From the Huffington Post:New York City's South Street Seaport Museum is in crisis mode.
Its ships are in terrible condition and, according to the NY Times, the museum is in talks to move all its ships to another port. This is a terribly sad turn of events, at least for those who realize that South Street is more than just a collection of chain stores on a quaint cobblestoned street.
Even the most absent-minded of shoppers and tourists can't miss the tall-masted ships in the harbor. Soon enough, those ships may be gone with no money to bring them back. If that happens, South Street will truly be just an outdoor mall.
Volunteers -- the museum has always had many good volunteers -- have started a blog called http://saveourships.wordpress.com/ and are calling on supporters to petition the mayor and other elected public officials to lend some financial support. The hope is that it's not too late. Given the tight budget and the loss of money from Albany, the city may not be in a generous mood for a museum but maybe the mayor, who gives away millions to charities each year, can come to the rescue.
30 comments:
Great example of what doesn't work.
This area used to be the Fulton Fish Market. Workers earned wages for doing productive work. Everyone prospered.
Turning it into a museum has turned into a government funded money sink.
ew-3 said."This area used to be the Fulton Fish Market. Workers earned wages for doing productive work."
You don't say?
Really, that facility was FILTHY, unsanitary rat infested and decades outmoded. It was also infested by the mob.
BTW: Why doesn't the mafia step in with some of their "street money" -they ran that place for nearly all it's existence.
Oh, that's right, they are all moldering in prison now.
What a bozo.
Fulton Fish Market was in business for 183 years.
So you are an expert for all those years? The mafia wasn't even in business in the US for most of that time.
So you prefer to have a museum where men worked?
And where do you get your seafood?
Vietnam?
if they are "moldering "in prison,they are right beside the local gangster government that you the dems have elected for sixty years in nyc.
if there was a mob influence at the former "fish market",the dems did nothing to clean them out.
RUDY DID.....at great risk....
With all the money those private shops earn from tourists, it should bee those shops who ante up the necessary money to maintain and repair the star attraction of that area. our tax money should not be earmarked for their benefit- not when there are thousands of stores who do not have the benefit of a ship museum nearby.
Typical!
NYC has spent millions on those confusing bike lanes but
isn't willing to care for one of its major Manhattan tourist attractions.
So what kind of support can our borough expect for its historic sites?
That was a rhetorical question to which we all know the answer.
Mayor Doomberg has already told Queens to, "Drop dead"!
Who fault is this? This? The seaport as I know it is just a bunch or restaurants, shops and yeah a couple of tall ships that advertised paid rides.
In fact unless you work in the area and go there on warm spring days and in the summer after work to chill with a beer and enjoy a concert and the babes who do the same - that's it!
Ok - we take tourist there to take in the beauty of the river, bridges, towers, the old historic buildings and NY Harbor. But otherwise it's a greasy French fries smelly place that worth a 10 minute visit.
Added: Ok It's a seaport that when it was re-purposed using the Baltimore harbor model, the restaurants and shops would help sustain the wooden ships. However the design emphasized the shops and the restaurants. The ships were an after-thought as they were not people friendly to access and dockside is a hazard for children. Generally a destination like this would have the ships as the main draw with the shops and restaurants serving the visitors for souvenirs, snacks and thirst quenchers.
If the ships were supported with additional exhibits inside as well as consolidating other historic downtown history and displayed here, would strengthen their allure to attract more people here. Perhaps incorporate a natural foods market to get locals and workers to make frequent visits and solicit
the tons of Corporations to sponsor or support the ships.
ew-3 said...
Great example of what doesn't work.
This area used to be the Fulton Fish Market. Workers earned wages for doing productive work. Everyone prospered.
Turning it into a museum has turned into a government funded money sink.
Say what, now? The Seaport was a museum long before the fish market moved out. Since 1967 to be precise.
What does the fish market moving have to do with the Seaport Museum, anyway? Were the fish mongers going to visit the tall ships after a day on the market floor? Having a leisurely lunch on a docked ship?
ew-3 said...
What a bozo.
So you prefer to have a museum where men worked?
And where do you get your seafood?
Vietnam?"
This guy is either dumb, or not from around here.
Look Einstein the Fulton Fish Market was relocated to the Hunts Point Market in 2005. Lock, stock and barrel...probably some rats too.
FWIW - I worked at 55 Water St during the 1970s. The Seaport has grown quite a bit since then it had only 2 ships IIRC.
I have very strong feelings about the way the city that has gone from a manufacturing and commercial hub into a tourist destination.
To me moving the fish market to hunters point is a lot like the port authority moving most of the shipping facilities to the port of NJ. It striped Manhattan of more of it's working class job opportunities. This is what made NYC great.
