Three Cunard Oceanliners Together Again

January 13, 2011

Once again, a trio of flagships from the British Cunard cruise line (The Queen Mary 2, The Queen Victoria and The Queen Elizabeth) came together in New York Harbor. A similar gathering took place in 2008.

(Heat convection currents and the cold air by the buildings made the images a bit blurry)

(In full screen 1080iHD)

The FDNY Fire Fighter II

(click image to expand)

The FDNY Fire Fighter II, taken by Steven Greer

The Atlantic Cup Yacht Race

(Viewable in full screen 1080i HD)

The inaugural Atlantic Cup yacht race started today from the North Cove Marina. We interviewed Race Director Hugh Piggin about the types of yachts and goals of the race.

View of New Year’s 2012 fireworks over New York Harbor

January 1, 2012  By Steven Greer, MD

(in full screen 1080i HD)

Polluting ferry boats to get new, less polluting, less noisy, engines

November 2, 2011

By Steven Greer, MD

The much anticipated BPC CB1 meeting to discuss the ongoing problem of noise and air pollution from the New York Waterway ferry boats yielded significant results for the first time in recent memory. The CEO of the BillyBey Ferry Company (DBA New York Waterway), Paul Goodman, announced that they will be using federal grants and “Nearly $1 Million of BillyBey money” to finally replace the outdated heavily-polluting diesel engines on nine of the worst offending vessels that dock often at WFC Vesey Street slip. The slip is controlled by the Port Authority.

The expected completion date will be mid-year 2012. That coincides with new regulations for marine vessels under the Clean Air Act.

Mr. Goodman elaborated, “Those 18 engines for 9 boats have been ordered. The program is fully funded…and installed over the first half of 2012.” He explained that the current engines, which so infamously now belch pure black diesel particulate smoke (see here) as they dock at the WFC Vesey Street slip fall under “Tier 0″ of the EPA classification of engines, according to Mr. Goodman. The new diesel engines with particulate filters will be “Tier 2″. (Note, our Google search of the EPA’s Tier system for engines revealed a system that did not coincide with what the BillyBey Ferry Company listed).

Given that no exhaust emission testings have ever been performed and made public, CB1 member Anthony Notaro tried to clarify whether BPC residents can expect to see, hear, and breath less pollution with the new engines promised. Goodman said, “You will see a significant reduction in pollution”. A spokesman for the DOT elaborated, “You can expect an 85% reduction in pollution (with the new engines).

Skeptics of these new promises from BillyBey Ferry Company have ample justification. The same NYSERD grant that will finally be used to convert the engines has been funded and made available to the company since at least 2006, and the only accomplishments to date from the grant money has been to install some exhaust particulate filters on a few boats and “perform tests”. Only now, after BatteryPark.TV coverage and the involvement of the NRDC, New York Times, EPA, and elected officials, is BillyBey promising to replace the outdated engines.

The Port Authority spokeswoman at the meeting said, “We were aware that the (NYSERD-funded emissions program) was ongoing, but it didn’t move as quickly as we would have liked.”

After more than 20 minutes of the BillyBey CEO and his entourage of supporting government officials speaking (i.e. NYSERD, DOT, consultant to NYSERD, and EPA), vocal residents spoke up requesting that the WFC Vesey Street slip be moved entirely away from the neighborhood. CB1 member Tom Goodkind echoed those views saying, “We should consider removing these boats (from the WFC Vesey Street slip) until these engine retrofits occur.” and received applause.

Recall, the BillyBey Ferry Company is a New Jersey company that exists almost exclusively to haul New Jersey residents to their Manhattan jobs. There is a reason one of the boats is named “U.S. Senate Frank R. Lautenberg“. For decades, this New Jersey-benefiting operation has polluted the air and disturbed the peace in Battery Park City. This might be the beginning of the beginning of a solution to this New Jersey-rooted problem. When new Caterpillar diesel engines are mounted in the boats, we will take our victory lap.

And the full unedited video of all of the different boats polluting equally from EPA Tier-0 “worst  category” engines

The Christmas Tree Lighting in Battery Park City of 2011

December 8, 2011

By Steven Greer, MD

(In full screen 1080iHD)

Toy donations can be made by contacting Stockings with Care or caroline@stockingswithcare.org

The Lowdown Hudson Blues jazz concert

July 30, 2011

(Filmed on handheld cell phone)

The parade of Santas

December 11, 2011

Local resident Fran Miller sent these to us

(Click images to enlarge)

By Fran Miller

Too many Fuddy-duddies stifle entertainment Downtown

December 9, 2011

The Financial District, Tribeca, and Battery Park City have few places for the citizens to enjoy good music, drinks, and New York class society. The main problem is that the local press consists of Fuddy-duddy people who have zero interest in promoting this culture. As Mayor Bloomberg progressively required earlier and earlier closing times as a condition for liquor license renewals, this all went unreported for the most part.

