Marcus had had an event he's doing at the Downtown Boathouse listed on his website as being on April 8th. That event (also featuring the NYC Premiere of the Eastern Horizons sea kayaking movie by Bryan Smith) is actually on the 7th.
Posting here (despite the Hudson River Paddlers' Guild connection that turns out to exist*) on the infinitesmal chance that somebody could have clicked through to his website yesterday & added the 8th to their calendar.
* It has been a long time now since the Guild set themselves up as the spokespeople & leaders of the "storage hold" set during the shutdown of Pier 63, and the organization may have evolved, but some of their leaders & supporters left me feeling seriously stomped-on back then. They put together the occasional interesting event, like this one, but I generally just stay away from them. It's sometimes been really hard not to "talk stink" about them here, but there are some people who are involved who I respect a lot (like Marcus himself!) & who didn't act like I needed cutting down to size the way some of them did. Because of the former set of people, and because other friends of mine HAVE enjoyed some of the Guild's events, and because vendettas are a really sad & ugly use for blogs, I mostly try to follow the "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" rule.
Showing posts with label Hudson River Paddler's Guild. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hudson River Paddler's Guild. Show all posts
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Things get weird.
(For anyone coming in from Curbed - sorry, this will seem a little incoherent. It's all about a boathouse at Pier 66 - a pier that at one time I might have hoped to paddle out of, and a team of organizations that submitted one of the proposals to run that boathouse. Crazy Fingers has links for as many of the groups involved as he could find links. The first three are the paddling groups that have called the barge home for a long, long time. Good groups, dedicated paddlers, Manhattan Kayak is where I learned to kayak, learned to teach, was a partner for 3 years - ended up not staying with the company but my involvement there was one of the most intense learning experiences of my entire life. The last 2 are more recent players. I know nothing about this Waterfront Realty - nobody seems to, their participation was actually on the agenda of the members-only meeting I refer to below - but the Hudson River Paddlers Guild...well, I don't necessarily think they are bad guys (in fact some of them are people I rather like paddling with), but I've found their approach to things to be incredibly frustrating. Plus, as I've told their leaders repeatedly, they'd come across a lot better if they weren't so weird about sharing information.
Would actually be simpler if there were some easily-identified bad guys in this. Life never works that way, does it?
So I've gone from ecstatic over rumor #1 that I'd put up then taken down at the request of a couple of friends who've been involved, to feeling a little queasy about it.
The leadup to how that cat ended up getting out of the bag was weird. A couple of months back, I'd questioned a decision by the leaders of the Hudson River Paddlers Guild to have a closed, members-only meeting at a private residence to discuss matters of interest to independent paddlers, especially those storing kayaks on the barge. This meeting wasn't publicized to anyone but members and "friends of the Guild", they didn't even want to tell the Rustbucket trip planning group.
To get on the "friends of the Guild" list, you'd had to follow the instructions in their introductory email, which went out to an oddly limited group in the first place (they never posted it to our local NYCKayaker list, more a pre-selected group). I'd found out about that meeting because I'd asked to be added to the list. After questioning the meeting setup, I never got any news from them again. I don't know if the questioning led directly to my deletion from the "FOG" list, but I'd seen another situation where someone questioned & then was not on the lists anymore. Tough not to see a pattern there.
By Thursday, I was overwhelmed with curiousity - had heard some vague rumours about the barge moving, and knew the Trust had planned to make a decision on the boathouse by the beginning of April. So I asked on the Rustbucket list, which is a little more private than the NYCKayaker list, and somebody posted the answer to the boathouse question (please note that the barge move & the boathouse-operator questions were really two very separate questions). And somebody who didn't realize I wasn't someone who the Guild was giving information to anymore sent an answer, meaning to send it to me, and sending it to the whole group instead. Happens with Yahoo groups, they are set up to send replies to the whole group by default.
Anyways, did a little more asking around with a couple of people - turns out nothing's signed yet, there are questions on both ends, and holding the announcement until everything was done would have been more appropriate...but I'd already posted it here, and told BlogChelsea and it's out on the Rustbucket list, and also among the NYO (only on the NYO list they're just happy and excited - gee, like I was a couple of days ago, I miss that)and there's another blogger, Larry on the Yahoo list. Sigh. Clearly Bill Bergeron hasn't learned that thing about don't send out any emails that you wouldn't be fine reading as the top story in tomorrow's edition of the New York Times.
Well, I hope & pray that nothing bad comes of my asking a question. I can't imagine how but remember how the other day, I was saying that if I asked the Trust, and they'd given it to Randy (sole prop., New York Kayak Company) , I'd blame myself. I'd heard that he'd been pretty prickly to his set of Pier 63 refugees, even though they are paying him...still, now he's the one in the terrible situation of not knowing whether the shop he's put so much of his life into will have a home after the Pier 40 proposal decision is made. That would put anyone in a resentful mood...
ugh. Just more fun with musical-chair boathouses in the Hudson River Park. Dang. Hind sight 20/20 and all but it would've been so nice if at some point, there'd been a survey of boaters operating in the park through the efforts of grassroots organizations & enterpreneurial efforts, with an eye to encouragement & expansion of water-dependent recreation, including but not limited to providing interim storage...ah, there, what a bad case of community-gardenitis I get when talking about my own hobby.
