I want to personally thank you for the support you have given to the Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance.  For the past three years, the SRWA has worked hard to reinvigorate our local waterfront, establish a working pier with access for ferry service, and to help strengthen our community ties with other like-minded organizations.  Our goal was to create a lively discussion around the ideas of sustainability and environmental education, while helping to introduce areas where our community could benefit from increased access on and off our pier at 69th Street. 

The response from the community was tremendously positive.  Through our Greening the Ridge festivals, and outreach with other organizations like the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, we  were able to build momentum for change.  With the help of our local politicians, and Councilman Vincent Gentile in particular, our efforts secured a new EcoDock for the 69th Street Pier, which should be installed early 2011.

One of the best qualities of an organization is to understand its shortcomings.  The SRWA realized that we were equiped as an advocacy organization, but did not have the volunteer or administrative capacity to oversee the implementation of the EcoDock and programs related to the pier. 

At the same time, a new organization was being formed:  The Shore Road Parks Conservancy.  This organization has an incredible reach on Shore Road from Fort Hamilton to Owl’s Head Park, and a vast network of volunteers.  Thus, the SRWA realized it was timely for us to end our advocacy campaign and allow another organization to move those efforts forward. 

 All of the members of the Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance thank you again for making a real change in Bay Ridge, and the waterfront in Brooklyn.  We are hopeful that the change continues in a positive manner, as this is such an exciting time in terms of waterfront planning for the city of New York.  Bay Ridge is now a vocal part of that development, and SRWA is proud to have played a role in that change.

We urge you to stay involved in the Bay Ridge community, and to please visit the website of the Shore Road Parks Conservancy for more information on local events and activities surrounding the pier and beyond.

 Thank you again for all of your support- We could not have done it without you!

Warmest regards,

Heather McCown
Founder, Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance

The Shore Road Parks Conservancy is having a day to celebrate the parks along Shore Road! 

When:  Saturday, October 23rd, 2010, 9:30am-??
Where:  3 Locations; 97th Street Entrance, Gazebo at 90th Street, or the Flagpole at 80th Street

For more information about these activities or the Conservancy itself, please visit their website:

www.shoreroadparks.org  or call at: (646) 355-3709 

Please join our friends at the Bay Ridge Food Co-Op for an evening with the founders of the Park Slope and Flatbush Food Co-Ops!  Want to know what a Food Co-Op is?  Can it work in Bay Ridge?  Come & find out:

When:  Wednesday, October 13th, 2010, 6:30pm- 9:00pm
Where:  Christ Church Auditorium, Ridge Blvd & 73rd Street, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

From the founders of the Bay Ridge Food Co-Op:

Please join us for the evening of October 13th, starting at 6:30, to celebrate the first year of our membership drive with a party and rally for the coming year. Bay Ridge Eagle Reporter (and all around good guy) Tom Kane will moderate a conversation with Joe Holtz and Barry Smith, who each were part of the founding team that put together a wildly successful food co-op in their communities. Joe, one of the founding member…s - and now general manager - of the Park Slope Food Coop, and Barry, founding member and general manager of the Flatbush Food Coop, have been advising us on many issues since we started exploring creating a food co-op in Bay Ridge. It will be followed by a question and answer session about the early days of each cooperative.We will also make many important announcements that night - including several that we hope will make it an easier decision for you to join us. We need you and as many of your friends and neighbors to join us now, so that we can make the kind of store that you will be happy to own and be a member of for years and years to come.We will have complimentary food and refreshments from Petit Oven, Turqua, Sam’s Bakery, Tanoreen, Elia and Yellowhook Grille, and more. We will collect donations for Reaching Out Community Services Food Pantry that night to help support them in their effort to serve families in need in right here - Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Sunset Park and Dyker Heights. Many local businesses will be supporting our outreach efforts by providing gift certificates which will be raffled including HoM and Gossip.

If you know anyone who has a business who would like to support us on that night, please ask them to contact us at hello@foodcoopbayridge.com or 347-274-8172.

