An East River swimmer with an accompanying kayaker were spotted passing
Roosevelt Island heading north at the same time power speedboats were going
south this afternoon as seen from the Meditation Steps.
Emergency services are responding to a report of a jet skier in
distress in the East River near the Ed Koch Bridge. Emergency services have
dispatched Ladder 2 and Marine 4 for the water rescue.
pic.twitter.com/ihoYFgh0rS
There were two jet skiers that had no gas so they had to wait to be towed
back! There were 12 fire trucks on the FDR and four fire trucks over by the
Roosevelt landing, waiting to see what they were going to do!
I asked one of the NYFD who pays for this? He just looked at me! I guess tax
payers! There were four ambulances, don’t think anyone was hurts!
Likely a piece of a sub headed for assembly in Groton, Conn. it looks like the front end of a fast attack submarine
Looks like it is part of a nuclear attack submarine.
Future USS Iowa (SSN 797) Virginia-class Block IV nuclear attack submarine (front third) in the East River in New York City heading to Groton, Connecticut from Newport News - June 27, 2021
Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine (front third) in the East River in New York City heading to Groton, Connecticut from Newport News - June 27, 2021
Here's an interesting video on the design and construction of nuclear submarines.
and a look inside a nuclear submarine.
UPDATE 11:50 PM
Future Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine in the East River passing Roosevelt Island in New York City heading to Groton, Connecticut - August 20, 2024
A Roosevelt Island Tipster shares these photos and reported this morning:
According to the tram operator, a woman has been wading in the water for at
least a half hour.
Someone spotted her and called PSD, then a boat and fire trucks showed up.
Wonder what's going on?
I asked Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Safety Chief Kevin Brown
and Communications Department Director Bryant Daniels:
I understand there was a woman who climbed over the railing into the East
River this morning near the Queensboro Bridge.
Do you have any more info on what happened?
Mr Daniels replied:
At approximately 7:30AM this morning PSD officers observed a female
vandalizing 2 vehicles in front of 22 North Loop Road. When they attempted
to apprehend her, she fled toward the river and jumped over the west sea
wall, where she stood on the rocky coast before entering the East River up
to her knees. NYPD and FDNY were also notified and responded to the scene.
After some time, NYPD was able to remove the woman from the water. She was
transported to the hospital for evaluation.
A Roosevelt Island Tram rider shares this video of the incident.
A Tipster sends in this video taken yesterday morning from Roosevelt Island of a seal swimming in East River near Rainey Park in Long Island City Queens.
They're not the cute ducks or geese walking along the Roosevelt Island streets and sidewalks that draw the attention of visitors and residents, but
the Wharf Roaches swarming the seawall are also part of the Roosevelt Island wildlife ecosystem.
During today’s Roosevelt Island
Little League game, George Estreich spotted a dolphin in the East River swimming past Roosevelt
Island and Long Island City near the Queensboro Bridge and shares these
photos.
Bob Babcock, an original Roosevelt Island resident, adds:
When I worked on the launch of NYWaterTaxi in 97 (my cover letter,
describing life on the East river, and seeing the changes over time,
secured the job) we saw dolphins in the lower harbor by Governors Island.
The Gowanus was still a toxic stew, but the waterways around NYC had
greatly improved since we moved to the Island in 1975 when the joke on
Barney Miller was the you don’t drown in the East River, you dissolve.
Much of the credit for this transformation should go to a Roosevelt Island
pioneer and her cadre of environmentalists: Sally Leifer, the first
teacher assigned to PS/IS217, was part of the protest to GE’s pollution at
Storm King, that led in part to the passing of the EPA. She went on to
help establish the first Environmentally-focused public school in NYC. Her
friend, Tom Fox, a Ranger at Gateway National Park (who taught us about
horseshoe crabs and mollusk beds), went on to found the Greenway Project,
to restore the New York City waterfront, which ultimately became Hudson
River Park.
So dolphins out your window are courtesy of a long history of concerned
citizens working to protect the environment, getting regulation passed,
and then continued vigilance. Be a part of it.
Dolphins spotted in East River! Saw one just minutes ago in the waters below
Blackwell House! Sorry, it didn’t appear above the surface long enough for me
to take a photo, but some people were filming and I hear something has already
been posted somewhere. A man told me there were two, but I only saw one at a
time. In any case, a most beautiful sighting!
Bob Babcock, an original Roosevelt Island resident, adds:
When I worked on the launch of NYWaterTaxi in 97 (my cover letter,
describing life on the East river, and seeing the changes over time, secured
the job) we saw dolphins in the lower harbor by Governors Island. The
Gowanus was still a toxic stew, but the waterways around NYC had greatly
improved since we moved to the Island in 1975 when the joke on Barney Miller
was the you don’t drown in the East River, you dissolve.
Much of the credit for this transformation should go to a Roosevelt Island
pioneer and her cadre of environmentalists: Sally Leifer, the first teacher
assigned to PS/IS217, was part of the protest to GE’s pollution at Storm
King, that led in part to the passing of the EPA. She went on to help
establish the first Environmentally-focused public school in NYC. Her
friend, Tom Fox, a Ranger at Gateway National Park (who taught us about
horseshoe crabs and mollusk beds), went on to found the Greenway Project, to
restore the New York City waterfront, which ultimately became Hudson River
Park.
