In the very near future, visitors will be able to approach Bay Ridge by water.
Thanks to an allocation in excess of $300,000 secured by City Councilmember Vincent Gentile, an Eco Dock should be installed at the end of the 69th Street Veterans Memorial Pier, possibly by next summer.
The 40-foot by 20-foot dock — which is “flexible and cost-effective to build and maintain,” Gentile said at a Tuesday press conference at the pier — will not only enable local kayakers to ply their hobby in the waters of the Narrows, but also permit recreational boaters to hoist anchor in the community, and come ashore to enjoy the delights of Bay Ridge.
“Activities from this spot are about to get even better,” contended Gentile, explaining that the pier could be a jumping off point not only for recreation but also for educational activities. The Eco Dock, he added, “will enhance the community’s relationship with the water and the ways in which we can use it.”
“We are hoping this is one of many more initiatives to get youths and people of all ages onto the water and more active,” added Heather McCown, the founder of the Sunset Ridge Waterfront Alliance (SRWA), which has been pressing for increased waterfront access, and the use of the pier as a ferry stop.
Because it will enable “day trippers” to secure their private boats and explore the neighborhood, the Eco Dock — a spud barge, which will “rise and fall with the tides so it can always be accessed” — will also benefit Bay Ridge’s economy, Gentile pointed out.
It is also significant as the first project in New York City that is part of the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s arrival in the New World. The Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission, formed to mark that occasion, is focused on creating such waterfront access sites to mark the occasion.
“Our hope,” noted Joan Davidson, the commission’s chairperson, is, “after the year is over, to leave important things for the city of New York,” to help residents utilize their waterfront. On the drawing board, she said, are numerous other access points, in Brooklyn and the other boroughs, that ultimately could form “a necklace of docks” around the city.
While there are no plans at this point to reinstitute ferry service from the pier using the Eco Dock, it could be used in that way, said Roland Lewis, the CEO of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, who brought the Eco Dock concept to SRWA, which, in turn, had approached Gentile with it.
Currently, said Gentile, the city’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is “in the process of approving the project,” which will take place under the auspices of the city’s Department of Parks & Recreation. The Parks Department will issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) as soon as OMB has completed the approval process, Gentile said.
This is not the first time Gentile has tried to bring a docking mechanism to the pier. Some years back, he secured Councilmanic funding to build a spud barge at the site, as the first step of returning ferry service to the pier. However, the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have so far declined to utilize the money for that purpose, despite Gentile’s ongoing efforts to promote it.
The money for the Eco Dock, Gentile said, came from a different funding stream.
Depending on their size, between three and eight boats, plus kayaks, could be accommodated at the Eco Dock at one time, Lewis said.