Community-gardenitis is my term for a certain specific variety of squatter's rights. Community gardens are really a wonderful feature of New York City - you can be walking down an ordinary residential block on a hot summer day, and suddenly there's this little green oasis tucked into a vacant lot between two buildings, breathing cool earth-leaf-and-flower-scented air on you. Some of these are fully established - like the one that started it all, the Liz Christy Garden, which is just lovely. I think I've heard about less formal ones, though, that end up leading to heartbreaking situations all around when a developer ends up deciding to build on a lot that houses a garden...that's tough, in an ideal world we'd all have room for gardens, and everyone who had a vacant lot would offer it to gardeners to use until they needed it - a garden is so much nicer than an ugly vacant lot. Only problem is that after gardeners have put a few years into making that vacant lot bloom, they're naturally going to start feeling a sense of, if not ownership, then at least of vested interest...then if the owner comes back & wants to build, who's the bad guy?
That business of having this powerful sense of ownership without actually owning...that's what I think of as community-garden-itis. Applies way beyond gardens, though.
So when I start saying things that sound like I'm saying that the Trust should make sure that they preserve whatever boating establishments have sprung up as interim tenants, subtenants, whatever...I do try to keep in mind that when Manhattan Kayak moved to the barge where New York Outrigger had already been based for a couple of years, we knew we were gambling, we'd known it was temporary from the git-go. Randy must have known he was making the same gamble when he moved to Pier 40. A lot of neat stuff happens in NYC because there are people who are brave enough to take a chance on a temporary set-up. Some work out. Some don't. That's the city for you.
For all that, though, I do wish that the boaters were being watched out for a lot better. The Hudson is an incredible river, and it's unfortunate that some of the people who love it the most end up being put into situations where they end up going head to head when storage goes away, even temporarily.
The whole thing makes me awfully awfully glad to have landed on the so-much-less-fraught banks of the Paerdegat.
Speaking of which, I think I hear the Romany calling!
Would actually be simpler if there were some easily-identified bad guys in this. Life never works that way, does it?
So I've gone from ecstatic over rumor #1 that I'd put up then taken down at the request of a couple of friends who've been involved, to feeling a little queasy about it.
The leadup to how that cat ended up getting out of the bag was weird. A couple of months back, I'd questioned a decision by the leaders of the Hudson River Paddlers Guild to have a closed, members-only meeting at a private residence to discuss matters of interest to independent paddlers, especially those storing kayaks on the barge. This meeting wasn't publicized to anyone but members and "friends of the Guild", they didn't even want to tell the Rustbucket trip planning group.
To get on the "friends of the Guild" list, you'd had to follow the instructions in their introductory email, which went out to an oddly limited group in the first place (they never posted it to our local NYCKayaker list, more a pre-selected group). I'd found out about that meeting because I'd asked to be added to the list. After questioning the meeting setup, I never got any news from them again. I don't know if the questioning led directly to my deletion from the "FOG" list, but I'd seen another situation where someone questioned & then was not on the lists anymore. Tough not to see a pattern there.
By Thursday, I was overwhelmed with curiousity - had heard some vague rumours about the barge moving, and knew the Trust had planned to make a decision on the boathouse by the beginning of April. So I asked on the Rustbucket list, which is a little more private than the NYCKayaker list, and somebody posted the answer to the boathouse question (please note that the barge move & the boathouse-operator questions were really two very separate questions). And somebody who didn't realize I wasn't someone who the Guild was giving information to anymore sent an answer, meaning to send it to me, and sending it to the whole group instead. Happens with Yahoo groups, they are set up to send replies to the whole group by default.
Anyways, did a little more asking around with a couple of people - turns out nothing's signed yet, there are questions on both ends, and holding the announcement until everything was done would have been more appropriate...but I'd already posted it here, and told BlogChelsea and it's out on the Rustbucket list, and also among the NYO (only on the NYO list they're just happy and excited - gee, like I was a couple of days ago, I miss that)and there's another blogger, Larry on the Yahoo list. Sigh. Clearly Bill Bergeron hasn't learned that thing about don't send out any emails that you wouldn't be fine reading as the top story in tomorrow's edition of the New York Times.
Well, I hope & pray that nothing bad comes of my asking a question. I can't imagine how but remember how the other day, I was saying that if I asked the Trust, and they'd given it to Randy (sole prop., New York Kayak Company) , I'd blame myself. I'd heard that he'd been pretty prickly to his set of Pier 63 refugees, even though they are paying him...still, now he's the one in the terrible situation of not knowing whether the shop he's put so much of his life into will have a home after the Pier 40 proposal decision is made. That would put anyone in a resentful mood...
ugh. Just more fun with musical-chair boathouses in the Hudson River Park. Dang. Hind sight 20/20 and all but it would've been so nice if at some point, there'd been a survey of boaters operating in the park through the efforts of grassroots organizations & enterpreneurial efforts, with an eye to encouragement & expansion of water-dependent recreation, including but not limited to providing interim storage...ah, there, what a bad case of community-gardenitis I get when talking about my own hobby.
