During Spring semester 2024, PortSide is working with a Pratt Institute graduate student class on "participatory plannning" taught by Beth Bingham. We recommended Wally Bazemore as a resource for the class, and he came to speak during a session...
Oral History: Oscar Pagan Reflects on Red Hook at start of NYC ferry service celebration, 2017
In 2017, the inauguration of the NYC Ferry service was a big deal in the mind of Oscar Pagan , enough so that he drove from Staten Island back to Red Hook where he grew up to experience this big change for the neighborhood. He came to PortSide...
Thanks to our ship MARY WHALEN, a 1975 Supreme Court Ruling
Our ship MARY A. WHALEN is famous in maritime law. That’s because American admiralty law is a lot fairer thanks to a case involving the MARY A. WHALEN, the 1975 Supreme Court decision U.S. vs Reliable Transfer. As a nation, we can be thankful that...
Ambiguous Borders: An audio walk through the neighborhood of Red Hook, by Shannon Geis, 2014
Shannon Geis spent months researching the history of Red Hook, reading old newspapers, and, "most importantly, speaking with the people of Red Hook about how they view the community and where they see themselves in it." Her interviews took...
PortSide Interview: Don Horton's Memories of Red Hook, 1940-50
Don Horton worked with his family on barges from the age of 10 to 18. This meant that during WWII, his family was part of the merchant marines, doing dangerous work since German U-boats were attacking American commercial vessels trading along our...
Oral History: Charles Cushing, naval architect
Hear notable marine engineer and architect Dr. Charles R. Cushing talk about the rescue of the MARY A. WHALEN. Cushing has played a significant role in maritime history during 60+ years, including being one of the architects of...
Captain Rich Naruszewicz, MARY WHALEN crew member: Oral History
Captain Rich Naruszewicz started his career in 1978 as a deckhand. He worked on the MARY A. WHALEN for three years in the early 90s and now is a captain of one of the few remaining oil tankers in the New York Harbor the Chandra B . He was...
Heidi Benedikt, crew member of the MARY WHALEN, 1986-88: Oral History
Heidi Benedikt - part 1: audio element. Heidi Benedikt - part 2: audio element. Synopsis of interview with Heidi Benedikt, former crew member of the MARY A. WHALEN. Recording times in parenthesis are aproximate. (0:10) The delegate of the...
Gary Shiflett about Bushey, 2016
Oral History
Gary Shiflett, currently a fleet manager, used to work for Ira S. Bushey and Sons and Eklof Marine. In 2016, while standing in the galley of PortSide NewYork's MARY A. WHALEN - a "Bushey boat" - he told of some of his memories...
Oral History: Rasheed Johnson, Red Hook Houses Resident, 2013
Interviewed in 2013 at age 19, Rasheed Johnson, a resident of NYCHA’s Red Hook houses, talks about how the neighborhood has changed in the past 8 years since he got here. Development has eliminated all his “hang out spots” except for Valentino...