|
The 79th Street Boat Basin is a marina located in the Hudson River on the Upper West Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, on Riverside Park at the foot of West 79th Street. Maintained and operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, it is the only facility in the city that allows year-round residency in boats.〔Hajela, Deepti via the Associated Press. ("New York City marina living is shipshape" ), ''The Washington Times'', July 10, 2008. Accessed August 1, 2008.〕 == History == The boat basin, first proposed in 1924, was constructed in 1937, during the tenure of Robert Moses as Parks Commissioner, to offer a place for boats to dock during the summer. It was built as part of a project to cover over the tracks of the New York Central Railroad's West Side Line which also included a grand architectural multi-level entry and exit from the Henry Hudson Parkway, all under the name of the "79th Street Grade Crossing Elimination Structure".〔("WEST SIDE TRAFFIC TO RUN ON 4 LEVELS; Grade Elimination Structure at 79th St. Announced as Part of Park Plan. MOTORISTS TO BE AIDED Express Highway Will Pass Over Central Tracks With Pedestrian Arcade Below." ), ''The New York Times'', June 15, 1934. Accessed August 2, 2008.〕 The multi-level structure was designed by Gilmore David Clarke. The Works Projects Administration provided $5.1 million for the project, which created the Freedom Tunnel, an underground parking garage, a restaurant, and the marina.〔(Henry Hudson Parkway ).〕 By the 1960s, though the restaurant was long gone, the majority of slips were occupied by year-round boaters.〔Ramirez, Anthony. ("For Perhaps $490 a Month, a Home on the Hudson River" ), ''The New York Times'', February 19, 2008. Accessed August 1, 2008.〕 In 1979, the city sought to cancel a 1977 concession agreement with Nichols Yacht Yards to operate the marina, claiming that Nichols had underreported revenue..That political claim for a mere $6,000 proved to be false and was dimissed without collection by the NYC Comptrollers office.. Nichols made many attempts to make the marina a safe and financially viable operation, but was fought at every turn bu the parks department who fosterested an unsafe living condition with year around boats, many of which were derelict and did not have the ability to operate. Nichols in fact had to employ the US Marshals service in a number of instances to collect low dockage fees while the marina occupants rented their covered parking spaces (which were included with dockage fees) to nearby West Side residents for more money than they paid for dockage. The abused electricity as Nichols was not permitted to charge separately for electric and hence they ran air conditioners all summer long and heaters all winter without regards to the waste of energy. These situations created a marina slum which was allowed by the NYC City council as a member of the City Council Press office lived on board at the marina and wielded great political influence.. Nichols attempts to fix these and other issues was continuously thwarted by the City officials.The firm surrendered the operation of the facility ended in 1982, with Nichols having spent thousands in legal fees to battle the city, and counter a rent strike by boat owners.〔Tierney, John. ("Manhattan Boat People: Lo Rnt, Riv Vu" ), ''The New York Times'', October 5, 1991. Accessed August 1, 2008. "Robert S. Bernstein, the president of Nichols Yacht Yards, which operated the boat basin from 1977 to 1982, said that his firm spent $250,000 in legal fees battling the city and tenants on the rent strike. 'It's the crummiest marina I have ever seen in my entire life," he said, blaming its deterioration on the city's refusal to raise rents to pay for improvements.'"〕 i In 1992, a five-year agreement was signed with boaters and the city, tying increases of nearly 25% in docking fees to improvements in facilities at the marina, such as new docks and electrical lines. By 1996, year-round residents had complained that the 18-month-long project, implemented at a cost of $1.4 million, had been done in shoddy fashion.〔Allon, Janet. ("NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: WEST SIDE;Residents Say Marina Isn't Shipshape" ), ''The New York Times'', January 28, 1996. Accessed August 1, 2008.〕 The city stopped issuing new year-round permits in 1994, seeking to make space available for seasonal boaters among the basin's 116 slips. After complaints were received, the Parks Department agreed to an increase to 52 year-round spots, which start at a yearly fee of $5,000, based on the size of the boat.〔 By May 2009, the Department was to require that all boats be seaworthy. , there were 19 boats that were considered unseaworthy and that would need to made operational "in case of an emergency evacuation".〔 Year-round residents have included ''Mad Magazine'' writer Dick DeBartolo who uses a boat as his office. Mario Puzo and Frank Sinatra have all used the basin to moor their boats.〔 In the 1960s, Roy Cohn docked his yacht here, and used it to entertain the city's political leaders.〔Montgomery, Paul L. ("Roy Cohn finds politics brings new prominence" ), ''The New York Times'', February 19, 1981. Accessed August 1, 2008. "In the early 1960s, in his industrialist phase, when he had his 95-foot yacht Defiance berthed at the 79th Street Boat Basin, Mr. Cohn used to invite Carmine G. De Sapio and other Tammany Hall leaders out for cruises to talk over the perennial topics—who was in, who was out, who wanted what from whom."〕 By summer 2012, several boaters noticed that the basin was in a state of disrepair and asked the city to fix it.〔http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120619/upper-west-side/79th-street-boat-basin-docks-cry-out-for-repairs〕〔http://www.nypress.com/boat-basin-adrift-79th-street-dock-residents-worry-over-increased-fees/〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「79th Street Boat Basin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|