Well the days are finally warm and sunny, so it’s time to get out there! We have several great public tours on offer with our top-notch collaborators, highlighting all the important stuff: history, ecology and working waterfront. Would you like to sponsor a ticket or entire tour so that NCA can offer more programs for free to the public? We would love your support in this way! Click on the DONATE button on the left, or contact Kate Zidar for more info (kzidar@newtowncreekalliance.org).
WALKING TOURS
The following fabulous foot tours are led by Mitch Waxman, NCA Historian. Bring your camera, as the tour leads you through incredible landscapes, and Mitch has all the angles worked out! Come prepared for rough terrain and possible heavy truck traffic. Bring water and sun protection, and wear closed-toe shoes. Click on each title below to get ticketed (20$ per person). Group rates are available; contact us at info@newtowncreekalliance.org.
Parks and Petroleum – Sunday, May 12, 2013
This tour explores the petroleum and waste transfer districts of the Newtown Creek watershed in North Brooklyn. Heavily industrialized, the area we will be walking through is the heart of the Greenpoint Oil Spill and home to scores of waste transfer stations and other heavy industries. We will be heading for the thrice damned Kosciuszko Bridge, which is scheduled for a demolition and replacement project which will be starting in 2013. Photographers, in particular, will find this an interesting walk through a little known and quite obscure section of New York City.
The Insalubrious Valley – Saturday, June 29, 2013
The currently undefended border of Brooklyn and Queens, and the place where the industrial revolution actually happened, provides a dramatic and picturesque setting for this exploration. We’ll visiting two movable bridges, the still standing remains of an early 19th century highway, and a forgotten tributary of the larger waterway. As we walk along the Newtown Creek and explore the “wrong side of the tracks” – you’ll hear tales of the early chemical industry, “Dead Animal and Night Soil Wharfs”, colonial era heretics and witches and the coming of the railroad. The tour concludes at the famed Clinton Diner in Maspeth- where scenes from the Martin Scorcese movie “Goodfellas” were shot. Lunch at Clinton Diner is included with the ticket.
13 Steps around Dutch Kills – Saturday, August 17, 2013
Join Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman for an intense exploration of Newtown Creek’s Dutch Kills tributary. During a three hour tour, you’ll cover three miles of Brooklyn and Queens and see where the industrial revolution actually happened. In 13 steps, Mitch will show you the then and now of the infamous Dutch Kills tributary. It’s considered to be the central artery of industrial Long Island City and is ringed with enormous factory buildings, titan rail yards, and historic bridges.
BIRDING AND INTERTIDAL ZONE CANOE TOURS
Break out the binoculars! Did you know that there are nooks and crannies on Newtown Creek that harbor wildlife? Did you know that creeping along in a canoe is the best way to view the intertidal zone and view a heron unruffled? The following tours will be led by certified trip leaders with North Brooklyn Boat Club, in intimate groups of about ten paddlers:
May 26, 3pm SOLD OUT!
June 30, 9am SOLD OUT!
July 28, 6pm RAINED OUT!
Aug 11, 6pm SOLD OUT!
All tours depart from and return to The North Brooklyn Boat Club at 49 Ash Street in Greenpoint. Your ticket price includes insurance, certified guides and all equipment!