Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Hudson Detox From North To South #3: First Polluting Plant, Now In Close-Up Here

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

Hard by the falls and the latest of several hydro schemes, this ex-paper-plant plant sits on the site of several previous factories.

It also sits on many tons of PCBs which have seeped into the porous black limestone directly below. A close-up of that kind of rock in these first shots here.

The large capacitors the plant produced were washed in PCBs and then filled with them.

PCBs were seen as a wonderful product in their early days - they were non-flammable and did not explode, and so saved many lives. But they increasingly proved a deal with the devil, as the terrible health risks became just too apparent.

One fact we don’t know - nobody seems to know - is why a non-porous concrete slab was not laid under the PCB work area.

Check back in, oh five million years, and most of those PCBs will probably still be there. There is no plan now to ever excavate that soil.

The city street along the front here is new, by the way. Until recently, the plant was all fenced up. As if it was dangerous or something…

The city street does save a lot of driving in that area though. It’s very welcome.

Below: These are side and back views - you can just distinguish “Capacitors” on that notice third shot down

Below: This pipework out the front is not that used to pipe PCBS into the river, but part of the long-term cleanup

Monday, November 17, 2008

The Hudson Detox From North To South #2: First Polluting Plant, From Across The Hudson

Posted by Peter Quennell

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First of the two plants - the other is just downstream - that actually caused this billion-dollar mess.

Better make that the multi-billion-dollar mess.

Factor in the health costs, agricultural costs, urban water supply costs, affected wildlife species and lost fishing, diminished property values and lost riverside development, previous cleanup, and all the legal and lobbying fees, and you soon arrive at truly huge numbers. 

These now are shots starting from just below the previous post; all the posts in this series will do that. This is the falls area at Hudson Falls, although for most of the year there are no falls - all the river is channeled through the hydro plant there.

The top 9 shots are a panoramic sweep around the dam. The 10th shot is a robot that cleans the hydro inlet. And all the remaining shots are plant close-up.

The toxic PCB waste from this plant entered the river and land all around here (everything you are looking at is tainted) in two ways.

• First, much of the PCB waste was piped directly into the the river over there, to the left of the dam. and then it headed down through the hydro plant.
• Second, much of the PCB waste soaked through the very porous black limestone floor of the capacitor assembly rooms; there was NO concrete floor there.

Dumb or what? You judge! The old GE of course. The new one really is proving rather more helpful.

Beautiful area, by the way. The entire area of this clean-up is quite wonderful to look at.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Hudson Detox From North To South #1: Above The Bad Stuff

Posted by Peter Quennell

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Series about the removal of the deadly PCBs from the upper Hudson River. By General Electric, their many sub-contractors, and the Federal and New York State governments.

It will be the first time on the web that this will all be explained photographically. Why does it matter to us?

• The PCBs extend all the way down the river and into New York harbor. Traces of them have been found at Jamaica Bay.
• People boat it and canoe it and wish they could swim and fish it. Towns north of Albany take their drinking water from it.
• Wildlife species by the thousands live in the river and around the river. Striped bass and sturgeons are very much affected.
• Exactly how the PCBs got into the river and then seriously broke loose (there were two huge breakouts) is seriously interesting.
• And a cleanup on this scale and of this complexity and cost will probably never been seen again, anywhere in the world.

This is at pretty Glenn Falls, nearly 200 miles north of the Manhattan area. Above the pollution. The water you see here is REALLY clean and safe.

These are the first of only two large falls on the Hudson. Right here there is a major hydro power station, which at this point was channeling most of the flow.

There are several massive paperworks, originally here so they could be close to the power. And (bottom shots) there is a hi-tech waste processing plant a mile downstream.

None of these plants is now pumping any waste into the river. Now, this ain’t regarded as such a good idea.

See that black rock in the top shots? That kind of rock is a MAJOR reason why the whole situation has become such a mess. Care to guess why?

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Really Massive Toxic Cleanup Of The Hudson Gets Ready To Roll

Posted by Peter Quennell

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The removal of PCBs from the river north of Albany is soon set to begin.

And what a mighty operation it is going to be. There is much to report.

The Hudson is the US’s largest Superfund site, and this cleanup will be the most expensive, globally, in all history.

The PCBs (electrical insulation coolants) were made in a plant in Alabama (below) now long out of existence.

And PCB excesses were dumped over many years from this GE Hudson Falls plant, and another GE plant at Fort Edward about a mile away.