Community-gardenitis is my term for a certain specific variety of squatter's rights. Community gardens are really a wonderful feature of New York City - you can be walking down an ordinary residential block on a hot summer day, and suddenly there's this little green oasis tucked into a vacant lot between two buildings, breathing cool earth-leaf-and-flower-scented air on you. Some of these are fully established - like the one that started it all, the Liz Christy Garden, which is just lovely. I think I've heard about less formal ones, though, that end up leading to heartbreaking situations all around when a developer ends up deciding to build on a lot that houses a garden...that's tough, in an ideal world we'd all have room for gardens, and everyone who had a vacant lot would offer it to gardeners to use until they needed it - a garden is so much nicer than an ugly vacant lot. Only problem is that after gardeners have put a few years into making that vacant lot bloom, they're naturally going to start feeling a sense of, if not ownership, then at least of vested interest...then if the owner comes back & wants to build, who's the bad guy?
That business of having this powerful sense of ownership without actually owning...that's what I think of as community-garden-itis. Applies way beyond gardens, though.
So when I start saying things that sound like I'm saying that the Trust should make sure that they preserve whatever boating establishments have sprung up as interim tenants, subtenants, whatever...I do try to keep in mind that when Manhattan Kayak moved to the barge where New York Outrigger had already been based for a couple of years, we knew we were gambling, we'd known it was temporary from the git-go. Randy must have known he was making the same gamble when he moved to Pier 40. A lot of neat stuff happens in NYC because there are people who are brave enough to take a chance on a temporary set-up. Some work out. Some don't. That's the city for you.
For all that, though, I do wish that the boaters were being watched out for a lot better. The Hudson is an incredible river, and it's unfortunate that some of the people who love it the most end up being put into situations where they end up going head to head when storage goes away, even temporarily.
The whole thing makes me awfully awfully glad to have landed on the so-much-less-fraught banks of the Paerdegat.
Speaking of which, I think I hear the Romany calling!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
A Plug for NYCKayaker
I'd posted this to my old listserve after exchanging some emails with the folks from the Hudson River Paddler's Guild (no real website at that link as I post, been that way for a couple of months now, but now that they're done with the proposal, maybe it actually will be "coming soon") about the boathouse design group meeting and the importance of participating in the local paddler's grapevine this week - the trunk, if you will, of that grapevine being the long-established NYCKayaker list (yes, the very list that I used to regularly clog with my ramblings until I created this blog as a diversion - I still participate, and I do still ramble sometimes, but on the whole Frogma lets me keep my list posting to things with an actual point, or things that are too cool not to share).
I'm so happy to be out of the stupid musical-kayak-storage game, but I just can't seem to leave well enough alone. Guess I'm feeling a little antsy about hoping to get the people who aren't really in that grapevine INTO that grapevine now, because with 3 major storage facilities in play, this is really a time when I think that if all of the Hudson River Park paddlers could just pull together, it would be incredibly useful. Unfortunately I've managed to make enough of a pain of myself that I'm not in a great position to rally people to do that, but I couldn't not at least try. Posted it to the Rustbucket group yesterday, and figured I'd post it here too since the week's turned busy I don't see having much time to post anything here until Friday or so (work's busy, and there other non-work things that are mostly but not quite finished - no major blog writing until those are all the way finished). Anyways, here was yesterday's Rustbucket rally:
For anyone who's interested in what's going on in the New York City kayak & waterfront communities beyond the barge, the Hudson River Watertrail Association's NYCKayaker list has been pretty interesting this winter. There've been meeting announcements posted (most recently, Jim W. of the Downtown Boathouse organization had posted about the Tribeca boathouse design committee meeting that happened last Wednesday), there have been some extremely interesting discussions about the types of access people want (more than I realized); activist Harry J. Bubbins has been looking for emails to help stop the Randall's Island water park, Dragonsandy very happily announced this morning that the Jersey City Resevoir is being saved & turned into a park; Rob B. occasionally weighs in with beach & natural access news. On a purely fun note, the beaver story had some excellent stories being swapped -- beavers love to flood access roads by blocking culverts - they look at the road & say "What a lovely dam, but look, some silly person has left a big hole in it - let us finish this sloppy job!", and Ralph Diaz, Mr. Complete Folding Kayaker himself, shared a very funny tale of crafting & maintaining a "beaver deceiver" which allowed him and the beavers to co-exist for a long time (the sad ending, though, is that he had less patient & creative neighbors who called in the trapper - not a catch & release operation either, sad to say).
That's just a recent sampling of the topics. Lots going on out there beyond the barge. The NYCKayaker list is a great way to keep up with that, and a great place to bounce ideas around. In the end, it's still important to communicate the ideas that you think bounce in a promising way on out to the outside world (the Trust, government people, newspaper, community boards, wherever), but NYCKayaker has, in the past, been the incubator of some of the more effective actions of the paddling community as a whole.
That doesn't happen all the time of course, mostly just in response to major events or changes (like the Hudson River Park Trusts announcing Kayak Rules that basically said "No winter paddling, and no getting wet" - those got turned into "guidelines" PDQ when the NYCKayaker gang got hold of them & went to town). NYC paddlers are an awfully disparate crew, but every now & the differences just drops & everybody starts working together. When that happens, the outcome can be pretty neat
Some of the stuff that's been posted there has been making it over here, but not all. It can get a little nutso sometimes when somebody strikes a nerve & a debate breaks out & people start taking sides - but joining it is a good way to get a sense of the larger community of which all the groups at the barge are a part.
If you're interested, you can find a full description of the purpose of the list (and the guidelines which keep it all civil - well, usually ;D) here on the HRWA's website.
