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East River Keeper

@eastriverkeeper

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Celebrating #NYC's #EastRiver & #RooseveltIsland with lame humor, good tunes, curiosity & respect. 🌸 🚠 ⚓️
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2. Scenes during #UNWeek on NYC’s East River.

An escort speeding north on the East River in formation, protects the riverside flank of the President’s motorcade. President Trump met with Mayor Mamdani at Gracie Mansion today at 4 pm. Gracie Mansion is in Manhattan’s Upper East Side and overlooks where the Harlem River meets the East River.

This security detail includes @NYPD’s PO JEFF HERMAN, @nys_dec_police, @uscg fast response boat as the tail, and two @USCG high-speed inflatable rafts holding Coast Guard Deployable Specialized Forces. @nycferry travelers are getting a good look at the detail arrayed around the East 90th ferry stop. And the tug, WILLIAM BREWSTER, and the Roosevelt Island Tram got front row seats!

In the next post, you will see the actual motorcade heading south on the FDR with the same protection detail on the river.

🎥 📸 by @eastriverkeeper

#NYPD #GoCoastGuard #USCG #UNGA taken in Roosevelt Island - New York City, New York by @eastriverkeeper

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a month ago

No Low-T on the East River today.

Did you see the high-performance powerboats speeding… er… parading down the East River around 12:30 today?

It’s the 30th Anniversary of the @NationalPowerBoatAssociation’s New York City Poker Run. No jokers here, these flying aces start their 65-mile, um, “parade” at Glen Cove, travel down the East River, re-group at the Statue of Liberty, march up the Hudson River and down the Harlem River (that is if the Spuyten Dyval Railroad Bridge isn’t closed), then back for a night of camaraderie at The Cove’s Tiki Bar and to find out who drew the best poker hand.

While a cinema helicopter chased the parade to capture photos and videos to sell to the daring deuces, here you can see the parade for free.

Lucky for the powerboaters, the WaPoPo didn’t set any speed traps. Vroom vroom.

🎥 by @eastriverkeeper

#SpeedBoat #PowerBoat #PerformanceBoats #SpeedBoating #Powerboating taken in East River, New York City by @eastriverkeeper

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2 months ago

The new owner of this 1996 Hinckley Sou’wester 42 is taking the GOLDEN EYE for a spin, coming down from Southwest Harbor, Maine (the historical home of @hinckleyyachts). While she is a Downeast beauty, she exemplifies rugged Maine independence, having crossed the Atlantic and sailed around Northern Europe in a past cruising life for a decade.

Hey Skipper, are the waves off the rocky coastal Maine waters any match for the East River waves off the concrete shoals of Roosevelt Island? 🤣

Turns out, you can get here (with a SW42) from there (with a good nav system). Glad that old Maine idiom — “You can’t get there-ah from here-ah” – may not always be true so we can see this boat rock.

“Rock the boat, don’t tip the boat over…”

🎥 📸 by @eastriverkeeper (source: Facebook post)

#Hinckley #HinckleyYachts #Sailboat #SailYacht #GoodOldBoat taken in Roosevelt Island - New York City, New York by @eastriverkeeper

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4 months ago

It’s only fitting that on this day where the Jets battle the Pats, that this boat gets a post — not that Jets fans will give a New York City rat’s arse about the “Tom Brady yacht.”

A yacht just like this Dutch-built Wajer 77 was customized and built for Tom Brady, who named it TW12VE ANGELS. It’s the sorta thing a recently divorced and retired GOAT would buy for himself in 2023 and then decide to sell in 2024.

Here is the TW12VE ANGELS’ doppelgänger…

The 2025 luxury yacht, CASA BRI MARE🇯🇲, seen here on the East River, has three luxury below-deck suites, a large outdoor wet bar, circular seating areas, and enough aft sun pad space to field a starting line-up of teenagers.

I wonder how many nights Gronk crashed in one of Tom’s staterooms after raiding his wet bar.

📸 by @eastriverkeeper (source: broker online sales brochures, because both yachts are for sale with asking prices of ~$7 million.)

#WajerYachts #MotorYacht #Yacht #YachtSpotting #TomBrady taken in East River, New York City by @eastriverkeeper

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9 hours ago

God’s Exceptional Children’s Boat Ride

I missed the carnival going by yesterday — but glad some friends caught the unique site of the #SIFerry cruising the 16 miles of the East River.