PCBs have made the Hudson River and the NY harbor carcogenic for nigh on 50 years now. Swimming and eating of fish many miles from the PCB source is forbidden, and canoing is not particularly recommended up there.

As a point of departure, we’d like to invite you back to check out these three starter stories we posted last year.

• Notice Anything Unusual About This River?
• Notice Anything Unusual About This Plant?
• Significance Of This Plant To Us Here On The Hudson?

In our next few posts, the two GE plants as they are now, the river, and the cleanup preparations. With lots of nice fresh shots.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #13: Very Large New Park Area Soon To Open

Posted by Peter Quennell

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Piers 62 to 64 here, immediately north of the huge Chelsea Piers.

There is a map of the new piers at the bottom here with a description of the new facilities to be complete for next summer.

The shots are in sequence from north to south. The first shot is from the wonderful new pier 66.

Just above the map you can see two images of the rusty old shipping terminal that was demolished in the process. Replacing it? A lot of grassland, a lot of trees, some sports facilities.

And a large new carousel which will be easily visible from the mainland over here.

These are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Barack Obama: This One Was For Us

Posted by Peter Quennell

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Barack Obama often dropped by our area, if usually only briefly.

But he clearly thought our Jersey votes mattered, even if Jersey is a sure-blue state. He devoted half a day (the 2nd of February) including the travel time to a large and impressive rally at the arena in the Meadowlands.

Shots are in sequence here, starting before he appeared.

Despite appearances from behind him here, the place was pretty full - maybe 12,000. 

That tier directly ahead of him was the only one empty - kept that way for the benefit of the TV cameramen. The crowd was so positioned so that the TV cameras could get in there, and pan around him to take in the crowd in front and on both sides.

Mr Obama talked for over half an hour, speaking very clearly, and he seemed to have real fun in the crowd for a similar period. The warm-up and intros involved former Senator Bradley, several of our local mayors, Robert DeNiro, and Ted and Caroline Kennedy.

Anything new that we noticed about him? The guy has a great little grin. It suddenly pops out, and lasts only about a second.

Endearing.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

As Always, We’re Curious About The Stock Market: Where Next?

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click image for the full article]

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #12: The Wild And Wonderful Pier 66

Posted by Peter Quennell

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Instantly this whimsical structure becomes our favorite new pier.

It is across from 26th Street (still north of the Chelsea Piers) and it opened in July as a restaurant, etc, etc, etc!

It is also known as the Frying Pan pier, because that is where the famous old lightship is now tied up.

Not to be missed. Sunday brunch there is just the best.

Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.

Monday, November 03, 2008

City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #11: The Recently Rebuilt Pier 67

Posted by Peter Quennell

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Not to be confused with Seattle’s very popular pier with the same number!

This one is for kayaking and… your choice. Mainly, it seems, for looking back at the Galaxy.

This pier was one of the 100% rebuilds.

Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.

CLICK FOR MORE...

Sunday, November 02, 2008

City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #10: Pending Park In Front Of Hudson Yards

Posted by Peter Quennell

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The Related Companies have not yet come up with a complete riverside treatment.

But it will include the suspension foot bridge you can see in the rendering below, and it will probably cover all the present helicopter area if the choppers ALL move out.

You can see in the aerial images at bottom that the platform is wide enough for something nice, and it includes a short pier which may become a small marina.

This will take some time to happen, but it will be well-funded and spectacular when it does.

Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Spectacular Japanese “Bonsai” At Bronx Gardens Only Through 16th

Posted by Peter Quennell

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CLICK FOR MORE...

Friday, October 31, 2008

Spectacular Japanese “Kiku” At Bronx Gardens Only Through 16th

Posted by Peter Quennell

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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #9: Tourist Choppers Soon Gone From The 30th Street Heliport

Posted by Peter Quennell

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The hellicopters will be gone soon from the historic heliport.

But they may not entirely be gone from the west side altogether.

The uproar over the noisy comings and goings of sightseeing helicopters along the West Side of Manhattan has finally led to a plan to eliminate them.

Air Pegasus, the operator of the heliport at the west end of 30th Street, has agreed to start phasing out tourist flights next year and to stop them altogether in 2010, according to a draft of an agreement that needs the approval of a State Supreme Court justice.

The agreement would allow the heliport to continue handling corporate, emergency and government helicopters through the end of 2012.

By then, city and state officials hope to have chosen a new location along the West Side for the heliport, which sits within the boundaries of the Hudson River Park.

So. Just gone for sure from that space we look onto, in front of the Hudson yards, and across from Hoboken which they ravage daily with their noise.