I'm so happy to be out of the stupid musical-kayak-storage game, but I just can't seem to leave well enough alone. Guess I'm feeling a little antsy about hoping to get the people who aren't really in that grapevine INTO that grapevine now, because with 3 major storage facilities in play, this is really a time when I think that if all of the Hudson River Park paddlers could just pull together, it would be incredibly useful. Unfortunately I've managed to make enough of a pain of myself that I'm not in a great position to rally people to do that, but I couldn't not at least try. Posted it to the Rustbucket group yesterday, and figured I'd post it here too since the week's turned busy I don't see having much time to post anything here until Friday or so (work's busy, and there other non-work things that are mostly but not quite finished - no major blog writing until those are all the way finished). Anyways, here was yesterday's Rustbucket rally:
For anyone who's interested in what's going on in the New York City kayak & waterfront communities beyond the barge, the Hudson River Watertrail Association's NYCKayaker list has been pretty interesting this winter. There've been meeting announcements posted (most recently, Jim W. of the Downtown Boathouse organization had posted about the Tribeca boathouse design committee meeting that happened last Wednesday), there have been some extremely interesting discussions about the types of access people want (more than I realized); activist Harry J. Bubbins has been looking for emails to help stop the Randall's Island water park, Dragonsandy very happily announced this morning that the Jersey City Resevoir is being saved & turned into a park; Rob B. occasionally weighs in with beach & natural access news. On a purely fun note, the beaver story had some excellent stories being swapped -- beavers love to flood access roads by blocking culverts - they look at the road & say "What a lovely dam, but look, some silly person has left a big hole in it - let us finish this sloppy job!", and Ralph Diaz, Mr. Complete Folding Kayaker himself, shared a very funny tale of crafting & maintaining a "beaver deceiver" which allowed him and the beavers to co-exist for a long time (the sad ending, though, is that he had less patient & creative neighbors who called in the trapper - not a catch & release operation either, sad to say).
That's just a recent sampling of the topics. Lots going on out there beyond the barge. The NYCKayaker list is a great way to keep up with that, and a great place to bounce ideas around. In the end, it's still important to communicate the ideas that you think bounce in a promising way on out to the outside world (the Trust, government people, newspaper, community boards, wherever), but NYCKayaker has, in the past, been the incubator of some of the more effective actions of the paddling community as a whole.
That doesn't happen all the time of course, mostly just in response to major events or changes (like the Hudson River Park Trusts announcing Kayak Rules that basically said "No winter paddling, and no getting wet" - those got turned into "guidelines" PDQ when the NYCKayaker gang got hold of them & went to town). NYC paddlers are an awfully disparate crew, but every now & the differences just drops & everybody starts working together. When that happens, the outcome can be pretty neat
Some of the stuff that's been posted there has been making it over here, but not all. It can get a little nutso sometimes when somebody strikes a nerve & a debate breaks out & people start taking sides - but joining it is a good way to get a sense of the larger community of which all the groups at the barge are a part.
If you're interested, you can find a full description of the purpose of the list (and the guidelines which keep it all civil - well, usually ;D) here on the HRWA's website.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Hudson River Park boathouse update -
note, since I've actually reached out for people to come read this now - I have known about the 3-way competition for a while. All the organizations are just trying to survive - there is NOTHING wrong with that. I didn't say anything for a while because it just didn't seem like my place to do so (particularly regarding the Randy/Sebago thing - please note, at this point Randy had actually only approached a couple of members of the club, then came & spoke to an informal gathering of a few people of which I was a part - it was a privilege to be invited to that meeting & I hope talking about what happened there isn't abusing that privilege) - but it just kills me that this 3-way cutthroat thing has been set up by the choices & actions the Trust has made, the Trust themselves may not realize it, and nobody seems to be saying ANYTHING about it. If anyone feels like I owe them an apology, they're probably right.
One week from now, it's the final due date for proposals to manage the boathouse at Pier 66.
Last time the Trust put out a Request For Proposals was for the Pier 96 boathouse in Clinton. That time, as far as I know, only the Downtown Boathouse put in a proposal.
This time, there's a little more interest. Naturally, the paddling community at Pier 63 has joined forces as New York RiverSports - that group again is made up of:
Manhattan Kayak,
New York Kayak Polo,
New York Outrigger, and the
Hudson River Paddlers Guild.
Randy at New York Kayak is putting in a competing proposal. This isn't surprising at all as I think he is now about where MKC for the last year or two - no definite shutdown date, but no guarantee of being able to continue at his Pier 40 location from one season to the next, could be over any year. He approached some of the Sebago stalwarts about asking the club for help, though - that was an unpleasant surprise, one of the things I was happy about was that moving to Sebago got me clear of the unpleasantness of the Hudson River Park situation, and here was Randy trying to drag my new club back into it.
Now, I don't want to see Randy go out of business. Randy's shop the ABSOLUTE best place in NYC to go buy any basic piece of kayak equipment when you needed it yesterday - my office is near an Eastern Mountain Supply that does have a few items, but for anything beyond the bilge-pump/handi-rack level, I generally end up at NYKC. Still, it was very disconcerting to have him approach my new club asking us to agree to something that would help him out with his proposal when his proposal being chosen could potentially lead to the demise of MKC...
and then I also hear that the DTBH is putting in a proposal. Don't know whether this is in response to the Tribeca boathouse being possibly on the chopping block, or even if it's true, but that's the rumour. note, later on...this was NOT true - see comments for details - the DTBH was not allowed to apply as they are already managing a Trust boathouse.
