FoBP in NY Times article for Randall's Island Connector

On the Water, a Tight Fit and Nervous Boaters

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/nyregion/thecity/07kaya.html?ref=thecity

Photo by: Rob Buchanan/newyorkharborbeaches.org

“It’s tricky to time it, to get under the conduits,” Rob Buchanan said of navigating the Bronx Kill.


By KATHERINE BINDLEY
Published: September 6, 2008
THERE are times when the narrow strait known as the Bronx Kill, which separates Randalls Island from the southern tip of the Bronx, looks neglected. At low tide one recent Saturday, for example, a T-shirt and a surge protector lay on the bottom, along with the remnants of a car that had turned the exact color of the rocks it had settled on.

But for canoers, kayakers and other boaters, who know to come when the tide is just right, the Bronx Kill is home to blue crabs and schools of fish, and serves as a precious passageway connecting the East and Harlem Rivers.

“It’s a natural day trip — float through, have a picnic and come back,” said Rob Buchanan, the president of the Village Community Boathouse in Manhattan.

But navigating the kill can be tricky. Directly over the water are two concrete beams, built by Con Edison in the 1960s, that contain cables that carry power to Randalls Island. Sometimes a boater has about a foot of clearance under the beams, but at other times it’s down to inches. “It’s tricky to time it, to get under the conduits,” Mr. Buchanan said.

Now, in light of significant changes planned for the area, boaters’ concerns have turned to this tight fit.

The first challenge was a plan to build a pedestrian bridge over the kill as part of the South Bronx Greenway project. When local officials and boating representatives heard the idea, they lobbied the city’s Economic Development Corporation to ensure that the bridge would be high enough for boat traffic. After seeing preliminary renderings of the bridge, the concerned parties were satisfied.

But now there is a second construction plan for the Bronx Kill. Con Edison wants to build more electrical conduits to Randalls Island to supply more power to a water treatment plant there.

The boaters say that if Con Ed proceeds with this project, it might as well raise the relatively low height of the current conduits. “If they’re going to do a big investment here, let’s do it all,” said Harry Bubbins, the director of Friends of Brook Park, a community environmental group that frequently runs boats through the kill. Noting that the undersides of the Con Ed beams show signs of decay, he added, “There’s a sense they’re just going to throw these things in.”

Chris Olert, a Con Ed spokesman, said that the utility hopes to finish the project by next summer. “We’re working with the city E.D.C., and I’m sure we and they together will address concerns,” he added. “There has to be sound engineering and the project has got to be affordable. Occasionally, people request things that just aren’t affordable for all of our customers.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Bubbins plans to continue to take people through the strait.

“We’re taking more people out to the site, introducing people to the project and raising awareness about it,” he said. “It’s very different when you’re on the water.”