It's the 20th anniverary of 9/11. Related programs and info below. |
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Greetings!
So sorry for our silence. We’re stretched thin since we lost capacity during the pandemic (less funding, less pro bono help, no ship maintenance done by our partners at the painters' union while covid has their training program shut down).
We've been so busy doing, we haven't communicated.
We offer PROFUSE thanks to the 393 people who submitted comments to the Department of City Planning “Comprehensive Waterfront Plan” conveying that PortSide should finally get building space, right-sized space, and relief from suffocating red tape! We've made some progress on the latter; news coming soon...
393 is a strong show of support, and special thanks to those, so many of you, who added your own thoughts to our suggested message.
PortSide is determined to create the innovative maritime center we have planned since 2005, serving the working waterfront and general public with an active landing for vessels, building space and more.
We have quietly been fighting for that.
Having been denied, after years of private negotiations working within the system with the support of many elected officials, to get space the NYC EDC promised us and we merit, PortSide will pivot to new strategies. We have new allies in our effort, and you’ll hear about them and our own testimony to City Planning soon.
Right now, our focus is on disasters, now and 20 years ago, eg, the consequences of the two recent hurricanes and 9/11 where we have a lot to say about the mariner’s role responding to the attacks on that day and over the course of two years. Check out info on 9/11 programs below and a special opportunity to learn about the boatlift and raise money for us by buying a Classic Harbor Lines ticket here to observe Friday's flotilla and blessing of the fleet.
I hope you and yours got through the hurricanes safely.
My heart goes out to everyone impacted by 9/11 and to the many who still struggle with 9/11 after-effects. I understand. I and PortSide staff are in that cohort. It's a lot to handle on top of the pandemic.
Stay strong,
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Carolina Salguero
Founder & Executive Director
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Maritime 9/11 - programs
Tues, 9/6/21, 6 - 7:15 pm Discussion of the total maritime response to 9/11 including boatlift, firefighting, Ground Zero support, rubble removal and emergency ferries. Live on Zoom. You must register in advance here. FREE. Donations appreciated to support our ongoing work on this subject.
Wed, 9/7/21, 6 - 8pm, PortSide opening of an exhibit with banners on the fence next to the MARY A. WHALEN and in PortSide Park, plus video booth and reading material on the ship deck. The content on deck will be removed on rainy days. The exhibit will stay up until the Tunnel to Towers run on 9/26. You can visit without appointment from 10am to 9pm, 7 days a week.
Fri, 9/10/21 around noon. Flotilla and blessing of the fleet to honor the 9/11 boatlift. Observe this commemoration from shore reserving here or on 4 boats of Classic Harbor Line where 100% of ticket fees are donated to maritime education and preseration nonprofits, including us. Tickets that support PortSide can be bought here.
Educators: We are ready to take on discussing the mariners’ 9/11 story with children. Get in touch if your school is interested.
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PortSide 2021 Statement on maritime 9/11 response
PortSide is dedicated to telling the story of the epic, brave, and inventive ways mariners responded to 9/11. We have been doing it for years.
We’re pleased to report that more people outside the maritime world now seem to be finding this story, at least the boatlift part of it.
We say that because we are content experts, and in the build-up to 9/11's 20th anniversary, our webpage 9/11 Maritime Response prompted many to get in touch: media, educators, a children’s book author, and Spike Lee’s team. Spike interviewed Carolina Salguero for his HBO docuseries “NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021½” (streaming now) and some of her photos are used in Chapter 6 that covers the boatlift and events ashore.
Looking back over the 20 years since 9/11, City policy should reflect what the maritime 9/11 story tells us; but we see too few signs of this.
NYC remains inhospitable to local and visiting vessels, has not expanded berthing options much, has no maritime protection zoning, and does not often build the edge (waterfront infrastructure) in ways suited for maritime of any sort.
If you build for that, the infrastructure that works for boats in normal times is really useful in disaster response.
That lesson should have been learned after mariners responded to 9/11, the Northeast blackout of 2003, the Miracle on the Hudson, Sandy and more.
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Resiliency related to flooding
PortSide has been dedicated to water-related resiliency issues since hurricane Sandy.
Our founding mission was to connect New Yorkers to the benefits of our harbor and push for more maritime uses of it, but the devastation of Sandy made us decide to add flood dangers to our programs.
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Red Hook Sandy flood map by Jim McMahon |
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Our focus in this resiliency space has been helping our neighborhood Red Hook understand flooding issues and prepare for them, and advocating for public policy resiliency solutions for NYC beyond community preparedness and mutual aid.
Hurricanes Henri and Ida confirmed what we feared, many citizens do not understand flooding and how to cope before, during and after a flood; and the public sector is not ready either.
Since Ida, we added more info to the Resiliency 101 section in our virtual museum Red Hook WaterStories (please share the link), and we are getting blunter in our calls for the public sector to do better.
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During Ida, around the corner at Conover & King Street. Photo by Maria Nieto of #RedHookIsMagic |
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Apart from the resiliency work being done in Red Hook public housing (a saga itself), Red Hook’s flood protection system has largely been the planning work of the NYC EDC which has provided unfulfilled promises and inadequate solutions. Sound familiar?
Yes, that is the same EDC that promised PortSide a home from 2008 into 2011, a community giveback that Red Hook never received.
Keep your eye on the EDC, PortSide's saga with them reflects their MO in general, and the EDC is increasingly tasked with economic recovery from the pandemic on top of their portfolios in resiliency, maritime, rezoning, mangaing NYC's perishable food terminal and over 64 million square feet of space, plus other projects. .
As change-agents pushing for a more maritime NYC -- award-winning change-agents -- we have to say there is a lot of room for public policy improvement, and change shouldn’t be this hard.
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Staying in Touch
Missed our last newsletter? Visit the archive.
Our liveliest social media portal is Facebook page Mary A. Whalen due to how long we developed a community there. We are also on Twitter and Instagram.
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PortSide NewYork is a living lab for better urban waterways.
We connect New Yorkers to the benefits of their waterfront, and advocate for better uses of the waterfront and waterways.
We bring the community ashore and community afloat closer together for the benefit of all. We bring WaterStories to life!
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Copyright © 2019 PortSide NewYork. All Rights Reserved. |
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