Tony Wants Company on Brooklyn Waterfront Tour

by baad lamb

Last May, I jumped at the chance to take a Working Harbor tour deep into the heart of the Newtown Creek. It was easily one of the most fascinating and informative 3 hours I've ever spent. Those 600+ photos deserve a post of their own, but, alas... ( damn that full-time job!)

Since I'll have to miss this Tuesday's Working Harbor opportunity to tour the Brooklyn waterfront, I've "suggested" Tony go for me (and bring extra camera batteries). But he wants some company. So if you've got this Tuesday evening open, there's no better value for your $30. If an evening on the harbor on a yacht exploring the history and future of the working Brooklyn waterfront isn't its own incentive, whats wrong with you just think of those cool ocean breezes as a way to temporarily forget this heatwave.

Here's the details from the Working Harbor website:
Brooklyn Waterfront Tour featuring Brooklyn's Maritime Heritage and Future- This tour starts by going up the East River to the former Brooklyn Navy Yard, passing under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. The Navy Yard has three large graving docks and an active shipyard, as well as the home port of FDNY's fireboat division. We then travel south along the Brooklyn waterfront, passing the new Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Red Hook Container Terminal, Atlantic Basin, and Erie Basin, home of Hughes Brothers Barges and Reinauer Tugs. We continue into Gowanus Bay and along the Sunset Park waterfront, home of the former large Bush Terminals. We then cross over to the Statue of Liberty at sunset and pause for a moment to allow passengers to take photos before returning to Pier 16.


Dan Wiley is a Community Coordinator for the Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez in southwest Brooklyn, NY. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University in the Urban Design Studio. Working in the Congressional office since 2000, he has coordinated planning projects and initiatives spanning waterfront communities from the Brooklyn Navy Yard and downtown Brooklyn southwest to Red Hook, Gowanus and Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Dan will talk about the changing face of the Brooklyn waterfront, the proposed plans for the future and take questions from the audience.


Do it! Ticket Link

I'm looking forward to Tony's pics, but I do still have a ton of photos I took over the years from various water taxis, trips to Governors Island, Open House New York, or aimless wandering on the land and street side of things:

Old cranes "cross swords" at Brooklyn Navy Yard (left)

Navy Yard, from Newtown Creek tour last year (right)

Preview a whole lot more after the jump...

Canoeing on the Gowanus Canal

by baad lamb

Back in May, on a beautiful sunny Saturday, my aimless wandering of New York's industrial fringe found me in Gowanus, at the dead end where 2nd Street meets the Gowanus Canal. The two gentlemen sitting in folding chairs off to the side were not immediately visible as I contemplated the posters displayed in the upright old dinghy. Before I could read beyond "BROOKLYN'S COOLEST SUPERFUND SITE", one of the men approached. Would I like to canoe the canal? Hell yes!

Paddling a canoe alone on the canal while trying to take pictures and video can be challenging, especially with the constant breeze wanting to spin the boat in circles anytime I put the paddle down and picked up the camera. Adding to the fun, occasional forceful discharges from invisible pipes would spew questionable liquids, creating a sudden current on what was, not long ago, largely a stationary cauldron of chemicals and waste-water (reactivating and upgrading the pumping station has begun to change that). I didn't have enough time to explore as deeply as I wanted; the area south of the Smith and 9th Street F & G trains viaduct still beckons. Can't wait to go back, but I'll bring the reluctant "why-are-you-taking-us-to-another-industrial-area?" husband, so one can navigate while the other films.



In the video above, note the car that backs up on the 3rd Street Bridge; we exchanged waves, although they are too far away in this video to see the arm come out the window; I guess they could not believe they just saw someone leisurely exploring this NYC waterway!

The Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club sponsors public canoeing on Saturdays, from March to October, 1PM to 5PM, and Wednesday evenings, 6PM to 8PM, May to August. The canoeing is free, but your much appreciated donation will be be put to good use (you can even become a member).