On Tuesday, October 20th, 2009, Councilman Vincent Gentile announced at the 69th Street Pier that he has secured $300,000 for an Eco Dock.  What does this mean to Bay Ridge?  This means that we finally will have access on and off the pier as soon as next year!  According to the Councilman, this access will mean recreational boating (kayaking, canoeing) as well as providing a way for emergency services to reach our community via the waterways.  The Eco Dock does have accessibility for ferries, although the appropriate agencies need to approve ferry access before service can begin.

This is a positive and encouraging development for Bay Ridge.  After being without waterborne access to the pier since the late 1980’s, this is a huge step towards making Bay Ridge a desirable location for tourism and recreation, as well as giving the local economy a boost.  We are hopeful that this will also mean an alternative for commuting, by providing ferry service to Manhattan and beyond.

The Bay Ridge Eco Dock is part of a larger program to place these community docks up and down the Hudson River corridor.  Spearheaded by the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, the Eco Dock program provides environmentally friendly, low-cost community docks which rise and fall with the tide and are accessible by all types of vessels at all times.   Click here for more information on the Eco Docks.

The Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance, in partnership with the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, is proud to have worked with our local city and state agencies, and Councilman Vincent Gentile, to bring the Eco Dock to Bay Ridge and place our community at the forefront of the waterfront community.

The SRWA will continue to monitor the progress of the Eco Dock, and will provide updates periodically on our website. 

 Please click here for one of the articles from the Brooklyn Paper on the Eco Dock. 

For more information, please contact:
Dena Libner
Communications Director
Office of Councilman Vincent J. Gentile
District Office: 718-748-5200
Legislative Office: 212-788-7363
Fax: 718-748-5222
dlibner@council.nyc.gov

The Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance (SRWA) is launching a comprehensive online survey to collect data that will calculate the demand for ferry service at the Veteran’s Memorial Pier at 69th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.  The data will be collected and analyzed, with a report to be furnished to the New York City Economic Development Corporation before the end of 2009.

As Heather McCown, Founder and Executive Director of SRWA, states, “Data is more powerful than just signatures.  Our hope is that this survey will quantify the need for ferry service, and allow the voices of our community to be heard.”  This ferry survey will also look at the need for the proper landing equipment at the pier for other water-borne activities besides ferry service, such as; kayaking, canoeing, and the need for an emergency landing as stated by the New York City Office of Emergency Management mandates.

This study has been launched in response to the overwhelming support of the community for reinstatement of ferry service at the Veteran’s Memorial Pier at 69th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.  In 2006, a petition of over 2,000 signatures was delivered to Mayor Michael Bloomberg in support of reinstatement of the ferry service.  Since this time, there has been an increase in local interest in reinstating this service.  However, there is currently no quantifiable data to examine the needs of the community.

This survey can easily be accessed at:  www.surveymonkey.com/srwaferry2009
The survey takes only 10 minutes to complete, and is anonymous.  In order to protect the environment, this survey is being conducted electronically.  Please contact the SRWA if you need access to a computer in order to take this survey.

The Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance (SRWA) is a grass roots organization dedicated to building public support for educational resources on water-borne action and initiatives.  Through community planning, public outreach, and sustainable partnerships, SRWA is committed to enriching the lives of citizens throughout the New York Harbor.

If you would like more information, please contact Heather McCown at (917) 971-0007, or heather@srwalliance.org

COUNCILMAN GENTILE RELEASES STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF FERRY SURVEY
Click here to read statement

Please contact his office to show your support for his initiatives:  Jonathan Yedin, Brooklyn Director, (718) 630-5277

 The Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance is pleased to invite you to our first VIP Night.  Please join us for complimentary refreshments and light hors d’oeurves from 7pm-8pm, followed by a special screening.

We will be unveiling our upcoming programs and events, as well as showing the excellent documentary, “City of Water,” which was created by the Municipal Arts Society and the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance.

A suggested donation of $50 is requested.  Valet parking will be provided.
Please contact Heather McCown with any questions: (917) 971-0007.

When:  Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 at 1:00pm
Where:  Entrance to Shore Road Promenade at 80th Street & Shore Road in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

For more information, please contact Janice: blondeparadox@aol.com