Fine Art, Holland Tunnel Intersect at Lower Manhattan Plaza

Posted on December 29, 2016 by PANYNJ PORTfolio

By Neal Buccino, Media Relations Staff

Like the Holland Tunnel, the sculpture called Octetra unites geometric precision with an overarching vision and purpose.

And, like the Holland Tunnel, Octetra has become part of Lower Manhattan’s Hudson Square community, thanks to a partnership between the Port Authority and the nonprofit Hudson Square Connection.

The sculpture, created in 1968 by the celebrated American artist Isamu Noguchi, was recently installed at Freeman Plaza, an urban oasis at the corner of Varick and Broome streets. A time-lapse video of its Lego-like installation, shot and edited by the Port Authority’s Mike Dombrowski, can be seen below.

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Freeman Plaza belongs to the Port Authority, and long ago was the site of a Holland Tunnel toll plaza. For decades it had been empty, fenced off and inaccessible to the public. That changed in 2013 after the Hudson Square Connection approached the agency with the idea of converting the area into a community asset.

Today, Freeman Plaza West, East and North offer bistro-style tables, umbrellas and chaise lounges during the warmer months. Visitors stop by to enjoy lunch, connect with friends and relax. Like “Dolphin Park,” which occupies Port Authority land near the George Washington Bridge, it represents the best in public-private partnerships.

The dark red sculpture consists of five separate blocks that stack together like puzzle pieces. Assembly wasn’t easy. Each section is about four feet in height, width and depth, made of cement, and weighs more than a ton. Fine art rarely comes together with a construction crew and a forklift.  But that’s what you get with Octetra.

It’s also a masterwork of mathematical symmetry. The sculpture’s five sections are truncated tetrahedrons – four-sided pyramids with the corners cut off, turning the faces into hexagons. Each contains a spherical void that extends beyond the walls to create circular portholes. The holes line up for interesting views through the sculpture.

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The plaza and its distinctive new sculpture pay tribute to Milton Freeman, an unsung hero who lost his life in the service of the region’s economic growth.

The seven-year construction of the Holland Tunnel was perilous work, not just for the legendary “sandhogs” who labored in compressed-air environments underground, but for its chief engineers. The first of those, Clifford Milburn Holland, suffered a nervous breakdown and died of a heart attack at age 41, just four years after the project began.

Freeman took charge after Milton’s death but died of acute pneumonia less than a year later at the age of 53. In its 1925 report on Freeman’s death, the New York Times said the two engineers succumbed to stress and overwork related to the colossal challenges of building what was then the longest underwater vehicular tunnel in the world.

“By offering to work with us and turn Freeman Plaza into a public space, the Hudson Square Connection hasn’t just given a gift to the community. They’re giving Milton Freeman the legacy he deserves,” said Holland Tunnel General Manager Enrique (Ricky) Ramirez.

Ramirez continued: “Octetra suits that legacy as something that – like the Holland Tunnel but on a much smaller scale – is mathematically precise, challenging to put together, and has an appearance of being simple when it’s actually quite complex.”

 

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Staten Island Staffers: A Bridge to a Happier Holiday

Posted on December 27, 2016 by PANYNJ PORTfolio

By Neal Buccino, Media Relations Staff

Each year, the Port Authority’s Staten Island Bridges staff members – those who ensure safe operations at the Bayonne Bridge, Goethals Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing – mobilize as a single unit to raise the spirits of those less fortunate during the holiday season through the Giving Tree.

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Port Authority Toll Supervisor Lindia Creighton (left) and Staten Island Bridges Deputy General Manager Olga Krueger (right) present a check to Minister Sebrina Melette-Boone as a donation for the soup kitchen at Cathedral International in Perth Amboy, NJ.

This year’s Giving Tree effort committed to collecting gifts for a group of adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities, in affiliation with the ARC of Somerset County. The six individuals, ranging in age from 56 to 75, requested gifts as simple as a large winter coat, queen-size sheets, and DVDs of the “Despicable Me” movies. Last year, the project brought cheer to two large families in transitional housing who wished for holiday gifts for themselves and their children – books, clothes, a bicycle.

Each year, this holiday effort is led by a determined toll supervisor named Lindia Creighton. A 29-year agency veteran who rotates among the three Staten Island bridge facilities, Creighton has a passion for helping those in need. Throughout the year, she regularly volunteers at a soup kitchen and collects clothes and other goods for donation through a faith organization in Perth Amboy, N.J.