Check out ten more photos after the jump...

Mystery Fiesta in Sunset Park, Brooklyn

posted by baad lamb


Dear knowledgeable readers and QNY writing team: We need some information help in here!

After a Sunday morning excursion exploring the eerily quiet industrial park behemoth that is the Bush Terminal, I left the Southwest Brooklyn waterfront behind and headed east, up the hill to the blue collar neighborhood of Sunset Park and its namesake greenspace. At the crest of the hill on 57th Street, I turned left on 6th Ave and walked for about 10 minutes before entering into the middle of the the Park. Moments later I luckily stumbled upon this Mystery Festival.      (More pics and video after the jump.)

Brooklyn Living

Sure, they're all the same, except for the giant satellite dish.

A Tour of the New Brooklyn Bridge Park

by baad lamb

Easter weekend, I zoomed off to Brooklyn as early as I could on Saturday morning to check out the newly opened first section of the long-time-coming Brooklyn Bridge Park. I began at the Promenade for a panoramic overview of the current development status.

For me, crossing Columbia Heights and entering the Promenade remains a thrilling experience, every single time. It serves as a reminder that although there is much to despise about R-Mo, he has actually left us all some gifts that keep on giving, and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade must be near the top of the list (too bad it was just his sweet icing on the rancid cake of the BQE hidden below).

From up here, you can see the full reach of the new Brooklyn Bridge Park. The view to the north shows the tiny completed section near the center of this picture (that green grassy area). This is the only part currently open to the public, but the finished park will eventually stretch from Dumbo's shores in the north to Atlantic Avenue in the south.

Plenty more after the jump...

Brooklyn isn't so bad

Williamsburgh Savings Bank: Pretty on the Inside

Posted by baad lamb

The silver and gold mosaic zodiac ceiling and center chandelier (detail)

Now that the Brooklyn Flea is held inside the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building, photographers and armchair architects are as plentiful as bargain hunters on Saturdays and Sundays at One Hanson Place. This building went up in 1927, and according to Robert A.M. Stern in "New York 1930" (the middle volume of his comprehensive-must-have five book series on architecture and urbanism), the bank expected this Atlantic/Flatbush Ave. intersection to become the heart of Brooklyn's commercial district, but  things didn't turn out quite as they had hoped (just ask Bruce Ratner, today). But this did have an upside. Just as with the Empire State Building, which made the same real estate gamble in Manhattan and lost, the lack of tall building development surrounding this building allowed it to become Brooklyn's most visible skyscraper, and its most iconic.

Lots more pics after the jump...

Micro Museum

Posted By baad lamb

Spin and swing the dangling camera-ball, walk up and down the red carpeted gauntlet of creepy-clowns, while they randomly light-up or taunt you with laughter. The TV on the floor displays your swirling video feed, an unrelated yet somehow oddly appropriate video installation adds to the mix. The trippy-quotient is multiplied by 10 as the random, owner-supplied soundtrack lands on Pink Floyd's melancholy lament "Wish You Were Here".

QNY Tonight: A Mini Ball in Brooklyn (No Cover)

By Father Tony

"Gay Men of African Descent" (GMAD) and "Gay Mens Health Crisis" (GMHC) present "I Have a Dream" Mini Ball tonight at The Lab, 1428 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, 5-11PM, no cover, free HIV testing.

More information, and the all-important categories, after the break. (And if you go, please say hello to Luna Legacy and urge him to join the QNY team!)

Old Fashioned

Kruger in the Closet? You Decide.

Posted by Father Tony
Joe reports on protesters at the Brooklyn home of unmarried Sen. Carl Kruger who voted against same-sex marriage. Looking to test out my reliable gaydar on the Kruger face, I was startled to find this photo (by Nikolai Komissarov) of Sen. Krugerrandy being entertained by  Leonid The Magificent.

More startling photos of Krugerrandy and Brooklyn bombshell Leonid to make you go hmmm, after the jump.