Showing posts with label East River. Show all posts
Showing posts with label East River. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

An East Village resident's bid to keep the East River waterfront free of garbage and debris


Two years ago, East Village-based artist Alan Gastelum began documenting the East River Park waterfront.

But what started as a photo project became part of a larger endeavor to help raise awareness about the garbage and debris that collects along the East River Promenande between East 10th Street and the Williamsburg Bridge.

He joined forces with Beth Bingham of Partnerships for Parks, a joint program of City Parks Foundation and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, to organize several volunteer cleanup days.

This past Saturday, some 20 volunteers joined Gastelum to collect trash and debris along the river.







Gastelum has released a book titled "East River And The Sanctum We Walk," which features more than 180 photos of the East River Park. (Part of the sales will go toward efforts to keep the park clean.)

Meanwhile, Gastelum is planning to host more volunteer days. He is also looking for the city to fund a more permanent solution to the problem in the form of debris collecting booms.

Gastelum answered a few questions for me about the book and project via email.

What first inspired you to start taking photos of the East River waterfront?

I was first inspired to document East River Park as a self-considered project. It was to document a place that was my personal refuge from the city. It quickly turned into a project that was much bigger than just documenting my personal sanctum.

What has been the most unusual object/artifact that you've found along the waterfront?

The most unusual — well, we haven't found anything too unusual. A lot of plastic bottles, baseballs and styrofoam. We did find a few syringes with needles this last cleanup. I suppose the most unusual, for the fact that it was still intact, was a household light bulb. (You can see some found objects here.)

What is the status with the city funding permanent floating trash/debris booms?

The last we heard was that a budget was purposed, but not approved. To my understanding the booms would cost $5,000 each.

What do you ultimately hope to accomplish with the project?

A few things. We want to raise awareness of this ongoing problem with the debris building up, by showing city officials that the community does care about this park and we will be out here every four months to clean it up until they install a permanent solution. (Or raise enough money to pay for it on our own.)

We want to get more of the community involved with the park, in general. It's such a beautiful place and we want the community to take advantages of the different activities.

How can residents get involved in a volunteer cleanup day? And when will you host the next one?

They can follow my blog, as I always post flyers for every cleanup and also updates on the project in general. People can also get onto the mailing list of Partnerships for Parks not only for our cleanups, but a lot of other volunteer opportunities in the park.

The next cleanup may be in November before it gets too cold out. If not, then we will have to wait till the Spring.


[All photos by Alan Gastelum]

Friday, September 7, 2012

100 Avenue A, the spot

Photo and text by East Village resident Edward Arrocha via Facebook

Sunday morning... he sleeps it off... a black eye, who knows, perhaps a fight. 100 avenue A... it has become the spot... he has a water bottle next to him... ah another day in the avenue...

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Little sea bass by the sea

Photo and text by East Village resident Edward Arrocha via Facebook
Fisher women on the East River... she and her husband were the nicest people... He Irish-American, She originally from uptown... they loved fishing and telling fising tales... she pulled little sea bass one after another and gently threw them back...

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Your chance to discuss plans for a new Pier 42 park


As you may know, there are now plans (with funding!) that would redevelop Pier 42 to build a new park along the East River between the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges ... the park/urban beach would include green space and river access, according to one report. "Visitors to the fenced-off beach would not be permitted to swim in the river but would be allowed to dip their feet into it," the Post noted.

Per The Lo-Down: "Part of the Pier 42 money will be used to remove an abandoned shed to make room for more public space, and to stabilize the pier, which is just south of Montgomery Street. The entire Pier 42 park project is expected to take about five years and cost more than $40 million."

This would all eventually connect Lower Manhattan's waterfront parks.


You'll have your chance to tell our elected politicos what you think of the plan... there's a public meeting tonight hosted by CB3, the Parks Department and State Sen. Daniel Squadron’s office. It takes place at 7 p.m. at the BRC Senior Services Center, 30 Delancey St., which is between Chrystie and Forsyth.

For further reading ... The Lo-Down has been following this story for some time. Read more here.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Monday, July 4, 2011

'Daily News' covers East River cat rescue story


Here's the link if you're interested. One note... East Village resident Clotilde Testa and her boyfriend Robert Walker first spotted the cat Friday. Clotilde said that the cat's name will be Leo — he was found on a barge called "Uncle Leo." He was nicknamed Skipper, though she thinks Leo is more fitting. She plans on officially adopting Leo tomorrow.

[In the Daily News photo — Christine Berk who helped rescue Leo and Codi from the Animal Care & Control.]

Previously on EV Grieve:
This cat is stranded off East River Park

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Another robbery suspect tries to flee the police by jumping into the East River

"A bizarre armed robbery triggered a brawl on the lower East Side Friday that ended with a gunman trying to get away by jumping into the East River." (Daily News)

Last month, the alleged ATM bandit tried to elude police by jumping (diving?) into the East River.

One more jumper/diver, and we have ourselves a trends piece...

Friday, October 3, 2008

East River Park is ready to slide into the river while everyone putters around



From Downtown Express this week:

New Yorkers will be waiting another year for East River Park to be complete — and maybe more if a state agency succeeds in halting the project.

The Department of Environmental Conservation is worried that workers repairing the East River bulkhead are allowing the shoreline to erode into the water, so D.E.C. tried to revoke the construction permit, D.E.C. spokesperson Arturo Garcia-Costas said.


Also in Downtown Express this week: More on the ongoing East Village/Lower East Side rezoning.

[The accompanying photo seems appropriate for some reason...]