An example of this pro-boring reporting was in a local throw-away today. The W New York Downtown and their Living Room bar attempted to throw a Rock and Roll style party with art. The paper focused on the noise and nuisance to the city, see below. The W Hotel is a few feet from the massive noise of the World Trade Center construction site and anyone living nearby should be quite accustomed to noise.

The Battery Park Broadsheet article read, “W New York — Downtown, the hotel located at the intersection of Washington and Albany Streets, made W history with its first-ever rock concert on Wednesday evening, but raised more than a few hackles among local residents kept awake by noise levels during sound testing on Tuesday and the concert on Wednesday. The event — which celebrated ROCKED, a photo exhibit of cutting-edge musical talent featured in W Hotel concerts — took place in a temporary, plastic tent behind the hotel without more than a few hours advance notification….Lucas Visser, a resident on West Street, said that the W hotel alerted his building manager at 4:30 p.m. on the day of the concert. “During the day on the 6th and 7th they were blasting music so loud that my windows were shaking badly. It was loud enough that talking on the phone was near impossible. The actual event began last night at 6:00 pm and lasted until midnight, and again the windows were shaking. My children were up later than usual, though amazingly they were able to get to sleep. My wife and I weren’t as fortunate,” wrote Mr. Visser in an e-mail…..Noise concerns were not as important as the lack of advance notification for Esther Regelson, a 26-year resident of Washington Street. “That space behind the W Hotel was supposed to be public space, and that space lay fallow until suddenly they have a party to pat themselves on the back. It seemed outrageous! They should be having a party for the neighborhood. It just smacks of being a bad neighbor,” she said.”

W Hotel Living Room

Drawing in the Park

May 21, 2011

(Viewable in full-screen 1080iHD)

One of the many activities in Battery Park that is produced by the Parks Conservancy is Drawing in the Park. Free art supplies and a tutor are supplied for adults to sketch landscapes and nature.

Figure al Fresco

May 11, 2011

The Figure al Fresco program convenes on Wednesday afternoons, starting at 2:30 PM,  on the esplanade by the South Cove. An art instructor helps guide residents as the sketch a standing model. For more information, call (212) 267-9700 or visit http://www.bpcparks.org/bpcp/home/

Go Fish

May 21, 2011

Liz Conner interviews the founders of the Go Fish program along the esplanade discuss how the program raises awareness of the importance to keep the Hudson River clean, and how the river has rebounded since it was proclaimed “Dead” by the New York Times in the 1960′s due to pollution.

(Viewable in full-screen 1080iHD)

The NYPD Museum

October 14, 2010

Julie Bose, Director of the NYPD Museum, takes us on a video tour of the museum with two new exhibits. The first one is “Artist as Witness” by artist Aggie Kenny who was given extraordinary access to the first-responders to 9/11. The second exhibit is the new children’s wing of the museum called “Junior Officers Discovery Zone”.

For more details, call (212) 480-3100 or visit http://www.nycpm.org

Big meeting tonight to discuss the fate of the polluting NY Waterway boats

November 1, 2011

By Steven Greer, MD

The CB1 Battery Park City subcommittee will meet tonight to discuss the fate of the BillyBey Ferry Company’s air and noise polluting ferry boats (6:00 PM, 1 World Financial Center, 24th floor). After several meetings leading up to this one, scheduled to be in attendance tonight are the CEO of BillyBey, representatives from Senator Gillibrand and Rep. Nadler’s offices, the EPA, the DOT, the non-profit environmental watchdog group the NRDC, and The New York Times.

Key issues to be determined will be:

• What did BillyBey do with the more than $7 Million in grants provided by an arcane grant from the State and City specifically meant for cleaning up ferry boat exhaust? “The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), in partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), announces the Deployment Phase of the New York City Private Ferry Emission Reduction Program.”
• BillyBey claims that several of their boats have already been retrofitted with diesel particulate filters. However, per our filming and reporting, not a single New York Waterway ferry that docks at the Vesey Street slip seems to have any such filter.
• BillyBey also claims to be completely replacing older diesel engines with more modern “clean diesel”. When will this take place?
• What happened to the brand new super-clean and quiet Goldman Sachs ferry boats, seen briefly in April and reported by the New York Times? They seem to have disappeared and never made it into service. BillyBey CEO Goodman refused to answer that question in our previous call with him.
• What powers does the federal Clean Air Act give our local EPA to enforce pollution violations that appear to be committed by the BillyBey New York Waterway ferries? The well-funded non-profit environmental watchdog group, the NRDC, and the EPA, will shed some light onto that.
• What role will the Port Authority, operator of the Vesey Street slip and contractor with BillyBey, play in resolving this public health problem?
• What role will the city play now that the city is in contract with BillyBey for the East River new ferry services?

