Posts Tagged ‘Tugboat’
perils faced
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Simple of mind, your humble narrator is always overjoyed when a previously unrecorded Tug passes in front of me. This time around, it’s the Mary Alice operated by Donjon Towing. Extensive operations performed by the corporations boats upon my beloved Newtown Creek have been discussed frequently at this, your Newtown Pentacle, and usage of the search box at the upper right hand corner of this page will reveal many of them to those who typed “Donjon” into it’s text field.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
If horses could swim well, it would take 3,000 of them to equal the output of this Tug’s engines, which drive the hundred foot long and 40 foot high boat through the Kill Van Kull along with its barge. A home town girl, Mary Alice was built in 1974.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As she passed me by, the comical windmill generator in Jersey- rising over the oil tanks- came into view. For a while, I’ve been wondering if it was put there to provide comic relief to, or just taunt, the petrochemical companies located on the Kill Van Kull. That’s this week’s Maritime Sunday, Lords and Ladies.
final destinations
This is tomorrow, as in Sunday the 22nd. Seriously- you can count the number of seats left with one hand. If you haven’t got your tickets yet, today is probably your last chance.
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Many people know about the environmental issues facing Newtown Creek, but did you know that the Creek was once the busiest waterway in North America, carrying more industrial tonnage than the entire Mississippi River?
You’ll learn much more when Working Harbor Committee’s maritime historians and harbor experts
put it all in context during a Hidden Harbor Tours: Newtown Creek Exploration.
The heart of industrial New York, Newtown Creek was home port to hundreds of tugboats (one of which is the historic WO Decker). It was also an international destination for oceangoing ships and a vast intermodal shipping and manufacturing hub that employed hundreds of thousands of people. Forming the border of Brooklyn and Queens for nearly three miles, five great cities grew rich along the Newtown Creek’s bulkheads — Greenpoint, Willamsburg, Bushwick, Long Island City and Manhattan itself. The waterway is still a vital part of the harbor and the Working Harbor Committee (WHC) is proud to present this tour as part of the celebration of their tenth anniversary year.
Mitch Waxman, a member of WHC’s steering committee and the group’s official photographer, also serves with the Newtown Creek Alliance as its group Historian. In addition to working on WHC’s boat tours of the Creek, Mitch offers a regular lineup of popular walking tours, and presents a series of well-attended slideshows for political, governmental, antiquarian, historical and school groups. His website – newtownpentacle.com – chronicles his adventures along the Newtown Creek and in the greater Working Harbor.
He was recently profiled in the NY Times Metro section, check out the article here.
Upcoming tour: Hidden Harbor Tours: Newtown Creek Exploration.
On July 22nd, Mitch shares his unique point of view and deep understanding of the past, present and future conditions of the Newtown Creek as the narrator and expedition leader for this years Hidden Harbor Tours: Newtown Creek exploration.
Our NY Water Taxi leaves from South Street Seaport at 11 a.m. (sharp) on a three hour tour of the Newtown Creek. From the East River we’ll move into the Newtown Creek where we’ll explore explore vast amounts of maritime infrastructure, see many movable bridges and discover the very heart of the Hidden Harbor.
Limited seating available, get your tickets today.
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established categories
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This maritime Sunday, it’s a return to the Newtown Creek, where a tug was witnessed heading out to the East River with two barges of what seems to be metal. Unusual best describes the manner in which the barges are tied to the tug, at least in my limited experience. Most of the tandem tows I’ve witnessed over the last several years orient multiple barges in a line, after the manner of train cars in relationship to locomotive engine.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Although I can report this only from having seen photos, on the Mississippi or other inland waterways, several barges will be lined up in long rows before tugs. Unfortunately, I came upon the Mscene too late to capture any identifying information about this tug, even the identity of its company. Hopefully, our friends at tugster might be generous enough to identify at least the name of the towing corporation based on the “colorway” of the boat for you, gentle readers, in the comments section.
circumstance manifest
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just a short one today, on this Maritime Sunday.
A recent shot gathered onboard the Working Harbor Committee’s Port Newark Tour. Depicted is the Gramma Lee T Moran tugboat hurtling down the Kill Van Kull past the Atlantic Salt facility on Staten Island. Gramma has been described in some detail at this, your Newtown Pentacle, in the posting “Crooked Boughs” from back in December of 2011.
The Working Harbor 2012 Schedule is well underway-
- Next Tuesday is the
North River tour, with the legendary Bill MillerBrooklyn Tour, with Dan Wiley joining Capt. Doswell on the mike. - My own Newtown Creek tour is on the 22nd of this month.
- Captain Margaret Flanagan will be leading a walking tour of South Street Seaport, the next one is on July 21.
- Another Staten Island Walking Tour will be forthcoming from your humble narrator on July the 28th.
Check out workingharbor.com for details and excursion schedules. Also, check out the Working Harbor blog here.
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Click for details on Mitch Waxman’s
Upcoming boat tours of Newtown Creek
July 22nd, 2012- Working Harbor Committee Newtown Creek Boat Tour
curious customs
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Marie J. Turecamo tug presented itself to a humble narrator recently, framing iconic views of the harbor for your perusal on this week’s “Maritime Sunday”. Periodically, when some magazine art buyer or advertising stalwart is looking for a harbor shot, my phone will ring and someone will ask for “a tugboat moving past the Statue of Liberty” or something similar. Invariably, the caller is seeking out free usage of the shot.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Other photographers get angry with me when I allow free usage of this shot or that to various personages or groups, accusing me of devaluing the craft. “Information wants to be free” is my normal reply, and “an image too dearly held has no intrinsic valuation” is the follow up. This is when I’m called a schmuck, and informed that I’m being “taken advantage of”. Allow me to set the record straight on this subject, lords and ladies.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A regular beneficiary of my largesse, whether it be the estimable Working Harbor Committee or the Newtown Creek Alliance or any of the other “worthy” harbor groups whom I regularly supply images to, receives a limited license to the photo. They cannot, for instance, use my shots in a manner which I haven’t specified or agreed to- web usage versus printed material. A byline is required, and if at any time I decide to ask them to pull the shot, this is my right as I’m retaining the image copyright and full usage rights. In advertising lingo, the shots are offered and licensed as “stock”, and the compensation asked for use of them is somewhat asymmetrical and seldom monetary.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What I’m ultimately after is photographic access to people, places, and situations which are normally unattainable. I’ve been inside the Manhattan Bridge, walked on a Queensboro bridge completely devoid of traffic, been privy to dozens of situations that “press” photographers would have killed to get near. I’ve been to off limits spots all around the harbor, delved into the deepest recesses of the City, ascended to unattainable and high vantages, and seen things that most living New Yorkers barely suspect. If a group is doing something worth doing, as in the case of WHC with its education programs and senior citizen programming, or NCA’s quest to save the Newtown Creek from sophistry- I’m happy to donate the usage of a few images. On the other hand, if you see something you’d like a print of, or would like to license an image or two for commercial usage- contact me here.
The Newtown Pentacle 