[Conan the Librarian]

My Mom read me that story MANY times when I was a child. It is still one of my favorites. I even bought a new copy recently that came with a Little Red Lighthouse Nightlight. What a great story!

[eastsider]

When guests are visiting, my favorite tourist thing to do is to take them on the Circle Line around Manhattan. I always look forward to seeing the Lighthouse.

[LiteKeeper]

read later

LiteKeeper

[StriperSniper]

Links for other local lighthouses:

http://www.harbourlights.com/links/new_york.htm

[dead]

My father grew up in that neighborhood. When I was a boy, he pointed out the lighthouse from the Jersey side and told me he used to play around there as a teenager.

I asked him if we could go over and look at it. He laughed, "Sure, if you want to get killed."

That was the seventies though. I don't think the neighborhood is quite as bad right now.

[Coleus]

Picture this: 'The River Queen'

Monday, July 26, 2004 By THOMAS E. FRANKLIN

THOMAS E. FRANKLIN / THE RECORD

Sometime last year Ed Green had an idea. It would combine his considerable creative skills as a mechanic, avid boatman, local barfly, and Jamaican wannabe - evening river cruises, he thought. So he took an old pontoon boat, modified it with a new engine and boat parts, planted a few plastic palm trees, placed a plastic flamingo on the bow, and created "The River Queen."

A 24-foot pontoon boat designed for casual river cruises, Green's boat has the mixed feel of "Gilligan's Island" and a hot Caribbean night, North Jersey-style, of course. Furnished with a straw roof, tiki lights, a gas grill, a kickin' sound system, and a captain wearing a Rasta wig, the Queen cuts smoothly up and down the Hackensack River in the shadow of the Meadowlands. "I had a vision of a Jamaican tiki boat," Ed Green recalls. "I had an obsession with tiki stuff." Green keeps the boat at the old marina behind the Waterfront Cafe in Carlstadt, and gives rides for free to his friends and guests of his favorite hangout. "We take guests out from the restaurant for dinner cruises," he explains. "We just kidnap them from the bar. It's a courtesy thing."

Green operates the boat for pleasure, and for his buddy Jimmy Winand, the owner of the Waterfront Cafe. "It's all about having fun," says Eddie. "If I am able to take them out, have fun, come back with a smile on their face, it's worth it."

"It's a getaway in the middle of Carlstadt," says Susan Mercoun, who helps run the Waterfront, which includes a bar-restaurant, golf driving range, and miniature golf. "He's Mr. Waterfront. It was all his idea. I think it's going to be a big hit. It's fun. It's outside. You can see the Empire State Building."

This is the River Queen's first year, and it has become popular on Wednesday evenings, starting around dusk. "It's a 5-mile-an-hour cruise," says Green, who takes patrons out in shifts for quick 30-minute jaunts. "I loved it," says Pat Sabatini, after taking in a recent sunset cruise. "I feel like I'm going on vacation. Really."

"This is awesome," adds Charley Bari. "Its great to forget about the stress from the day. I forgot all about the bad day I just had."

[catfur]

Thanks for this post.

Had a great view of that Lighthouse from my dorm room while attending Columbia Presbyterian School of Nursing. That was way back in the early 60's and the neighborhood was not good for touist adventures.

The dorm's gone but hey the view remains!

[two23]

Thanks for the post and pic. I grew up in the Hudson River Valley and always miss it; this time of year especially.
There used to be a Naval Reserve Fleet (aka: mothball fleet--Liberty Ships) near Stoney Point and my Dad was employed as a civilian by the gov't. In the winter he broke ice on the river in a tug (to keep the fleet channels open). In the summer he often took us to work and we got to hang out on the mother ship and go on the rounds with him on the tug (security and maintenance detail)
He also worked a second job for a local Boat shop and marina and we spent summers on the River in Newburgh.
My brother had a boat and we were forbidden to go on Bannermans island (which we were told had man-eating dobermans running wild over the island!).
I love this area and have only been back once in 30 years.
Anyone remember the fleet?

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[patton]

I remember that lighthouse. I first saw it in second grade, on a field trip from Corpus Christi.

The nuns had us draw a picture of it.

They were pretty impressed with my drawing, as I recall.

Stands to reason - my dad is a famous artist, and, at the time, I was taking classes in Art at the Met.

Then it started to rain, so I took some black paint and colored in the raindrops.

I think I was a realist, art-wise.

The nuns had a fit.

Then we had smores.

Ever seen a nun make smores?

[x]

It's right next to the headquarters of the Men In Black, isn't it?

... Er ... Look at the light, please...

[Coleus]

Picture this: Fluorescent rocks (NJ)

[Coleus]

The George Washington Bridge was designed with the strength to support a railroad line. And when the suspension bridge was being built, there was talk about its bare steel towers being encased in concrete or granite. But when the Great Depression hit, plans changed.  "They needed to cut back,'' said Tom Meyers, Fort Lee's director of cultural affairs. "It was a good thing in the long run. The bridge has a look like no other. It has a unique beauty."  Those bridge tidbits and more can be learned at "A View From the Bridge," an exhibit at the Fort Lee Museum that opened Saturday. The display coincides with the 75th anniversary of the opening of the bridge, which will be officially celebrated Oct. 25.

Black and white photos of the bridge's 1931 dedication, postcards, newspaper clippings and current photos of the span fill display cases and the museum's walls. A tin toy and soap decorated with images of the bridge can also be spotted. Even a red rug with drawings of the bridge that once filled space in The Riviera nightclub adorns the museum floor.

Fast facts

• The bridge was dedicated on Oct. 24, 1931, and opened to traffic the following day.
• Construction took four years, but finished eight months ahead of schedule.
• At its opening, it was the longest suspension bridge ever built, spanning 3,500 feet.
• The lower deck was opened to traffic on Aug. 29, 1962.
• The bridge weighs 600,000 tons.
• In its first year of operation, 5,509,900 vehicles crossed the bridge.
• Today, approximately 108 million vehicles use the bridge annually.

  Source: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

"I've known this bridge all my life,'' said Peter Rustin of Passaic, who said he often walked the bridge with his mother as a child. "The pictures are nice."  Steven Lanza, of Rutherford, brought his 12-year-old daughter to the museum. Lanza, who grew up in Fort Lee, said he liked the photos, but a lot of the information was not new to him.  "When you grow up in this town, you know everything about the bridge,'' he said. The exhibit has been more than a year in the making and memorabilia collecting is continuing.

Meyers and other members of the society are working on compiling digital images of pictures they have accumulated through the years to give to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The agency, which manages and maintains the bridge, lost many of its historical photos during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.  "They had given us copies of their photos over the years,'' he said. "This is a way for us to help them reassemble some of that collection." Meyers said the goal of the Fort Lee exhibit is to get visitors to think of the bridge as more than a means of getting into New York City.  "Many people worked hard from the engineers and laborers to build this modern marvel,'' he said. "Maybe this exhibit will get people to go out and walk the bridge, a lot of people don't' get that chance."

Pam and Peter Bernardini, members of the Fort Lee Historical Society who were manning the exhibit Saturday, debated whether they would walk the bridge again. Pam Bernardini, who strolled the span when she was raising her two sons, says she has thought about it, but her husband wasn't convinced. "It's scary to walk across now,'' said Peter Bernardini. "You feel the cars and you feel the bouncing." The exhibit can be seen on the weekends and by appointment during the week through January. For information about the exhibit or other bridge anniversary events, call 201-592-3663 or visit www.fortleefilm.org.

[Coleus]