NYCkayaker boathouses on the Hudson river in NYC

Tue Oct 31 23:25:19 EST 2006

Continuing, and agreeing wholeheartedly, with Mike's train of thought  
let's not lose sight of the fact that HRPT has seen fit and  
appropriate to lease water-park land at Pier 40 to a massive PRIVATE  
automobile garage -- imagine how many private kayaks could be stored  
in a space a fraction the size of the garage?

On Oct 31, 2006, at 3:46 PM, mike pidel wrote:

> The church of the downtown boathouse always brings up these  
> arguments.  There are other churches out there.
>
> In fact with the current method of boat storage at the DTBH is very  
> exclusionary to the public, only certain people are allowed to  
> store their boats there.
>
> If they truly believed in what is posted, there would be no private  
> boats in the DTBH. Very few paddlers have the amount of time to set  
> aside to do the volunteer work that is required.
>
> In NYC parks there are private restaurants, concessions, softball  
> fields with a hierarchy of fee’s to third party operators.
>
> 79 th street marina is a subsided large vessel storage facility,  
> the chelsa piers was sold at below market rate, I believe it was  
> supposed to have public access to the water.
>
>  They are Dog runs, skateboards parks,  private trapeze schools in  
> the park.   The tennis courts at central park have locker rooms  
> with private storage available. The model boat house in central  
> park has storage for the private model boats.
>
> Every free on street parking space is subsided public space.  I  
> wouldn’t doubt the 79th street marina has subsided indoor parking  
> for the power boat owners.
>
> I am hoping the the pier 66 facility turns out with a storage  
> facility for the people that just want to paddle.
>
> My concern was that if the DTBH is denied their original downtown  
> location, they may try to compete for the pier 66 location.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nyckayaker-bounces at rockandwater.net [mailto:nyckayaker- 
> bounces at rockandwater.net] On Behalf Of Nancy Brous
> Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 12:02 PM
> To: nyckayaker at rockandwater.net
> Subject: NYCkayaker boathouses on the hudson river in NYC
>
>
> 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
>
>
> <<
>
> 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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