We guess the fight will continue. Good luck, Hoboken. We are here for you.

Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.

Monday, October 27, 2008

City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #8: Pier 76: New Stables Now, More Park Soon?

Posted by Peter Quennell

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Pier 76 is the grim-looking pier that kinda detracts from the Hudson River view of the Javits Center.

It really could use an external makeover, on all four sides. The West Side Highway side is equally as decrepit.

The primary user of this pier is the tow-pound for illegally parked cars that the traffic police tow-trucks deliver there daily by the dozens.

Last year a large police-horse stable was expensively established and is expected to remain there.

The car-pound part of the pier may one day be vacated, however, and become part of the Hudson River park.

Hope you like your digs, horsies. Complain about the paint job, will you?

Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Fall Leaves Peaking Now A Short Drive North

Posted by Peter Quennell

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Probably a redundant reminder at this late stage. Sorree!

The shots here are of Maine two years ago.... Okay, it was actually two years and two weeks ago.

Quite a contrast to Maine three years and two weeks ago...

That was one wild, roaring event. Leaves were all gone, in the blink of an eye.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

This Is The Area The Mighty Towers Will Occupy

Posted by Peter Quennell

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Towers, towers, towers…

What our view is about to become. At least in this area. This shot above is in further explanation of the post below.

There are some very tall towers envisaged throughout the Javits area, which extends from around 44th to around 33th.

The tallest of all (taller than the Silver Towers) will be those in the $1-billion-plus Hudson Yards.

Below, one tentative rendering.

Friday, October 24, 2008

The Silver Towers: Real View-Changers Now To Our South-East

Posted by Peter Quennell

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View-changers now, because of their awesome height.

But not for much longer!

Much or most of that area, from 42nd and above down to 30th Street, including Hudson Yards, is destined to be filled with super-tall buildings like these.

So if you want to get some before-and-after shots, now might be a very good time to start. In 10 or 15 years the area as it is now will be largely unrecognizable. 

The Silver Towers are much commented-upon by our wonderful friends at Wired New York. The high-level shots at bottom were first posted there.

Another post soon on all that is pending in the wider Javits area.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

This Really Is Quite Brilliant! And Also Very Unexpected…

Posted by Peter Quennell

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A REAL surprise! What the experience up there is all about.

We’d kinda imagined prim rows of tourists sitting quietly up there. Demurely observing the Times Square performance.

Not at all… In fact hardly anybody is sitting. And almost nobody is just gazing out over Times Square.

We dunno if these shots convey what is happening. But the ramp itself really IS the performance.

Being up there is like being on a disco-type stage. It’s addictive, and photogenic, and you will have a hard time leaving.

The red light effect works really well with the flashing signs around about. And particularly with that mesmerizing one behind (even if it is only for a Pontiac!).

It’s like this. Only better. All we need now is some Paul Van Dyk.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #7: The Piers Near The End Of 42nd Street

Posted by Peter Quennell

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Above and below: The USS Intrepid at the rebuilt Pier 86.

The WWII attack carrier Intrepid recently returned to this pier and will open again as a war museum on November 8th.

The ship and the pier look pretty good under the new flood-lighting. Worth a visit at night just for that.

Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.

Below: The new city park on Pier 84.

This pier was also rebuilt and like many of the new-model piers it has a large lawn, a lot of seats, and a kayak-launching facility. Very popular on sunny weekends.

This was our previous post on the park.

Below: The Circle Line terminal on Pier 83.

In terms of the numbers of people who visit the pier, to board the Circle Line boats, this could be the city’s busiest pier.

Only a mild face-lift has been completed here. Nothing to write home about, unfortunately. This was once a major shipping pier. Then a fire raged through it, and it was only ever partially rebuilt.

Doubles as a parking facility. There are many such facilities now on the city’s piers.

And below: The ferry terminal of NY Waterways etc on Pier 79.

Remarks by the designer in the course of construction of this light, busy, welcoming terminal:

“We tried very hard in our design to make the building as open as possible, allowing both ferry terminal users and the public to move in and out easily, “ said Darko Hreljanovic, the project designer. 

That includes plazas to the north and south, a cafe from which seating can spill outside in pleasant weather and an elevated walkway over the ferry slips so that pedestrians can trace an uninterrupted waterside path.  The main waiting room wil be clad in a structural glass system for highest transparency. 

Curving vestibules on either side of the vent stacks are intended to signal the terminal entrance clearly and to create a kind of architectural transition between the 145 foot-high towers and low-rise terminal and plaza, Mr. Bodouva said.