It's like the Trust is running one of those experiments where you put too many rats in too small a cage and they all turn on each other. That they probably don't understand the effect that playing musical chairs with water access is having on people's lives doesn't make me feel any less bad about it.
Ignorance may be bliss - but it's a crummy excuse.
BTW, I haven't heard thing one about whether the DEC decided to let the barge continue to function as the paddlesports facility it had been until the September shutdown - have been extremely out of the loop since I left. Only thing I HAVE heard is that nothing's been accomplished on the demolition of the old Pier 63 headhouse that had housed BasketBall City & the mounted police.
Oh well...
One week from now, it's the final due date for proposals to manage the boathouse at Pier 66.
Last time the Trust put out a Request For Proposals was for the Pier 96 boathouse in Clinton. That time, as far as I know, only the Downtown Boathouse put in a proposal.
This time, there's a little more interest. Naturally, the paddling community at Pier 63 has joined forces as New York RiverSports - that group again is made up of:
Manhattan Kayak,
New York Kayak Polo,
New York Outrigger, and the
Hudson River Paddlers Guild.
Randy at New York Kayak is putting in a competing proposal. This isn't surprising at all as I think he is now about where MKC for the last year or two - no definite shutdown date, but no guarantee of being able to continue at his Pier 40 location from one season to the next, could be over any year. He approached some of the Sebago stalwarts about asking the club for help, though - that was an unpleasant surprise, one of the things I was happy about was that moving to Sebago got me clear of the unpleasantness of the Hudson River Park situation, and here was Randy trying to drag my new club back into it.
Now, I don't want to see Randy go out of business. Randy's shop the ABSOLUTE best place in NYC to go buy any basic piece of kayak equipment when you needed it yesterday - my office is near an Eastern Mountain Supply that does have a few items, but for anything beyond the bilge-pump/handi-rack level, I generally end up at NYKC. Still, it was very disconcerting to have him approach my new club asking us to agree to something that would help him out with his proposal when his proposal being chosen could potentially lead to the demise of MKC...
and then I also hear that the DTBH is putting in a proposal. Don't know whether this is in response to the Tribeca boathouse being possibly on the chopping block, or even if it's true, but that's the rumour. note, later on...this was NOT true - see comments for details - the DTBH was not allowed to apply as they are already managing a Trust boathouse.
It's like the Trust is running one of those experiments where you put too many rats in too small a cage and they all turn on each other. That they probably don't understand the effect that playing musical chairs with water access is having on people's lives doesn't make me feel any less bad about it.
Ignorance may be bliss - but it's a crummy excuse.
BTW, I haven't heard thing one about whether the DEC decided to let the barge continue to function as the paddlesports facility it had been until the September shutdown - have been extremely out of the loop since I left. Only thing I HAVE heard is that nothing's been accomplished on the demolition of the old Pier 63 headhouse that had housed BasketBall City & the mounted police.
Oh well...
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Public Notice and the Hudson River Park Trust
Ah, meant to put up some pretty pictures tonight but I just remembered that there was something I'd wanted to post about a while back, but never gotten past bothering the poor people who are on various lists that I'm on. Going onto the Community Board 1 website & having such an easy time finding information about their upcoming meetings reminded me.
As I've mentioned before, I've been active in Hudson River Park stuff since I joined Manhattan Kayak Company in early 1999. Being a partner in a company that needed the Park to accomodate kayaks to even exist was a great motivator for going to all the various meetings where the Park was discussed. Once I left MKC in early 2002, I eased up on my activities of that sort - once I spoke only for Me Myself & I, LLC, I was inclined to leave the bulk of that stuff to the Officially Involved. Still, since access was still important to me, I tried to keep abreast of developments, follow the various changes, and when it seemed like it would help the Trust to hear what paddlers wanted if a whole lot of us were all shouting at the same time, I was always ready to join in on email or letter-writing campaigns & try to rally others to do the same.
I was cleaning out some extremely old emails late last year, and I ran across one that I'd sent to NYCKayaker back during my time as an independent-though-involved paddler at Pier 63. It was dated July 2003. It was entitled "Having a Voice in the Hudson River Park", and it was basically one of my usual over-wordy diatribes about how good it would be for people to take an active role in Park stuff by attending meetings, listening to what was going on, and speaking up if they didn't approve.
Most of it was just generic rah rah, blah blah, if we all speak together the Trust will have to listen stuff - but the first sentence was pretty interesting & sort of sad, considering all of the really unhappy exchanges I ended up having with a lot of people I really didn't want to fight with from late September on (as the closing of the barge played itself out). If you were for some bizarre reason actually paying attention to the various plot twists, you might recall my December 1st Tale of Two Emails post - for those who missed that, there'd been a meeting of the Advisory Council to the Hudson River Park Trust that I would have really liked to attend, except that word never spread beyond a very small group who'd taken the lead (the rationale I was given later was that the meeting room was too small for wider attendance). I was frustrated with both the Trust (for not having anywhere on their website where a person who wasn't in the "in crowd" could find out about Park-related meeting) and the (then) newly announced Hudson River Paddler's Guild", whose stated goals are sounded admirable enough in their introductory email, but who I nevertheless felt were taking advantage of the lack of freely available information on park-related matters by presenting themselves as an intermediary between the Trust and the independent paddler (for which service the "independent paddler" need only pay a $35 membership fee). I would rather have seen the Guild immediately go to work on getting the Trust to re-open a process that used to be very open, but has evidently closed down some over the last relatively uneventful year or two. Interactions between the Trust and the paddlers have often felt like a two-steps-forward, one-step-back process - somehow this time, though, it's felt more like no steps forward, three steps back.
