OHNY Part 2

Our second adventure during Open House New York (October 4) was to head down to Pier 40 and hop on the John J. Harvey fireboat. (We initially tried to get a ride on the tugboat, but they were full so we opted for the fireboat which was pulling up just as the tugboat was leaving.)

Built in 1931, MV John J. Harvey, at 130 ft and 268 net tons, is among the most powerful fireboats ever in service. She has five 600 HP diesel engines, and has capacity to pump 18,000 gallons of water a minute. Her pumps are powerful -- enough so that when she and the George Washington Bridge were both brand new, she shot water over the bridge's roadway. She was retired by the New York City Fire Department in 1994 and bought at auction by her current owners in 1999. She was placed on The National Register of Historic Places in June 2000.

She was the largest, and most powerful fireboat in the world when built. More importantly, she was the model of modern fireboat engineering, and set the pattern for all subsequent fireboats to follow. After the FDNY retired her, she sat in the Brooklyn shipyards where she was basically neglected. In 1999, a group of friends were sitting around talking about what it would be like to restore her, and then they decided to do it. They bought the fireboat and restored her to excellent working condition. On September 11, 2001, she was unofficially called back into service and helped at the World Trade Center pumping water for over 80 hours. There is a great children's book called Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey that illustrates her history.

Lexi and the tugboat that we couldn't get on (as it's pulling up to the pier). We took a photo because we thought the tug was awesome up close!

Nameplate on the Fireboat

Lexi's ready to spray some water! Unfortunately, a couple of days before we rode, the fireboat had accompanied the USS Intrepid back to its resting place on the west side of Manhattan. During that ordeal, one of the pipes burst so the pumps weren't able to shoot any water the day we rode. It was disappointing, but the good thing is that a ride on the fireboat is always free, so maybe we'll get a chance to ride it again and see some water.

Manhattan! We rode up the Hudson River and this was our view...

The Financial District (the WTC used to be in the center of that cluster of buildings- where there's sort of a space.)

There were several cruise boats docked at the piers that day. One of them passed us as we sailed up the Hudson. Several passengers waved to Alexis as we went by.

The George Washington Bridge out in the distance. (NJ on the left and NY on the right.)

This barge passed us on our voyage. Our captain radio-ed the tug's captain and found out that these old subway cars were headed down the coast to become artificial reefs off the New Jersey Shore.