Busy - although ironically, but more people pass under it (the Lincoln Tunnel is directly beneath it) than pass through it!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Pier 88 Again: Ship Burns And Sinks - Right In Front Of Us (Sort Of)

Posted by Peter Quennell

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The SS Normandie arrives in August 1939.

And what happens thereafter? It burns and capsizes. Right there at the dock. The story from WorldShipNY-dot-com

NORMANDIE was the largest and one of the fastest ocean liners in existence at that time. Her gross tonnage was 83,423 and she was 1,029 feet long (313.64m) and 118 feet wide (35.93m). The top speed of this liner was over 30 knots. From 1935 until 1938 she would vie with QUEEN MARY for the title of the fastest liner in the world.

Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 and World War II quickly put an end to commercial passenger-ship travel across the North Atlantic. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (French Line), her owners, decided to keep NORMANDIE at Pier 88 North River in New York rather than allow her to sail back to Le Havre, France…

As it turned out SS NORMANDIE was not to sail again after her August 28, 1939 arrival. The next scheduled sailing, August 30, was cancelled and she remained at Pier 88. She was tendered by a skeleton French crew of 115 until December 12, 1941 when she was seized by the United States Navy.

Work was then authorized to begin the process of conversion of the ship into a troop transport. At 3:05 PM on February 9, 1942 NORMANDIE caught fire, burned and capsized at her berth. A total loss, she was eventually salvaged, righted and scrapped in the port.

Monday, October 20, 2008

City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #6: Manhattan’s Ocean Cruise Terminals

Posted by Peter Quennell

Added: If you are into cruises, or just cruise-ship watching, here are two really useful links. A timetable of all arrivals day by day in 2008. And Anne Campbell’s great guide to not getting lost in the cruise-ship jungle around here.

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Above and three below: Pier 92.

Northernmost of the three ocean cruise terminals. Passengers must find themselves pretty surprised to be tied up alongside THIS decrepit pier.

Actually the city is still undecided over what to do with it. Scroll down to Pier 92 here for the story.

In a nutshell, the city procrastinated for many years over the refurbishment of these piers, while the New York cruise industry grew apace.

Allowing New Jersey to nip in with a terminal at Bayonne.

To which the city responded with a crash effort to create a terminal in Brooklyn.

Leaving this very historic pier, well, redundant. It may become mere exhibition space. Hmmm. The ignominy....

Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.

Below: Pier 90.

This pier and Pier 88 below have now been fully refurbished

Pier 90 is the pier where the huge Queen Mary docked {see shot below) on its one and only visit to Manhattan. The ship is so long (still the longest ship in the world) that it contravenes Coast Guard rules requiring that berthed ships should not block the Hudson.

Hence the QM’s subsequent move to the Brooklyn terminal, where the parallel berth there can handle one very, very long ship.

Below: Pier 88.

Makeover of this pier is also now complete.

This in the pier where, on their maiden voyages, the Freeedom Of The Seas and the Queen Victoria both tied up.

Some historical shots of these three piers in this post here. And a trivia question for you.

Why does the West Side Highway veer sharply away from the river alongside these three piers?

Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Sheep Show At Rhinebeck This Saturday And Sunday

Posted by Peter Quennell

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More shots! Very photogenic. These shots fall so far short of capturing it all, too.

Details of how to get there and what’s offered (especially for kids) were in last Sunday’s post.

Gates open at 9:00 on Saturday. No need to pack a lunch. Just enjoy! 

Friday, October 17, 2008

City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #5: North Of The Ocean Terminals

Posted by Peter Quennell

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This shot above is from the Port Imperial ferry terminal in Weehawken.

Clinton Cove is the riverside area with its own small park and some recreational piers between Pier 99 and Pier 94.

• Pier 99 (large white structure at left) is the Sanitation Department pier, the one that is brightly lit up at night.
• Pier 94 is the low white structure at extreme right and it is used as an exhibition space alternative to the Javits center.
• In between are a new park, two working piers (soon to be one) and two smaller recreational piers (soon to be three).

A lot is happening here now, as the trucks move out to the new sanitation parking building across West Side Highway.

And the free-kayaking operation (you can use it) is very popular.

Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.

Below: Five shots of Pier 99, a waste-paper transfer station, may change to handling other kinds of waste

Below: Three shots of Pier 98, which houses one of Con Edison’s small local power generating stations; not expected to change

Below: Four shots of Pier 97, now used by the Sanitation Department, but about to be transformed into a recreational pier

Below: The Sanitation Department’s new parking building where trucks will park that once parked on Piers 99 and 97.

