NYCkayaker boathouses on the Hudson river in NYC

Rob Buchanan robbuc@aol.com
Fri Nov 3 08:24:31 EST 2006


David, those are all good points, and I can't disagree with any of them.
Certainly we need a multiplicity of put-in options, and small, cheap docks
and floats do make a lot of sense in many hard-edged places.

What I'm saying is that there are also a lot of natural put-ins, many of
them that we don't even notice, and that many more can be created with
minimal effort. One example: the way that hoboken boaters shifted the
rip-rap in frank sinatra park to create a natural landing. Another is the
opportunity that the parks department seems poised to miss in manhattan's
east river park, where the sea-wall is being rebuilt with several
rip-rap-filled 'embayments.' They could likely be modified to allow for
access or at least emergency egress, but apparently won't be.

Two other things I like about launching from the foreshore: one, it
encourages people to see the natural shoreline as something worth hanging
onto, and two, legally speaking, no one owns it--it belongs to the public.
With docks come the questions of ownership, maintenance, liability, etc.

--Rob

 On 11/3/06 6:56 AM, "David Gottlieb" <peekamoose@optonline.net> wrote:

> Rob, we are not talking about docks for the Queen Mary or for the Sixth
> Fleet. I am suggesting small scale put ins -- whether they are tiny docks,
> ramps, or beaches. Small docks are not environmentally detrimental to the
> river. I would say that there is much more environmental damage created in
> producing one kayak, with all the effluents from chemicals and plastics that
> are part of the process of making a kayak.
> 
> The NYC shore line, in many parts is rip-rap and landfill -- not exactly the
> original environment of the NYC shore line. A few minute put-ins here and
> there will not be deleterious to the environment.
> 
> Little docks and ramps cause no environmental harm, and will allow access to
> human=powered boats.
> 
> On 11/2/06 2:52 PM, "Rob Buchanan" <robbuc@aol.com> wrote:
> 
>> Docks are expenisve to install and maintain, get slippery, and aren't really
>> a step in the right direction as far as the health of the estuary is
>> concerned. Beaches--natural, restored, or accreted--are the way to go. And
>> there are lots of them: www.newyorkharborbeaches.org
>> 
>> On 11/2/06 12:04 PM, "David Gottlieb" <peekamoose@optonline.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> However, to make boating around the boroughs safer, the city should install
>>> docks and/or other types of launch sites for boats every few miles, at a
>>> minimum, in case paddlers need to exit in an emergency.....
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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