After decades of being subjected to noise and air pollution from the BillyBey New York Waterway ferries, our community seems to the most support ever for resolving this problem. Please attend the meeting tonight.

(unedited filming of ferry boat pollution)

The 2011 9/11 Memorial Police Bagpipe Parade

September 9, 2011

(View in full screen 1080iHD)

CB 1 Meeting October 4

October 4, 2011

By Steven Greer

The Battery Park City division of Community Board 1 met tonight. Two Hudson river complaints were discussed. The first one dealt with the annual loud speed boat race. Then, the meeting turned to the topic of diesel exhaust air pollution from the New York Waterway ferry boats on the Vesey Street slip.

In attendance were staffers from Senator Gillibrand’s and Rep. Nadler’s offices. Surprisingly, the EPA ignored the invitation to attend, despite being the agency most empowered to do something about the problem (see our previous stories).

Steven Greer began with a video from BatteryPark.TV of medical doctor expert on air pollution and the effects to children’s lung development.  A 20-year study at USC has demonstrated that air pollution increases asthma, slows lung growth in children, and increases overall mortality rates. Several local residents expressed outrage over the ferry boat noise and pollution.

The committee decided to do the following:

• Have some entity, to be determined, test the levels of air pollution by the waterfall pond near the slip
• Request the Port Authority to deal with the New York Waterway company since the Authority controls the slip
• Continue to deal with the EPA and state DEC and invite those entities to the next meeting
• Continue to engage the federal representatives for lower Manhattan, namely Rep. Nadler and Senator Gillibrand, in order to use the enforcement powers of the federal EPA via the Clean Air Act. The state and city agencies have failed to act on this problem for decades.
• Look into any financial “green” incentives that might encourage the ferry boat operator to clean up their boats

Do these NY Waterway ferries look safe to you?

June 24, 2011

By Steven Greer, MD

In the wake of numerous discount tour bus massacres along New Jersey highways killing dozens of passengers traveling to casinos aboard astonishingly unregulated buses, one with a convicted murderer as a bus drivers, are our waterways also vulnerable?

Interstate business such as furniture movers, trucking, busing, etc. are often unregulated as they fall outside the jurisdiction of cities and states. The NY Waterway ferries, spanning New Jersey and New York via the Hudson River, are regulated by the Port Authority mostly.

A CB1 spokesperson wrote, “What is similar (to the tour buses that crashed) is that the city can’t regulate the buses in some instances because they are inter-state and need to be regulated at a federal level. Similarly, the city can’t set rules for vessels operating on the river because it is not city jurisdiction. The Port Authority has leverage over them but we don’t always have the leverage we need with the PA in this area. We raised issues pertaining to noise and pollutants from the boats in several meetings with operators and government agencies. They made some changes including putting some new, cleaner boats into service and retiring older boats. More needs to be done and I expect that we will hold additional meetings as it is an ongoing effort. Regulations are not as stringent as they could be.

With that in mind, we have been noticing the decrepit conditions of these NY Waterway ferries that dock by Vesey Street and the Irish Memorial.

You decide for yourself. Do these boats, filthy in diesel soot, paint peeling from all surfaces, do they look safe to you?

(Click images to expand and fully appreciate the dilapidated status of the boats)

George Washington has seen better days

The real Senator Lautenberg looks younger than this boat

Brooklyn given a bad name here?

A letter to the EPA about the NY Waterway ferries polluting the children’s playgrounds

Kenneth Eng

Chief, Air Compliance Branch

US EPA, Region 2

Mr. Eng

I am a medical doctor and am reporting a serious air quality health hazard at the west end of Vesey Street where the New York Waterway ferries dock. They have old, unclean diesel engines in all of the boats. When they dock, the boats rev the engines and dark black exhaust spews out (see video). This happens every day.

The direct and acute health hazard comes from the fact that 60 yards away, on land, is a well-kept and popular series of children’s playgrounds. At certain times of the day when multiple ferries are docked at once, the fumes are so powerful that they burn the eyes and throat. These fumes contain benzene, ozone, and many other toxic compounds that the Clean Air Act would never find permissible.