That was really driven home by the first sentence of this email I'd written back in 2003 -
Hudson River Park Trust meetings are open to the public. Public notice is available
here: http://www.hudsonriverpark.org/public/board.html.
So apparently back in July 2003, the Trust ACTUALLY HAD A PUBLIC NOTICE PAGE.
Did you try the link? Not exactly helpful now, eh?
I'm pretty sure that back in 2003, that link would have taken you to something a lot more informative than in does here in early 2007, as in the email I went on to describe that now-lost page as being the way to see what meetings were coming up & whether they'd be of interest to the general paddling public or not.
So when I was pestering Noreen about getting public notice on their website, and she was offering having people email her directly to be put on the list instead (still meaning that you had to be enough of an insider to know that emailing her was the key to getting notice - better than nothing but still not really public, somehow)- all I was asking for was for the Trust to reinstate a service that they used to provide as a matter of course.
As I've mentioned before, I've been active in Hudson River Park stuff since I joined Manhattan Kayak Company in early 1999. Being a partner in a company that needed the Park to accomodate kayaks to even exist was a great motivator for going to all the various meetings where the Park was discussed. Once I left MKC in early 2002, I eased up on my activities of that sort - once I spoke only for Me Myself & I, LLC, I was inclined to leave the bulk of that stuff to the Officially Involved. Still, since access was still important to me, I tried to keep abreast of developments, follow the various changes, and when it seemed like it would help the Trust to hear what paddlers wanted if a whole lot of us were all shouting at the same time, I was always ready to join in on email or letter-writing campaigns & try to rally others to do the same.
I was cleaning out some extremely old emails late last year, and I ran across one that I'd sent to NYCKayaker back during my time as an independent-though-involved paddler at Pier 63. It was dated July 2003. It was entitled "Having a Voice in the Hudson River Park", and it was basically one of my usual over-wordy diatribes about how good it would be for people to take an active role in Park stuff by attending meetings, listening to what was going on, and speaking up if they didn't approve.
Most of it was just generic rah rah, blah blah, if we all speak together the Trust will have to listen stuff - but the first sentence was pretty interesting & sort of sad, considering all of the really unhappy exchanges I ended up having with a lot of people I really didn't want to fight with from late September on (as the closing of the barge played itself out). If you were for some bizarre reason actually paying attention to the various plot twists, you might recall my December 1st Tale of Two Emails post - for those who missed that, there'd been a meeting of the Advisory Council to the Hudson River Park Trust that I would have really liked to attend, except that word never spread beyond a very small group who'd taken the lead (the rationale I was given later was that the meeting room was too small for wider attendance). I was frustrated with both the Trust (for not having anywhere on their website where a person who wasn't in the "in crowd" could find out about Park-related meeting) and the (then) newly announced Hudson River Paddler's Guild", whose stated goals are sounded admirable enough in their introductory email, but who I nevertheless felt were taking advantage of the lack of freely available information on park-related matters by presenting themselves as an intermediary between the Trust and the independent paddler (for which service the "independent paddler" need only pay a $35 membership fee). I would rather have seen the Guild immediately go to work on getting the Trust to re-open a process that used to be very open, but has evidently closed down some over the last relatively uneventful year or two. Interactions between the Trust and the paddlers have often felt like a two-steps-forward, one-step-back process - somehow this time, though, it's felt more like no steps forward, three steps back.
That was really driven home by the first sentence of this email I'd written back in 2003 -
Hudson River Park Trust meetings are open to the public. Public notice is available
here: http://www.hudsonriverpark.org/public/board.html.
So apparently back in July 2003, the Trust ACTUALLY HAD A PUBLIC NOTICE PAGE.
Did you try the link? Not exactly helpful now, eh?
I'm pretty sure that back in 2003, that link would have taken you to something a lot more informative than in does here in early 2007, as in the email I went on to describe that now-lost page as being the way to see what meetings were coming up & whether they'd be of interest to the general paddling public or not.
So when I was pestering Noreen about getting public notice on their website, and she was offering having people email her directly to be put on the list instead (still meaning that you had to be enough of an insider to know that emailing her was the key to getting notice - better than nothing but still not really public, somehow)- all I was asking for was for the Trust to reinstate a service that they used to provide as a matter of course.
Friday, December 01, 2006
A Tale of Two Emails:
Today, I'm just going to post 2 emails, sort of to try to close out the train-wreck issue:
The first is from Noreen Doyle at the Hudson River Park Trust, in response to an email I sent her after trying & failing to find an easy way to find out about future meetings. I'd decided to do that became evident that the paddler's grapevine (formerly fairly reliable) was now apparently suffering from phylloxera:
I'll ask that your home address be added too, and we'll correct your email. And of course, people can email me if they want to be on the circulation list for meetings. It would be helpful if they could understand that the Advisory Council itself includes organizations that are specifically named to the Council. There is a legal cap on the number of members that can be added. Others are welcome to attend in that the meetings are public (though as I said space is limited at most meetings). It is up to the Chair to set the agendas, and the Trust does not control this process. People who want to know more can read the Hudson River Park Act, available on our website. Pier 63 Maritime will shortly be added to the Council as a result of last week's vote, subject to our Board's confirmation.