So dolphins out your window are courtesy of a long history of concerned
citizens working to protect the environment, getting regulation passed, and
then continued vigilance. Be a part of it.
— Ornithologicaljustice (@Ornithologica19)
April 9, 2023
We had one more- eventually many photographers shot it. It’s the north end of Carl Schulz park at the upper east side ferry terminal looking east to Randall’s I believe —
— Ornithologicaljustice (@Ornithologica19) April 10, 2023
The NY Times and NY Post recently reported on treasure hunters diving in the cold waters of the East River searching for prehistoric woolly mammoth tusks allegedly lying on the bottom of the East River, near East 65th street, across from Roosevelt Island.
That Time Joe Rogan's Podcast Inspired Divers to Search the East River for Woolly Mammoth Tusks: https://t.co/ZoILi4duBv
...Expeditions on the East River started after Alaskan gold miner and fossil enthusiast John Reeves appeared Dec. 30 on the popular podcast — and citied a draft of a report by a former American Museum of Natural History worker referencing fossils and bones dumped in the river in the 1940s....
... were drawn to their spot, near East 65th Street, not by scientific data or the boat’s keen instruments, but by a massively popular podcast: “The Joe Rogan Experience.” In a recent interview on that show, which has an estimated audience of 11 million listeners per episode on Spotify, a guest from Alaska presented an explosive discovery: There are tens of thousands of priceless woolly mammoth tusks lying on the river floor....
Recently a story has been circulating about a boatload of pre-historic bones being lost in the East River around 65th Street in 1940. The bones were supposedly on their way from Alaska to the American Museum of Natural History. To date no evidence of the shipment has been located.
Despite a lack of evidence to back up the story, treasure seekers using boats, diving apparatuses and technology like remote-operated cameras have gone searching in New York City's East River, in hopes the murky waters are hiding woolly mammoth tusks. https://t.co/y4rJMqtfst
An expert revealed that there could be thousands of woolly mammoth tusks sitting on the bottom of the east river.@DonnieDoesWorld and @Billyhottakes decided to dip their toes in the water and find out.
According to a NYPD spokesperson, early this morning at about 2 AM a white van
with 2 passengers, a 40 year old driver and 60 year old passenger crashed
through the Roosevelt Island seawall at East Loop Road near Cornell Tech and
plunged into the East River. The driver was arrested for driving while
intoxicated and there were no injuries.
A Roosevelt Island Tipster shares these photos from the crash scene.
According to a Cornell Grad student who heard the crash and witnessed the aftermath, both passengers managed to swim back to Roosevelt Island.
Freedom News TV was on the scene and interviewed the Cornell Grad student named Phil and has more video from the crash site.
Roosevelt Island resident and
iDig2Learn founder
Christina Delfico reports:
As iDig2Learn
celebrates 10 years and continues to engage the public with all things land,
air and water we are thrilled to team up with artists like
Sarah Cameron Sunde. In her
36.5 Project she will
stand in the
New York Estuary
for 12 hour and 39 minutes inviting us to explore our vulnerabilities
connected to the water.
Please join us on 9/14 from 7:27am to 10:30am at Roosevelt Island's
Lighthouse Park to peer through the telescope across the East River for a
view of Sarah in the water and learn more about her work. Meet us at the
Monarch Butterfly pollinator plantings near the Willow tree on the Queens
facing entrance of Lighthouse Park.
Others will be on hand later with the telescope as iDig2Learn joins Sarah in
the water.
36.5 / A Durational Performance with the Sea
(2013-present), a series of nine site-specific participatory performances
and video artworks by interdisciplinary artist
Sarah Cameron Sunde, will present its final work, 36.5 / New York Estuary, on Wednesday,
September 14 in New York City. Initially created in response to Hurricane
Sandy’s impact on New York City, this environmental artwork features Sunde
standing in ocean water for a full tidal cycle, generally 12–13 hours, as
water slowly engulfs her body and then recedes. 36.5 engages the public, who
participate in all aspects of making the live work, in personal, local, and
global conversations around sea-level rise and deep time. Spanning nine
years and six continents, 36.5, which is filmed in real-time from multiple
perspectives and livestreamed, is a radical call to reconsider our
relationship to water as individuals, as communities, and as a species.
The ninth and final artwork, 36.5 / New York Estuary, will take place on
September 14, 2022, at so- called Hallet’s Cove, located at 31-10 Vernon
Blvd, where Astoria meets Long Island City on the East River, in Queens. It
will begin at 7:27 AM and conclude at 8:06 PM. Everyone is welcome to join
Sunde standing in the water at the Cove or mark the passing hours from the
shore. Viewing stations will also be set up on the northern tip of Roosevelt
Island and the Upper East Side.