BTW - I see the same thing happening in other places. The feds have so screwed up the fishing industry through regulation, once great fishing towns like New Bedford MA are almost dead, and now the feds have stepped in and built museums about the glorious whaling industry that used to be in New Bedford. So instead of a productive community which generated tax revenue, we have a run down community that is a drain on the overall economy. Further we now have to purchase most of our seafood from foreign countries.
bill clinton ,after saving Harlem, has recently moved in to the seaport area. maybe he can save it also,with his foundation money ?
Why should he?
Space after the comma, not before.
I remember a quieter time at the seaport with intimate outdoor concerts and square dances. The pier (house) band was Bernie Klay and the X-Seamen's Institute. I loved those sea chanties featuring the distinctive voice of Bernie. Anyone else remember those times?
, , ,
>>I remember a quieter time at the seaport with intimate outdoor concerts and square dances. The pier (house) band was Bernie Klay and the X-Seamen's Institute. I loved those sea chanties featuring the distinctive voice of Bernie. Anyone else remember those times?
I remember a time when the Pizzeria Uno's there had pizzas that actually cooked touching the pan instead of on a rack in the pan.
Do away with it !
Its not a seaport at all. Those boats are private venders manned by euro trash squatting on public space.
I tried to drop of passengers via boat there, no cant do. All these disheveled greasy looking foreigners living on the "Peking" boat ran out and wouldn't let them through. They finally did ley my 2 friends pass but then wouldn't let them back. They claimed it was THEIR slip and wanted payola. I tokd the to go F_ themselves grabbe dthe VHF radio and hailed the marina on the west side to unlock the gate so they can jump back on after a crosstown cab ride.
(This was Pre-911 BTW
Let the corporate S street Disneyland and its $8 slices of pizza & Coke rot ! Its nothing but a corrupt scam
Anyone else remember those times?
I remember the concerts and shows. It was great. I even played there and pier 84 a couple times
I was at the SS Seaport for the Statue of Liberty 100th.
Best fireworks ever I was a guest of Proctor & Gamble who rented the pier for a private party for all the soap opera actors (I was one at the time along with Joey Buttafulco).
Not long after 89-90 the place went straight to yuppie hell.
What kind of idiot buys a $125 "made in Hong Kong" laser ball point pen from Sharper Image when they are $10 on Canal street. Same EXACT pen down to the laser diode and 3 R-47 battery's
Ear wax #3 (ew-3) is at it again ...must be off his meds or puffing too much weed.
Weren't they talking about building condos on the Pier 17 site awhile ago?
LOL...I think we should move the Brooklyn Bridge somewhere else too.
It doesn't have a toll to pay for its upkeep and is in rotten shape.
Nah...rename it the Bloomberg Bridge (same initials) and Mike will pay for any repairs.
They he can jump off it with his thumb up his ass!
Geronimo!
These idiots who ran the seaport into the ground know nothing about rubber dinky'slet alone vintage ships. Not one of them !! The contractors must have robbed them blind.
IT technicians, philanthropists, journalists ?
LINK: http://www.nycharities.org/about_us/board_of_directors.asp
These people couldn't change a dome light on a car how are they to govern the upkeep and expense of vintage ships ?
I bet these "experts" would sign off on $2500 to change a fuel line filter.
That and fuel costs itself is why they are broke.
That tug burns 60 gallon of Diesel am hour just to putt around yet only carry's trips of 12 people.
The would need to charge $80 over per person just to break even.
Diesel at any dock in Manhattan is over $7 a gallon.
"Ear wax #3 (ew-3) is at it again ...must be off his meds or puffing too much weed."
Another lucid response from a factually vacant mind. As I recall you knew more about Vietnam then the people that actually lived through the era and that were there.
Mayor Bloomberg and Comm Benepe only care about spending money on new parks and bike lanes....good luck getting any money for any kind of historical gems that our city has. Maybe the city can rent it to Boardwalk Empire and get some rent money.
As long as the holy four are taken care of, Brooklyn Heights, East Side, West Side, and Greenwich Village, the rest of us can go to hell.
Overturn the Landmarks Law and the whole racist preservationist community and start over.
Throwing them into our toilet will send a wakeup message damn fast.
I'm impressed with your vocabulary ear wax #3!
"Lucid"...another one of your $10 words?
What a royal doofus...lacking gray matter between those ears.!
Maybe you even pronounced Viet Nam... Veet Nha-a-a-m".
Go back to your hootch!
Vultures are circling to feast on the flesh of the dead Seaport.
The seaport is just a stone's throw from City Hall but Mayor (wannabee Napoleon) Bloomberg doesn't seem to care very much.
Nor do some our City Council members.
Calling my Councilman Halloran to please step in.
an exciting new redevelopment [project] for the city
----
Sure.
Everyone's eyes are rolling
Yet another example of the press's complete failure to cover news.
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