 years later, plunking it down on top of the ashes of Dreamland, perhaps making a statement about the "tawdry" entertainment found in Coney Island and perhaps about the Tammany bosses that helped create Dreamland in the first place. To many, Moses single-handedly turned the City into a polluted, uncaring mess. To others, Moses had little to do with it: it would have happened anwyay. Apparently, this is a debate raging in the sociology of technology.
Anyways, perhaps the most interesting thing about the Worlds Fair Marina is that the 1964 World's fair was a rogue fair. It was unsanctioned by the organization that sanctions these sorts of things, the Bureau of International Expositions . It doesn't seem like the ramifications of proceeding unsanctioned are too severe. There seem to be restrictions on how often countries can host a World's Fair.
3) The Half Moon . Seems like a fishing boat turned "party boat". This one came careening up the river, nearly running into the shore. Didn't look like anyone was on it. I like their website because it has an "In the News" where the headline of one news story was, "Bid a Fond Farewell to Your High School Days with an All-Inclusive Prom Night Cruise" concluding with "Trust Marco Polo Cruises when you want to plan a different and much-talked-about prom night." I'm not sure if there is any way that this can be characterized as a news story.
posted by A @ 11:15 AM
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