News from Portside

Waterfront Visions Last Monday, NYC released a new comprehensive waterfront plan, Vision 2020 and the EDC companion piece of implementation projects WAVES.    Both plans reflect a major shift in city policy from focusing on the land to the water part of the waterfront , or what PortSide calls the BlueSpace.  We at PortSide are thrilled with the direction of the plan, because we were founded to help cause this shift in policy, to deliver programs in that spirit, and to create a place where we would do that. That place will be Atlantic Basin, and we are pleased to report that Vision 2020's recommendations affirm PortSide's plans for that site and that all our recommendations for Red Hook made the plan. These include promotion of the Red Hook port as a hub for distributing east of Hudson freight and considering a boathouse for Valentino Park. We thank the planners and The City for launching Vision 2020 on the Brooklyn waterfront which we think merits special attention given its sprawling size, diversity of waterfront uses, and proximity to other major waterfront points. We encourage all of you to read the plan and engage in the implementation process so the vision becomes real.  Due to the large size of the plan, even at low resolution, it may be easier to download it in segments here than as one file here. Regarding WAVES, the EDC has released a Comprehensive Citywide Ferry Study.  We recommend reading the site profiles to understand the methodology and demographics used to come up with the results. The EDC will soon release a RFP for wharfage in Atlantic Basin for the tie-up spaces that are not intended for PortSide use. News of the PortSide Board We are pleased to announce that Bob Balder has joined our board. Balder is the Regional Director of Planning and Urban Design at Gensler, a global architecture, design, and planning firm, where he provides leadership in domestic and international projects. Balder's experience includes business development, project management, sustainable land planning, feasibility analysis, and facilitating outreach and public approvals for cultural, commercial, retail, residential, industrial, and waterfront projects. Before joining Gensler in 2005, Bob was at the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) where he served as Executive Vice President of Real Estate and directed a staff of over 100 development, construction, and property managers. More under board bios on our webpage contact. Jeanne Marie Van Hemmen's term on our board has expired, and we thank her for her enthusiastic and energetic networking that connected us to WISTA and other individuals and organizations supporting PortSide thanks to her efforts. Tsunami The images and stories are grim, overwhelming and not over. To the Japanese people, we offer our condolences and best wishes.   To those of us thinking about waterfront planning in New York, this tragedy is a reminder of what the sea can do and should be a lesson in resiliency planning. This is a time to reflect on how other cultures, the Dutch and Japanese for example, have thought more about what water can do and accordingly planned, built and rehearsed evacuations.    For an example of how sensitive our system is to much smaller weather events, here is a video showing a surge of litter and sewage entering the Gowanus Canal after the tornado last September.   For educators, the New York Times has prepared lesson plan concepts for how to learn from the earthquake and tsunami. Harbor seal There is local good news.  A Harbor seal graced us with a visit on March 16th at 5:15pm.   The seal was spotted 25' off the Mary A. Whalen. It dove, resurfaced and swam to the shore south of Pier 9B, Red Hook where it explored the raggedy remains of the Hamilton Avenue ferry terminal.  This is the first time we have seen a seal in the Red Hook Container Port. For more information about the return of seals to the harbor, see a feature article in the current issue of the New Yorker.