Oh, you’ve never heard of Dead Horse Bay? The old mill area, turned manufacturing zone (of fertilizer, created from dead animals), turned landfill, turned nature preserve – sits alongside Floyd Bennett Field by the entrance to Gerritsen Inlet. It’s rich with history, and perhaps richer with filth and pollution.
It’s the former that drew musician and photographer “chvad” to tour the area, but it’s the latter that most impressed him. He wrote, “This place and the surrounding areas don’t seem anything at all like Brooklyn. Not a lot of people and lot of vegetation. Also, an enormous amount of pollution on the shores. Some parts of the beach seemed to primarily be made of glass. If those aren’t reason enough to be careful, the beach also had it’s share of needles washed ashore.”
His slideshow, above, captures a lot of that grit and filth, yet in a hauntingly beautiful way. Check out his site to find more photos and learn about his music.
Secretary of Interior Kenneth Salazar called Jamaica Bay “one of the great urban parks of America,” but asked caretakers to think creatively about the parkland’s future.
Salazar made the statements during a July 26 harbor summit, hosted by National Parks Service and the Harbor Conservancy. Regional leaders gathered to discuss how government, nonprofit and industry can work together to achieve the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Hudson-Raritan Estuary Comprehensive Restoration Plan, which includes Jamaica Bay.
“I believe that America is at a time when we can embark and embrace a new agenda for conservation for America,” Salazar told the audince. “And I think that here in New York and New York Harbor we can move forward and create what will be a star relative to the great urban parks of America in the 21st century. I think the assets are here, I think the vision is here I think the New York Harbor Conservancy has done a lot to move us all forward.” Keep reading about Salazar’s statements.
This one comes in by way of Queens Crapper, who wrote the perfect blurb:
I like how the reporter and newscasters act like this is something that no one knew about and haven’t been doing for centuries…
I have a lot of nasty things to say about these people and the attitude that Southern Brooklyn is some uncharted wasteland waiting to be explored by Manhattan douchebags. But, well, the diplomatic side of me says I should keep it to myself and instead be grateful that one of our local industries got some good publicity. Let’s just hope it brings some clients down to Sheepshead Bay’s beleaguered fishermen.
Orgies are nothing new on Plumb Beach, according to local lore. But, while residents may complain about the anonymous romps, group sex has been going on there for millions of years.
Horseshoe crabs use beaches like those in Jamaica Bay as their mating grounds because their location in a bay or cove protects them from surf. They come ashore in our area in May, during new and full moons and deposit thousands of eggs in the sand at once, before returning to the waters.
In the above video, Don Riepe, director of the Northeast Chapter of the American Littoral Society and the Jamaica Bay guardian, tells Sheepshead Bites about the anatomy of horseshoe crabs and the mating ritual.
Though it may look menacing, the horseshoe crab is harmless to humans. Its claws deliver only a gentle pinch and it’s tail is no stinger, just a means for righting itself when turned over on the beach. Still, it’s a tough little bugger, surviving several periods of mass extinction throughout Earth’s history. Early traces of the horseshoe crab family began popping up during the Paleozoic Era, 540 million years ago.
Photo courtesy of frogma.blogspot.com, edited by Sheepshead Bites
OMG! Al Gore was right! Nature is mad and we’re ALL GOING TO DIE!
Okay, maybe that’s a little overkill. But, crickie, a pelican in Jamaica Bay?! Was it trying to escape the oily sea of destruction and misery that was once known as the Gulf of Mexico? Are temperatures making it warm enough that it’s finding New York City a comfortable habitat? Is it just lost?
Actually, according to this bird-watching website, the American White Pelican – one of the largest birds on the east coast – do make occasional stops in New York State, but rarely do city birders have a chance to see them. This guy was first spotted in the Queens section of Jamaica Bay last week, and was still observed to be there over the weekend.
I’m no birdwatcher, but the idea of seeing a pelican in Jamaica Bay gets me a little giddy; it’s a beautiful bird and it’d be cool to get into Queens and check it out.
Here’s another photo of the same pelican from 10000birds.com. You can check out their site for even more images:
Update: This story originally included four photos from 10000birds.com. At the request of that site’s owner we’ve reduced the number to one. Head over there for more images; it’s a worthwhile click.
Bikers, joggers and walkers hoping to enjoy the Plumb Beach bike path are facing yet another obstacle: a massive tree fell and is blocking the path just east of the parking lot. This is, of course, just a few dozen feet away from where the path is fenced off following a November storm that destroyed a large segment of the path. At the time, the city said the path would be fixed during the spring to be ready for patrons to utilize for the 2010 season. Though the area was prepped for reconstruction back in May, no further work was been done.
Seen from the deck: subway bridge opening // Courtesy of Don Riepe
Ever needed a break from city living? The cars, buses, trains; streets teaming with people and noises and smells… the hurrying everywhere. A trip out of town will cost you, but Sheepshead Bay’s blessed with a local, cheap option: a beautiful Saturday afternoon sail along Jamaica Bay, learning about its history and wildlife.
That’s what I did on a recent Saturday afternoon on-board the Golden Sunshine; a three-hour cruise around Jamaica Bay, from Brooklyn to Queens.
A 9-year-old was sent to Kings County Hospital with a bloodied head Monday afternoon, following the collapse of the family’s Mill Basin deck. The girl was in a newly-installed above-ground pool, which weighed around 13,000 pounds, when the rickety deck it was built on gave way. “There was a huge crashing sound,” her 15-year-old sister, Claudine Amsalem, told NBC New York. “And when I looked over, the pool was gone and my sisters and cousin were gone with it.” Another girl in the pool, 4-year-old Henny Needelman, didn’t know how to swim, but was saved by her plastic floaties. A third girl suffered only minor scratches and bruises.
If you’re looking to escape the city streets for a few hours and relax while learning about the natural wonders so close to home then consider taking a ride on one of the Jamaica Bay cruises. These three-hour cruises depart from Pier 2 at Emmons Avenue and Bedford Avenue. The first is this Saturday, May 29, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., and the second cruise will set sail on Sunday, June 27, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Riders will be regaled with a narrated tour of Jamaica Bay while sipping on wine and snacking on fruit and cheese among other refreshments. They will also get the chance to see various types of nesting and migrating bird.
Tickets for the cruise are $45 per person. To reserve a spot on the boat send a check for $45/person to: American Littoral Society, c/o Don Riepe, 28 West 9th Road, Broad Channel, NY 11693. For more information call (718) 318-9344 or e-mail: driepe@nyc.rr.com
What better way is there to spend a weekend afternoon than sailing on the open water and observing untouched beauty of nature?
Readers of our Twitter feed got an early update about Plumb Beach work. During a drive-by last Thursday, I noticed a battalion of workers going to town around the fenced-off portion, where the path had crumbled back in November. I tweeted, “Work being done at plumb beach today. Wonder whats up.”
This, people, is the kind of hard-hitting reporting that making following us on Twitter a necessity.
But back to reality. I went down to the beach on Friday to see what the workers were doing. They were already gone, and so was the bike path. The two damaged portions of the Plumb Beach bike path have been totally removed and the site has been prepped for new asphalt.
We’ll be watching out for the new pavement and let you know as soon as the bike path is open. But don’t expect it to stay open long. With nothing more than sandbags protecting the bike path and the Belt Parkway, and government agencies refusing to take the problem seriously, it won’t be long before the bike path washes away again.
