NYCkayaker boathouses on the hudson river in NYC

[Nancy Brous]

mike, i assume that you refer to the downtown boathouse in the below post?

i would like to provide a little background information which might broaden
your perspective on boathouses on the hudson in NYC.

hudson river park, the subject of this article, occupies just about 6 miles
of the hudson river waterfront in nyc (roughly from the top of rockefeller
park to 59th street).  that is hardly the whole of NYC's hudson waterfront.
there is a NYC Parks Department-run human-powered boating launch and storage
facility at 79th street, and a canoe club at inwood.

the hudson river park act provided for the construction of 4 new public
boathouses to be built on this public land with public funds at piers 26,
66, 84, and 96.
right now 2 of the boathouses are complete:  piers 96 and 84.  (84 is yet to
open for use).

almost 2 years ago a request for proposals (rfp) was issued for the
operation of the first boathouse to come online, at pier 96.  this is an
open and fairly transparent process.  i personally posted the information
here and on many other lists around the country, as did many other members
of the park's advisory council, park officials, and concerned members of the
public.  anyone was welcome to submit a proposal.
only the downtown boathouse submitted a proposal for operation of that
facility.  they now operate that facility.

the next boathouse to open will be at 44th street. it will be operated by
Floating the Apple.  there was no rfp process for this facility.  this
organization was chosen by the hudson river park trust in a closed process.

another rfp will be released in the next few weeks for an operator for the
next boathouse to be completed, at pier 66 (26th street).  again, this will
be open to anyone who chooses to make a proposal for its operation.
when that rfp comes out i will post the info here and elsewhere.
the operation of the new pier 26 boathouse was to be determined  through an
rfp process as well, but if this article is correct, that process may now be
indefinitely delayed.

while jim wetteroth's being interviewed for this article may appear to
suggest that he expects his organization to eventually operate that
boathouse, if you read carefully, he is quoted at least in part because he
was at the CB1 waterfront committee meeting.  the interviewer's description
of the dtbh programs is actually a bit out of context, in my opinion.

as mr. wetteroth has operated a public boating facility in the area for
nearly 20 years, his comments provide useful insight into the current
financial issues facing the new boathouse for any operator, not just the
dtbh program.  while the new boathouse at pier 96 is quite nice (running
water and heat in the winter, as mentioned) a facility for seasonal boating
use could certainly function quite well without such "luxuries" if it meant
the difference between a fully appointed facility and no facility at all.

there are many individuals and organizations (including but certainly not
limited to the dtbh) throughout this city and general area who work
tirelessly to ensure the future of human-powered boating and free public
water-access for this entire community.
and we are a community, not a series of competing factions out to monopolize
the boathouses and the waterfront.

i encourage everyone on this list to keep an eye out for the rfp when it is
released, to make proposals for its operation, to use their energies
constructively, and to generally act like the community of people with a
common goal that we are, or should be.

nancy brous
metropolitan region director
HRWA


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> Today's Topics:
>
>    1.  Tribeca's boathouse on Hudson Park's chopping block (mike pidel)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:51:13 -0400
> From: mike pidel <mpidel at optonline.net>
> Subject: NYCkayaker Tribeca's boathouse on Hudson Park's chopping
>         block
> To: nyckayaker at rockandwater.net
> Message-ID: <00e101c6faca$6e4596f0$0200a8c0 at e510>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
>
>
> Why does one  organization try and monopolize all the boathouses on the
> Hudson?
>
>
>
> http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_181/tribecasboathuseonhudson.html
>
>
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