Pietro "Pete" Panto was an Italian American longshoreman and union activist who was murdered by the mob for speaking out and organizing against currupt union leadership. The Red Hook WaterStories team has not written an entry about him yet but...
Phil Rizzuto remembers Bushey's Shipyard, 1970
Phil Rizutto worked at Bushey's in the 1970s. "The opening photo of Busheys Shipyard brings back great memories for me since I worked there from 72 till we closed the yard down selling everything of value at auction. My family became close with Ira...
Red Hook Flats has Hermit on Mystery Ship, 1931
Month after month a three-mastered schooner was seen anchored off-shore in the Red Hook Flats. On board was just one man who never went ashore. How he got by was a mystery to the few folk who knew of his existence. He was not hiding; he had...
Rowing to Europe in record time, 1896
On June 6th, 1896 George Harbo and Frank Samuelsen departed from New York's Battery in an 18 foot rowboat destination Europe. Their vessel The FOX, was an 18 foot surf boat was built on the New Jersey Shore, only powered by oars. It took the two men...
Sailed Around the World
Joshua Slocum and his sloop SPRAY arrived in Erie Basin, October 2, 1900 to Manning's Dock. He is said to be the first person to sail around the world alone, without even a cat or dog for companionship. Joshua Slocum was unfortunately lost at sea 10...
The Potato King, 1889
Mr. Stewart is one of the largest produce merchants at the Atlantic Basin. He was also predominant at the Washington Market in Manhattan. His produce boats provided seed potatoes to the farmers of Long Island, from the India Wharf and Central Pier.
The Signal Success of Martha Coston, 1826-1904
“So little opportunity have women had hitherto for demonstrating their capability for business, that it can only be indicated by the success of some particular woman in some unusual and exceptional pursuit; and I know of no better illustration...
Title Fight: Louis Heineman vs. William Beard
No man ever, perhaps, got so much the best of old Beard as did Louis Heineman, the housemover of the Twelfth ward” (The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 19, 1891) When Louis Heineman died in 1904, he was reportedly 104 years old, and likely the oldest...
William Yorke - the Erie Basin Artist
William Yorke was an artist who lived on a boat in the Erie Basin with his wife, son, and two dogs in 1882. After his boat was destroyed in a steamboat accident and Yorke was found living in a hut by the waterfront with his family, his story was...