So...she may not thank me for the but wotthehell, Archie, wotthehell:
ndoyle@hrpt.state.ny.us
Better than nothing. Still these meetings are supposed to be public, and if the public can't find out about 'em easily, maybe that's not really public enough. It shouldn't be any easier for noted squeaky-wheel Bonnie Q. Frogma to find out about this stuff than it is for Jane Q. Paddler who paddles a Feathercraft Java & has never heard of any of our assorted local list & clubs & what-have-you, but is curious & finds the Hudson River Park website through a Google search.
Now here was the other email - from one of the folks who DID get word about the last meeting:
Dear Bonnie,
Hi, my name is Bill Bergeron and I am a paddler who used to store his boat at Pier 63. I am writing to you today to announce some exciting news that I know you'll be interested in. I, along with a number of local paddlers, have formed the Hudson River Paddlers Guild. The "Guild" is a non-for-profit corporation devoted to the interests of independent paddlers, like yourself, who use the Hudson River and surrounding waterways. We formed the Guild to give a voice to our community when we found that, as independent paddlers, we had none during the closing of Pier 63.
While the situation at Pier 63 has been our first focus we have incorporated with a larger mission ahead:
• To promote and support the practice of recreational watersports, in particular kayaking.
• To encourage training, technique, competition, and safety programs for the community of paddlers who seek ways to improve their skills and knowledge.
• To provide a forum for human-powered boaters, not-for-profit organizations and commercial entities that share the Hudson River to promote safety and communication for all.
• To improve and protect safe public access to rivers and to promote care for the aquatic environment of all rivers, in particular the Hudson River, for recreation and enjoyment.
This vision, of an organization that represents the paddlers point of view, would be incomplete without you. I am writing to ask for your input, let me know what you think the Guild can do to meet the needs of our community.
As you may, or may not be aware, independent paddlers are already having an impact. As part of a team of paddlers and water-front community advocates, we are supporting John Krevey in his ongoing efforts to modify his existing DEC permits. These amendments would provide for both storage and launching facilities to return to Pier 63 Maritime when it reopens at Pier 66A.
Recently, we were encouraged when The Hudson River Park Trust Advisory Council voted, unanimously, to recommend that the Hudson River Park Trust support John's suggested amendments. In addition, the Advisory Council will be sending a letter of support to the DEC. While this is encouraging progress it will be months before we know if these amendments will be granted.
In addition to our efforts to restore what has been our community's home, the Guild has joined a consortium of other non-profit and private groups to make what we hope will be a successful bid on the recently released Pier 66 RFP. The details of our proposal are still in progress but so far we are supporting:
• Boat Storage that is convenient and reasonable priced.
• Safe and clean facilities, including docks that are well maintained and not slippery; good lighting; readily available emergency equipment.
• Flexible launch hours, as per independent paddlers needs
• Hot showers, changing area and lockers
We would like your suggestions about how the design and operation of this new facility can serve your needs.
We also need your support. If you believe that independent paddlers should have a strong and unified voice, if you believe that access to our cities waterways should be safe and unfettered, if you believe that paddlers should be caretakers of the river environment, then join us.
Becoming a Guild Member is simple. For just $35 you will not only have a seat at the table where your voice is heard and information comes to you first-hand but you will enjoy these additional benefits:
• Website, currently under construction, with timely news and information on the issues that effect our community presented in a clear, concise and timely fashion
• Bi-monthly newsletter covering the greater Hudson region
• Subscription to Adventure Kayak Magazine, a fresh new voice in paddlesports.
To become a member simply fill out the attached PDF and send it along with a check to the address below. I will follow up within a few days of receiving it with information on how you as a member can get involved and send your suggestions.
You can get involved today by sending this message and the attached membership form to anyone you think shares the interests and ideals of our community.
Yours truly,
William Bergeron-mirsky
President
Hudson River Paddlers Guild
Interested but not ready for membership? Reply to this email with "Friend of the Guild" as the subject line and we will continue to send you updates as we make progress in this exciting time for our community.
As I'm handing out emails - Bill's is bill@hrpg.net .
Some of what they're proposing sounds useful, but I'm having a really hard time swallowing: "For just $35 you will...have a seat at the table where your voice is heard and information comes to you first-hand".
I thought that's what my tax dollars were supposed to get me.
I also have a problem with the fact that they got word of the last Advisory Council meeting & did not spread the word. No, it's not their responsibility, but it just bothers me that they didn't.
Ah well. Lovely paddle I had yesterday, wandering the mazelike grasses of the Elder's Point Marsh with TQ, looking down at the shells on the bottom through water clear as glass, musing over important questions like "If sailors get sea legs when they've sailed for a long time, what does a paddler get after paddling for a long time?". I'm pretty much settled on staying where I am. In some ways, I think it may a far, far better place for somebody who's as burned out on the Hudson River Park access issues as I am.
