Pier 63 Maritime, aka the Lackawanna Railroad Barge, aka "The Rustbucket", the Thursday of my last paddle. I wandered around and took pictures until it was too dark, then set out on a beautiful last paddle. The Empire State building was an orange-y peach - the full moon rose golden orange - I set out planning the shortest of paddles, as I was still recovering from my cold, but once I got out & started working my way south against the strong flood that the full moon brings, I found some energy - stayed out for almost 2 hours - savoring every last moment.
Pier 63 today - closed & empty. I worked on the schooner until 6 today, decided to swing past the barge to see what was actually going on there. The bubble top of the BasketBall City building was gone, so from the minute I got to the pier I could see the Trust has finally, really & truly managed to get their interim-yeah-right tenants out (although there still appears to be some mounted police activity in the downstairs section) - but I was curious, wanted to see. A Parks Enforcement Police officer stood outside turning people away as they tried stepping over the concrete barriers or throught the metal barricades that block off access to the parking lot. She had her hands full & hadn't been given any but the most rudimentary information - certainly nothing about the CB4 committee meeting.
I stopped & talked to her & told a few of the more dissappointed would-be bargegoers about the meeting. She turned away maybe a dozen people during the ten or fifteen minutes I was there; she said that there'd been a steady stream all day & that some people almost looked like they were going to cry. One lady even asked if she could just go aboard for a moment to say goodbye. The answer, of course, had to be no, just like it was for everyone else - but the PEP officer clearly wasn't enjoying her breaker-of-bad-news role at all.
And it was sad to see the barge sitting all empty & still on this glorious last Sunday of the summer of 2006. Clear sky, temperatures in the mid to upper 80's - a little more wind would've made us all a little more happy on the schooner, but after a week of rain, rain, rain, this was a lovely weekend. People just wanted to go out there, hang out, have a beer, watch the sunset. No dice.
Anyways. Where I'm going with this is -
I thought I'd put up a truncated version of the CB4 Committee Meeting notification I posted about the other day, just in case anyone stumbles across while looking for information on Pier 63 closure, Community Board 4 meeting re Pier 63, CB4 meeting for Pier 63, any of that stuff - if you're looking for that info, here it is.
Anyways, so here's the details again, then I must get some sleep.
verbatim, from earlier post:
"Important Community Board 4 Waterfront and Parks Committee meeting 9/27, 6pm
Pier 63 Maritime (aka pier 63, the barge, or the Frying Pan)has been closed in anticipation of construction of the Chelsea segment of Hudson River Park. The current plan is for the barge to relocate to the float bridge at pier 66a by the start next year's boating season..."
Please mark your calendars and come to the:
Community Board 4 Waterfront and Parks Committee Meeting
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 @ 6:00 p.m.
Holland House, 351 W. 42nd St. (b. 8th / 9th), Basement
Obviously my particular interest in the barge lies in the existence or lack thereof of affordable storage, with water access, for privately owned kayaks - but there's a whole lot more people out there who've enjoyed John Krevey's rusty, but welcoming little slice of the waterfront. Don't want them to feel like they can't come - I think anyone who's interested in hearing more about what's slated to happen with the barge would be welcome. The topic will be all of the changes that the DEC permit will require be made before the barge reopens, if left as is - I've mostly focused on the no-more-paddling aspect, for obvious reasons, but I think there's a good bit more, too. Don't have all the details on the other stuff but it sounds like the DEC permit is for a barge that's very stripped down from the freewheeling melange it's been up until now.
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