Working Harbor Committee

Today I watched the 13th annual Tugboat Race and Competition  sponsored by the Working Harbor Committee. 

The Tugboat Race begins at the 79th Street Boat Basin and ends at Pier 84, where I was.  I was leading a tour at the time, so I could not watch the actual race but I did get to see all of the tugboat heading up to the starting line.  I did get to see the nose to nose pushing contest, amateur line toss, and spinach eating contest.

The Working Harbor Committee has three goals in its mission statement.

-Involving people in learning how the harbor works and what it does.

-Educating people in the rich and challenging history of the harbor.

-Making people aware of the need to build and sustain the working harbor.  

When most people think of the Hudson or East River, they do not think of its vitality or importance to the city of New York or even New Jersey.  They think of pollution, three eyed fish, and how many dead bodies are decomposing at the bottom.  However, the harbor is in many way the most important part of New York City.  New York (or New Amsterdam as it was then called) was founded as a port town and a trading colony.  The harbor was the perfect size and depth for ships to come in and out important and exporting goods and of course for passenger ships bringing people to America.  The great immigration wave through Ellis Island at the turn of the 20th century was propelled by ships.  Today our passenger ships are mostly giant cruise ships such as the Norwegian Breakway, but items from cars to cocoa beans still rely on the harbor for transportation.  (I'm particularly thankful for the cocoa beans.)  I'm glad that the Working Harbor Committee exists to help educate residents and visitors to New York alike that the Hudson River, New York Harbor, and East River have so much more to offer than mutant fish.