Since these boats fall under interstate commerce, no single city or state seems able to do anything about this problem. I believe that your “Mobile source unit”, led by Mr. Michael Moltzen, might be able to deal with this and use new clean diesel regulations to deal with the problem.

We contacted the CEO of New York Waterway, Mr. Paul Goodman, and he refused to comment.

The EPA would certainly make thousands of friends down here if you can be the agency to finally solve this health hazard.

We filed a report at the EPA, # 987024

Steven Greer, MD

BatteryPark.TV

The people have spoken: No organized sports on the grass field

Update September 28, 2011

By Steven Greer, MD

The Parks Conservancy is now aerating the field and placing barrier fences to rest trampled areas of the lawn.

Update: September 16, 2011

Since our notes from September 14, a coach for the Downtown Soccer League, John Chow, said that the BPCA has been in talks with them and that they, “Will not be using the field after this week.”. The Principal from PS 276 was very responsive, and she informed her staff and after school programs partners about the tenuous status of the field. Also, the Parks Conservancy aerated the field on the 15th.

If you see organized soccer being played on the field, particularly by adults as we saw last year, the local PEPs should be called at once, (212) 417-3100, or email us info@batterypark.tv

Update September 14, 2011

By Steven Greer

Shortly after opening, the grass field is being allowed by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy to be used in ways that the local residents do not want to see it used (see survey results below). Namely, the Downtown Soccer League organization is bringing groups of 30 or more children to play organized soccer and baseball. The parks staff is also failing to close the field as needed to allow for grass renewal.

As a result, portions of the grass field have already been trampled to death (see photos at bottom). The most recent community board meeting addressed these issues, but no conclusions or final rules were made. Moreover, at the meeting, The BPCA announced that they are still refusing to assign Battery Park PEP to patrol the area.

July 1, 2011

BatteryPark.TV recently conducted a survey of local residents asking thier opinion on how the newly sodded grass field in the West Thames Park should be used when it re-opens soon. Recall, the first attempt last year resulted in a mud field as soccer teams trampled the turf.

The survey will be discussed at an upcoming CB1 meeting. The results of the survey are as follows:

Question #1: Should organized soccer with 7 or more people be allowed on the new grass field of West Thames Park?

Yes: 22%
No : 78%

Question #2: Should organized baseball of more than 3 people be allowed on the grass field?

Yes: 39%
No: 61%

Question #3: Should the Parks Conservancy close the grass field as needed in order to protect the grass, in the same manner they do the other surrounding lawns?

Yes: 78%
No: 22%

Comments: How would you like to see the new grass field optimally used?

· Picnics, lounging, sleeping, resting, etc.
· like the great lawn in Central Park
· small family groups having picnics and playing games with their children…and no danger to passersby and people sitting at the tables on the southern edge from flying projectiles!!!
· As a tennis court or something that better fits the demographic of the area. Basketball is fine for men between 15 and 25: and we have so many courts, but it’s so obviously not the correct choice for BPC. CB1′s Battery Park City Committee was wrong on this choice for our community.
· picnics, sunbathing, decorative area
· Informally by local residents but without organized sports activity which will tend to destroy the grass
· while I would like the grass to look beautiful, I object to the conservancy’s attempt to take away traditional usage of the grass in order to create much finer manicured gardens. While we all want something beautiful to look at – - we all need somewhere to play with our children and our pets. It seems difficult for the conservancy to compromise their lovely plans in order to take into consideration the resident’s feelings that they need lawns downtown similar to Central Park where we can lounge, etc.
· Picnics, just sitting
· passive, low intensity recreation eg Frisbee, informal ball toss, etc
· For parents to spend time with their children teaching them to play ball or young kids playing together. I don’t have children and I play soccer but the grass cannot survive the traffic and the neighborhood would suffer. I would love to use the space but I can play soccer on either of the piers to the north. Everyone who walks from the trains walks by the field and if it were a mud hole like before that makes it unpleasant.
· They should invest in putting an artificial grass field instead of natural grass, like the one at Pier 25.
· Picnic type and enjoyment of the grass and park area for BPC residents.
· As a place for non-organized activities
· Full blown Recreational field. Astroturf and a track around it that could host events.

Photo prior to the field opening in 2011

Photo on September 14 of significant damage to field

Spring sailboat races

June 21, 2011

Liz Conner interviews Manhattan Sailing Club Director Emily Whipple about the Tuesday evening Spring series J24 class races.

(Viewable in full screen 1080iHD)