Below: Five shots of Clinton Cove Park and Pier 96, a recreational pier used for the city’s free kayak excursions

Below: One shot of Pier 94 and, foreground, Pier 95, part of the park which is there for walking on and fishing

Below: And three shots of Pier 94, the spillover exhibition space, due to be made over, perhaps as shown at bottom here.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Today! Times Square Tkts Ramp Opening

Posted by Peter Quennell

The Stairway to Nowhere. Glowing softly red in the dark here.

A truly spectacular outcome. Though tricky to build as the glass must support itself - and several hundred people.

There will be three events today. First at 12:30 pm.

On hand for the [ribbon-cutting] celebration will be Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn, as well as representatives from the Times Square Alliance, the Theatre Development Fund, the Coalition for Father Duffy, Bishop Dennis Sullivan and Tony Award winner Bernadette Peters.

Second at 3:00 pm.

The redesigned TKTS booth, which will now accept credit card payment at all of its ticketing windows, officially opens at 3 PM for day-of tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. While the TKTS booth offers an award-winning design of an illuminated red glass staircase for pedestrian use, the booth itself has expanded its box office from ten to twelve windows.

And third at 6:30 pm.

To celebrate the opening of the TKTS booth, Broadway’s Julie Halston will emcee a 6:30 PM event that will feature a performance by Brian Stokes Mitchell, John Leguizamo, Sutton Foster and members of the Broadway community. The inaugural lighting ceremony will be marked by a performance of “Give My Regards to Broadway.”

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Riverview - Live Or Die? Your Unit’s Value Could Be Affected $20,000 Either Way

Posted by Peter Quennell

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Update: A great outcome. Full report soon. The County Planning Board has voted to cancel the application.

The issue of who owns Lot 1 (if pursued) must first move to the courts. Given that the County itself seems to have title, and wont sell for less than millions, the economics of Riverview look to be in total collapse.

Apologies to those who expected a bus to come by. It was canceled late, as the outcome of the short hearing was known to Bergen Ridge in advance.

Galaxy Rising has long reported on this project, but the Galaxy’s directors and management company have remained pretty well AWOL.

Bergen Ridge and the Sierra Club have been spearheading the fight against the project, and they have each paid a bundle in the process.

If you click on the image above, you will see Bergen Ridge right behind. Those town houses. They stand to lose most of their views and an estimated 15 to 25 percent in property value (typically $100,000 to $200,000) if the views are obscured.

The Sierra Club is leading the fight to have a park created on that point. It is a terrific place for a park, and there is a real shortage of family-friendly park space elsewhere along the waterfront. (Weehawken’s park is primarily for Weehawken residents.)

The developer is so greedy for more and more and more apartments that he wont have any room left for a regular parking facility where you can have your car any time you want. Instead, you would have to get at the back of a line, while parking valets screech 500 other cars back and forth all day.

North Bergen’s dithering Planning Board should have shot down the proposal two years ago. There is no clear title, it wrecks views, and it floods a congested highway with unwanted new traffic.

In sharp contrast, the County Planning Board is demonstrating real concern for those round about - and those drivers who already have to creep along River Road daily.

Tonight’s hearing looks to be one of the great cliffhangers in local planning history. There is a LOT riding on the outcome for the Galaxy’s own owners.

How much? Maybe $20,000 per unit. At a minimum.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Want To Boost Galaxy Value? Come To THIS Hearing

Posted by Peter Quennell

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Riverview. Just beyond the Watermark and just this side of the former Unilever site.

This absurdly over-stuffed project has been limping through North Bergen’s planning process for several years.

And now it is really under the microscope at the County level.

We have at least two dogs in this fight.

• The ever-increasing traffic along River Road which is DIMINISHING our values.
• The real possibility of a new park there instead, which could INCREASE our values.

As this amazing example from across the Hudson shows, any new parks around here should be very value-adding.

Home values in Greenwich Village have increased 300 percent since the Hudson River Park plan was announced in 1990, according to a study released today by the not-for-profit group Friends of Hudson River Park. That is 100 percent more than the overall increase in Manhattan for the 18-year period.

The Greenwich Village section of the park was completed in 2003, and between 2002 and 2005, home values rose 55 percent and the average sales price rose 135 percent, the study said.

Monday, October 13, 2008

City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #4: The New Riverside Park South

Posted by Peter Quennell

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