A few years ago, Creighton’s altruistic spirit began to inspire her Port Authority colleagues. As Olga Krueger, the Staten Island Bridges’ Assistant General Manager, noted, “While some people complain about the state of the world, Lindia actually does something about it.”

For several years, Creighton’s colleagues donated gently used clothing and other household goods to support her charity work. Since last year, however, virtually the entire staff has joined forces to donate through the Giving Tree as well as making cash donations to support the soup kitchen and the “Toys for Tots” program” of the Port Authority Police Department Marine Corps.

This year, they raised about $2,000 in gifts and cash for the individuals served by the ARC of Somerset County and the Toys for Tots program. Creighton spoke about the deep emotions she feels in providing each year’s gifts to those who needed them.

“In many ways, these individuals and families feel forgotten,” Creighton said. “When you meet them and see how deep their needs are – and how much these gifts mean to them – it really is amazing.  You can see that the help we’re giving is meaningful.”

Posted in Bayonne Bridge, bridges, Goethals Bridge, NY/NJ region, NYC, Outerbridge Crossing, PANYNJ, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, Staten Island, Staten Island bridges, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Staten Island Staffers: A Bridge to a Happier Holiday

Port of New York and New Jersey: Christmas at Sea

Posted on December 22, 2016 by PANYNJ PORTfolio

By Lenis Rodrigues, Media Relations Staff

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The holidays are a tough time for mariners at sea who often spend Christmas on cargo ships. Even under ordinary circumstances, these seafarers must be away from family and friends for long stretches of time. During the holiday season, the loneliness of life on the sea is that much harder to bear.

Each year during the holiday season, the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) tries to brighten things up for these men and women by collecting and distributing hand-knit garment packages and hard-to-come-by toiletry items like hand lotion, lip balm and toothbrushes for its Christmas at Sea program. Each gift package also includes a personal letter from the director and an SCI brochure explaining the services provided to mariners.

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“We do this to say ‘thanks!’ to the mariners who bring us more than 90 percent of the products we use and whose efforts 365 days a year make our lives more comfortable,” said Stephen Lyman, SCI Director, Port Newark, NJ. The SCI Christmas at Sea program began during the Spanish American War in 1898 and has active knitting groups in all 50 states.

Catherine Pilkington of Union, NJ has contributed to the program for more than 20 years and has knitted more than 50 garments this year alone for SCI locally.  Some 25,000 garments have been knitted nationally, and the number continues to grow.

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“It’s a wonderful program to help the men and women who sacrifice time away from their families, and I am a proud contributor to this amazing cause,” said the 78-year-old Pilkington.  “I knit so much that when I finally stop knitting my husband knows it’s time for bed.”

Last month, SCI held its second annual Port Packing Day, an open house and volunteer day during which the port community came together to pack the collected items. A small army of volunteers, who packed 1,100 gifts, included – besides the Port Authority — employees from the Port Newark Container Terminal, the Bi-State Motor Carriers, the New Jersey Maritime Pilot and Docking Pilot Commission, the New York Shipping Association, Kalustyan Corporation, the International Longshoremen’s Association and the Cargill Corporation.

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The gift bags are distributed between November 15 and January 15 every year. SCI has dropped off toiletry collection boxes at the APM Terminals, Maher and Port Newark Container Terminals and the Port Authority offices at Port Newark. Additionally, some toiletries were donated by H&M International.

Bethann Rooney, once a mariner herself, is assistant director of the Port Authority’s Port Department. She understands personally how difficult it is to be away from family during holidays.

“I can vividly remember my first Christmas at sea 29 years ago. I still have the hat and scarf that I received that year from our friends at SCI,” said Rooney. “A half a world away in the middle of the vast ocean I was missing my family dearly, but I was touched to know that strangers back home were thinking of us and grateful for the work we did to move cargo all over the world.”

Posted in commerical shipping, containerization, Mariners, PONYNJ, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, Port Commerce, Port Jersey-Port Authority Marine Terminal, Port Newark, Port Newark/Elizabeth Marine Terminal, Port of New York & New Jersey, Port Packing Day, Port Region, SCI, Seamen's Church Institute, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Port of New York and New Jersey: Christmas at Sea