Water Taxi Beach was an artificial temporary beach operated from 2005 to 2010 on a wharf on the East River in the Hunters Point section of Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens. It was operated by the New York Water Taxi Company and was open to the public for free during the summer months. The beach was also rented for private parties. In concept, Water Taxi Beach is similar to Paris Beach in Paris, France. [1] The beach was operated by Harry Hawk and Tony Rosciglione and partners who ran the beach owned by NY Water Taxi, now Harbor Experience Companies. It was part of a public-private partnership with the Port Authority of NY and NJ. [2]
The restaurant Harry's at Water Taxi Beach served barbecue-type foods such as hamburgers, hot dogs, beer, wine, and tropical drinks. There was also a full catering menu. In May 2008, Harry's won first place in a contest to determine which restaurant had the best burger in the boroughs. [3]
The beach concept was created in 2005 as an experiment in community and economic development by New York Water Taxi to attract Manhattanites to Long Island City and to make weekend ferries serving the new residential high-rises near the beach financially viable. The success of the beach has led New York Water Taxi to propose a similar project in Red Hook, Brooklyn. [4]
Since 2007, Water Taxi Beach has been one of the main sites of the annual NYC Food Film Festival. [5]
In March 2008, additional sand was added to the property, expanding its size and making room for three new beach volleyball courts.
In 2005, the company started planning service to Governors Island [6] in 2005, started service on June 2, 2008, [7] and opened a Water Taxi beach there [8] on July 10, 2009. A beach was also opened at the South Street Seaport on Memorial Day Weekend, 2009.
Water Taxi Beach was built and located on property owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In 2009, the property was sold to New York City and is now under the control of the Economic Development Corporation (EDC). The land is located next to the Queens West development and is also slated to be redeveloped with residential housing and a waterfront park. [9] Accordingly, the beach closed for construction works related to the development of Hunters Point South, after the 2010 season. [10]
Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek—which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brooklyn—to the south.
New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world, and is frequently named the best natural harbor in the world. It is also known as Upper New York Bay, which is enclosed by the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island and the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Jersey City and Bayonne. The name may also refer to the entirety of New York Bay including Lower New York Bay.
A water taxi or a water bus is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or on demand to many locations, operating in a similar manner to a taxi. A boat service shuttling between two points would normally be described as a ferry rather than a water bus or taxi.
NY Waterway, or New York Waterway, is a private transportation company running ferry and bus service in the Port of New York and New Jersey and in the Hudson Valley. The company utilizes public-private partnership with agencies such as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New Jersey Transit, New York City Department of Transportation, and Metropolitan Transportation Authority to provide service and maintain docking facilities.
Gantry Plaza State Park is a 12-acre (4.9 ha) state park on the East River in the Hunters Point section of Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens. The park is located in a former dockyard and manufacturing district, and includes remnants of facilities from the area's past. The most prominent feature of the park is a collection of gantries with car float transfer bridges, which in turn were served by barges that carried freight railcars between Queens and Manhattan.
Pleasure Beach is the Bridgeport portion of a Connecticut barrier beach that extends 2.5 miles (4 km) westerly from Point No Point. Prior to June, 2014, when Pleasure Beach re-opened, the area was Connecticut's largest and most recent ghost town after it was abandoned in the late 1990s due to a fire on the bridge connecting it to the mainland. It is surrounded on three sides by water.
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a 25-mile (40 km) radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.
The Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel is a proposed freight rail transport tunnel under Upper New York Bay in the Port of New York and New Jersey between northeastern New Jersey and Long Island, including southern and eastern New York City.
Queens Surface Corporation was a bus company in New York City, United States, operating local service in Queens and the Bronx and express service between Queens and Manhattan until February 27, 2005, when the MTA Bus Company took over the operations. The company was known for its orange paint scheme, used since the company's inception in the late 1930s.
Brooklyn Bridge Park is an 85-acre (34 ha) park on the Brooklyn side of the East River in New York City. Designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park is located on a 1.3-mile (2.1 km) plot of land from Atlantic Avenue in the south, under the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and past the Brooklyn Bridge, to Jay Street north of the Manhattan Bridge. From north to south, the park includes the preexisting Empire–Fulton Ferry and Main Street Parks; the historic Fulton Ferry Landing; and Piers 1–6, which contain various playgrounds and residential developments. The park also includes Empire Stores and the Tobacco Warehouse, two 19th-century structures, and is a part of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, a series of parks and bike paths around Brooklyn.
The Bay Ridge Branch is a rail line owned by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and operated by the New York and Atlantic Railway in New York City. It is the longest freight-only line of the LIRR, connecting the Montauk Branch and CSX Transportation's Fremont Secondary at Glendale, Queens with the Upper New York Bay at Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
American Princess Cruises, based in Neponsit, Queens, United States under the TWFM Ferry Service, Inc., offers ferry, sightseeing, and yacht charter excursions in Long Island, New Jersey, and New York City. It is one of several private ferry operators in the Port of New York and New Jersey.
Hunter's Point South is a mixed-use development situated on approximately 30 acres of prime waterfront property in 30 acres (120,000 m2) in Long Island City, the westernmost neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. Up to 5,000 housing units, 60 percent of which will be affordable to middle class, are expected to be developed on the site. As of Spring 2017, the project had attracted $2 billion from private investors.
Channel Islands Harbor is a small craft harbor and shore-protection project in Oxnard, California at the southern end of the Santa Barbara Channel. It is the fifth largest harbor for small-craft recreation in the state of California and is a waterfront resort, recreation, and dining marketplace. Recreational activities include diving, boat charters, sea kayaking, sportfishing, and whale watching.
The East 34th Street Ferry Landing provides slips to ferries and excursion boats in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located on the East River in New York City east of the FDR Drive just north of East 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The facility, owned by the city, received Federal Highway Administration funding for improvements for docking facilities and upgrading the adjacent East River Greenway in 2008. A new terminal building was built and opened in 2016.
The East River Greenway is an approximately 9.44-mile-long (15.19 km) foreshoreway for walking or cycling on the east side of the island of Manhattan on the East River. It is part of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway. The largest portions are operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is separated from motor traffic, and many sections also separate pedestrians from cyclists. The greenway is parallel to the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive for a majority of its length.
Pier 11/Wall Street is a pier providing slips to ferries and excursion boats on the East River in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located east of South Street and FDR Drive just south of Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The ferry terminal has five landings, each with two berths, and is used by four privately owned companies.
Anable Basin is a 500-foot-long (150 m) artificial inlet of the East River located in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, New York City. It was carved in 1868 to serve the large concentrations of industrial firms in the neighborhood.
Queens West is a district and redevelopment project along the East River in Long Island City, Queens, New York City. The project, located on Hunter's Point south of the Anable Basin, is a joint project sponsored by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) and the Empire State Development Corporation (ESD). The Queens West Development Corporation (QWDC), a subsidiary of ESD, was established in 1992 to facilitate implementation of the approved development plan.
Spring Creek Park is a public park along the Jamaica Bay shoreline between the neighborhoods of Howard Beach, Queens, and Spring Creek, Brooklyn, in New York City. Created on landfilled former marshland, the park is mostly an undeveloped nature preserve, with only small portions accessible to the public for recreation.