Sunde, who is based in Harlem, sees the 36.5 / New York Estuary as a
homecoming. As part of building the final artwork, she co-founded
Kin to the Cove,
a site-specific community-powered environmental public art process that
connects local residents to the cove and the water that surrounds New York
City. The group meets regularly at the performance site, building kinship
with the water and wildlife, imagining a healthier future, and committing to
future stewardship of this site.
In addition to her hyper-local socially engaged process in New York, Sunde
has assembled a large group of international partners over the project’s
nine years. On September 14, as the final performance takes place in New
York, collaborators from Bangladesh, Brazil, Kenya, the Netherlands, and
Aotearoa-New Zealand will join Sunde remotely in performances in their local
communities. These international performances will be integrated into the
livestream, which is produced by Theater Mitu and available online at
www.36pt5.org.
...
Was that Flipper spotted in the East River today? The Twitterverse reported
spotting a dolphin swimming in the East River near Roosevelt Island this
afternoon.
Boat hits 36th Avenue bridge. NYC Ferry pausing there - lots of rescue boats.
NYC Ferry guy says the mast was about 5 feet taller than the bottom of the
Bridge but thinks everyone is OK.
Witnesses share these photos of the capsized boat and water rescue.
Image From Linda Doyle
Linda Doyle adds:
They uprighted the boat
Image From Linda Doyle
and everyone applauded the efforts. I believe the boat was towed away by a Tow
Boat Company.
Roosevelt Island resident Julia Chang shares this photo taken today and writes:
What are they drilling?
What an amazing structure to see on my way to work this morning.
And even better to see it on my way home because I was able to get
closer to it. Have you been able to find out what these folks are doing?
Resident Joan Brooks shares her photo and adds:
I figured you might know
what this thing is?
Another resident asked:
What can you find out about the temporary construction platform which was dropped into the East River south of the bridge?
What is the purpose of rig which is sitting in the water about 20 yards from the west shore of Roosevelt Island.
This structure was not in the water yesterday.
I'd like to watch when the platform is eventually removed. I wonder if others might be similarly interested?
Is it possible for the Roosevelt Islander to publish information about the eventual removal of this structure so islanders can watch?
Earlier today, I asked the Twitterverse:
No, this is not an offshore oil drilling platform in the East River under the Queensboro Bridge next to Roosevelt Island, but does anybody know what it is being used for? @OurWaterfrontpic.twitter.com/WaauiDC9tZ
— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) July 28, 2022
The answer is:
This vessel is taking core samples to learn about the geotechnical (e.g., rock/sediment) conditions under the river.
The 15th annual City of Water Day returns to the shores of the metropolitan
region on Saturday, July 16, 2022. A celebration of the waters that surround
us, and an opportunity to learn about the current and future impacts of
climate change and sea level rise, City of Water Day is organized by the
Waterfront Alliance, the NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary Program (HEP), and many
other partners. From boat rides to kayaking, from water quality workshops to
birdwatching walks, City of Water Day activities are free and open to all.
Underscoring the importance of a resilient and equitably shared waterfront,
dozens of shoreline communities in New York and New Jersey will produce
satellite In Your Neighborhood events on July 16, City of Water Day.
For the first time in 15 years, Roosevelt Island hosted a City Of Water Day
event
in front of the NYC Ferry Dock area.
#cityofwaterday
attendees participated in water quality tests at the shores of Roosevelt
Island. Following the tests, our staff discussed why the results matter and
how scientists use these tests to determine the health of the waterways.
#estuaryexplorerspic.twitter.com/Nm5tDXOBkl
— Waterfront Alliance (@OurWaterfront)
July 16, 2022
I spoke with
Waterfront Alliance
representative Mackenzie Pope who tells us about City Of Water Day and
demonstrates Roosevelt Island East River shoreline water quality tests.
My first
#CityOfWaterDay
in the books! We had a blast out in Gowanus and Red Hook doing a walking
tour along the canal and building a floating garden to give oxygen back to
the water. Thanks to all the amazing volunteers and
#InYourNeighborhood
organizations who participated!
pic.twitter.com/QsMFUct6H8
Great turnout for this event, despite heat, humidity, and a summer storm. My
favorite part was watching attendees gather around the canal (after walking
around for 2 hours) to watch minnows and a blue crab in the shallows. Life
is returning to this Superfund site!
#CityofWaterDayhttps://t.co/U6hyYdFPKcpic.twitter.com/JpX277iCgK
Getting out for
#cityofwaterday
with
@SouthBronxUnite
& building community around waterfront access. Lincoln Avenue Street End
in Port Morris is inaccessible & crumbling - time for NYC to invest,
rebuild, & create new public spaces for the people.
@OurWaterfrontpic.twitter.com/1EgG2DvkYX
Roosevelt Island is a mixed income, racially diverse waterfront community situated in the East River of New York City between Manhattan and Queens and is jurisdictionally part of Manhattan. The Roosevelt Island Tramway, which connects Roosevelt Island to the rest of Manhattan, has become the iconic symbol of Roosevelt Island to its residents.
The Purpose of this Blog is to provide accurate and timely information about Roosevelt Island as well as a forum for residents to express opinions and engage in a dialogue to improve our community.