The first is from Noreen Doyle at the Hudson River Park Trust, in response to an email I sent her after trying & failing to find an easy way to find out about future meetings. I'd decided to do that became evident that the paddler's grapevine (formerly fairly reliable) was now apparently suffering from phylloxera:
I'll ask that your home address be added too, and we'll correct your email. And of course, people can email me if they want to be on the circulation list for meetings. It would be helpful if they could understand that the Advisory Council itself includes organizations that are specifically named to the Council. There is a legal cap on the number of members that can be added. Others are welcome to attend in that the meetings are public (though as I said space is limited at most meetings). It is up to the Chair to set the agendas, and the Trust does not control this process. People who want to know more can read the Hudson River Park Act, available on our website. Pier 63 Maritime will shortly be added to the Council as a result of last week's vote, subject to our Board's confirmation.
So...she may not thank me for the but wotthehell, Archie, wotthehell:
ndoyle@hrpt.state.ny.us
Better than nothing. Still these meetings are supposed to be public, and if the public can't find out about 'em easily, maybe that's not really public enough. It shouldn't be any easier for noted squeaky-wheel Bonnie Q. Frogma to find out about this stuff than it is for Jane Q. Paddler who paddles a Feathercraft Java & has never heard of any of our assorted local list & clubs & what-have-you, but is curious & finds the Hudson River Park website through a Google search.
Now here was the other email - from one of the folks who DID get word about the last meeting:
Dear Bonnie,
Hi, my name is Bill Bergeron and I am a paddler who used to store his boat at Pier 63. I am writing to you today to announce some exciting news that I know you'll be interested in. I, along with a number of local paddlers, have formed the Hudson River Paddlers Guild. The "Guild" is a non-for-profit corporation devoted to the interests of independent paddlers, like yourself, who use the Hudson River and surrounding waterways. We formed the Guild to give a voice to our community when we found that, as independent paddlers, we had none during the closing of Pier 63.
While the situation at Pier 63 has been our first focus we have incorporated with a larger mission ahead:
• To promote and support the practice of recreational watersports, in particular kayaking.
• To encourage training, technique, competition, and safety programs for the community of paddlers who seek ways to improve their skills and knowledge.
• To provide a forum for human-powered boaters, not-for-profit organizations and commercial entities that share the Hudson River to promote safety and communication for all.
• To improve and protect safe public access to rivers and to promote care for the aquatic environment of all rivers, in particular the Hudson River, for recreation and enjoyment.
This vision, of an organization that represents the paddlers point of view, would be incomplete without you. I am writing to ask for your input, let me know what you think the Guild can do to meet the needs of our community.
As you may, or may not be aware, independent paddlers are already having an impact. As part of a team of paddlers and water-front community advocates, we are supporting John Krevey in his ongoing efforts to modify his existing DEC permits. These amendments would provide for both storage and launching facilities to return to Pier 63 Maritime when it reopens at Pier 66A.
Recently, we were encouraged when The Hudson River Park Trust Advisory Council voted, unanimously, to recommend that the Hudson River Park Trust support John's suggested amendments. In addition, the Advisory Council will be sending a letter of support to the DEC. While this is encouraging progress it will be months before we know if these amendments will be granted.
In addition to our efforts to restore what has been our community's home, the Guild has joined a consortium of other non-profit and private groups to make what we hope will be a successful bid on the recently released Pier 66 RFP. The details of our proposal are still in progress but so far we are supporting:
• Boat Storage that is convenient and reasonable priced.
• Safe and clean facilities, including docks that are well maintained and not slippery; good lighting; readily available emergency equipment.
• Flexible launch hours, as per independent paddlers needs
• Hot showers, changing area and lockers
We would like your suggestions about how the design and operation of this new facility can serve your needs.
We also need your support. If you believe that independent paddlers should have a strong and unified voice, if you believe that access to our cities waterways should be safe and unfettered, if you believe that paddlers should be caretakers of the river environment, then join us.
Becoming a Guild Member is simple. For just $35 you will not only have a seat at the table where your voice is heard and information comes to you first-hand but you will enjoy these additional benefits:
• Website, currently under construction, with timely news and information on the issues that effect our community presented in a clear, concise and timely fashion
• Bi-monthly newsletter covering the greater Hudson region
• Subscription to Adventure Kayak Magazine, a fresh new voice in paddlesports.
To become a member simply fill out the attached PDF and send it along with a check to the address below. I will follow up within a few days of receiving it with information on how you as a member can get involved and send your suggestions.
You can get involved today by sending this message and the attached membership form to anyone you think shares the interests and ideals of our community.
Yours truly,
William Bergeron-mirsky
President
Hudson River Paddlers Guild
Interested but not ready for membership? Reply to this email with "Friend of the Guild" as the subject line and we will continue to send you updates as we make progress in this exciting time for our community.
As I'm handing out emails - Bill's is bill@hrpg.net .
Some of what they're proposing sounds useful, but I'm having a really hard time swallowing: "For just $35 you will...have a seat at the table where your voice is heard and information comes to you first-hand".
I thought that's what my tax dollars were supposed to get me.
I also have a problem with the fact that they got word of the last Advisory Council meeting & did not spread the word. No, it's not their responsibility, but it just bothers me that they didn't.
Ah well. Lovely paddle I had yesterday, wandering the mazelike grasses of the Elder's Point Marsh with TQ, looking down at the shells on the bottom through water clear as glass, musing over important questions like "If sailors get sea legs when they've sailed for a long time, what does a paddler get after paddling for a long time?". I'm pretty much settled on staying where I am. In some ways, I think it may a far, far better place for somebody who's as burned out on the Hudson River Park access issues as I am.
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