The Boat Ride is an “annual floating carnival hosted on a Staten Island Ferry for thousands of special needs individuals, their families, and caretakers. It features lunch, three live DJs, dancing, hundreds of balloons, and a water salute from the @FDNY. The community-driven event is organized by the Marine and Aviation Anchor Club, the Richmond Masonic Association, and various volunteer groups, offering an unforgettable three-hour tour of the New York Harbor.”

Usually, when the ferry is on the East River, it’s a pilotage trip, as explained in a comment on my 4/30 post by @seakvlt:

“Every captain and assistant captain at the Sl Ferry is holding a first-class pilot endorsement of unlimited tonnage for multiple routes in NY Harbor. Every five yrs you need to do a recency trip for each route. Also aboard, we have mates and deckhands who eventually want to move up to assistant captain as well as Sandy Hook apprentice pilots who all need multiple trips to test for a particular route as seen here on the East River to sit for the Coast Guard exams. These trips must be done on a vessel over 1,600 Gross Registered Tons to count as an unlimited tonnage. This is why you see the ferry here going and coming back from the Execution Rock. The Coast Guard requirements and the various licensing process can be a bit complex.”

Thanks @seakvlt for letting us know about yesterday’s special trip and that some of these volunteer crew members are documenting for their pilotage.

The 320-foot DOROTHY DAY is one of three, 4,500-passenger, “Ollis Class” ferries built to “operate safely in extreme weather conditions... with new amenities like more comfortable seating, phone-charging outlets and an upper-deck promenade that serves as an outdoor walking track.” Dorothy Day (1897–1980) was “a renowned Catholic activist who lived and worked on Staten Island.”

🎥 📸 by @johnfish22 (first two photos) and @sseely6716 (third photo).

#StatenIslandFerry #Ferry #FerryBoat #StatenIsland taken in East River, New York City by @eastriverkeeper

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13 hours ago

Her majesty is giving us the Queen’s Wave (or wake) while passing by Roosevelt Island on the East River.

Here’s a fascinating excerpt about the boat from “Inside With The Coastal Queen” by Anthony Bailey (New Yorker, 10/24/64):

The COASTAL QUEEN was formerly the A. G. PRICE, “an oyster buy-boat, built in 1928 near Cambridge, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. This was an unprepossessing nautical drudge that during the ‘R’ months circulated among the tongers [oyster watermen] out on Chesapeake Bay, buying on the spot whatever oysters they had brought up from the bottom and taking them into the various packing houses along the bay for resale, and in summer carrying general cargo — grain, fertilizer, tomatoes, and so on — from Baltimore out to the nearby bay ports…

“[In 1958, the retired owner of a boatyard, Slade Dale, bought the A.G. PRICE for $10,000.] Dale did such a thorough job of facelifting on his buy-boat… seasoned fishermen who take care to display no interest in most passing vessels turn and wave when the Coastal Queen goes by, sportsmen at the wheels of fast powerboats stare at her wistfully as they hurry past… and small boys dash down the banks and welcome her with piercing whistles.

“In sprucing up the Coastal Queen, Dale spent ninety thousand dollars… and equipped her with such modern luxuries as a central heating system and an electric freezer, he was a disappointment to marine-accessories salesmen, for they could not interest him in any of the up-to-date navigational crutches that many helmsmen have come to rely on. The Coastal Queen has no radio direction-finder, for instance, and no ship-to-shore radiotelephone; her master prefers traditional ways—taking his soundings with a lead line, and shouting to passing skippers or going ashore when he wants to communicate with the world beyond his floating domain.”

She is now owned, like all precious things nowadays, by a buy-billionaire.

Too bad all those oyster shells didn’t make their way here to the @BillionOyster Project’s reef restorations.

See my comment below for s’more info…

🎥 📸 by @eastriverkeeper

#IntercoastalWaterway #BuyBoat #WoodenBoat #VintageBoat #AntiqueBoat taken in East River, New York City by @eastriverkeeper

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2 days ago

Hold my beer, Usain Boat.

A collection of the Speed Racers powerboating up and down the East River over the summer.

🎥 📸 by @eastriverkeeper

#SpeedBoat #PowerBoat #PerformanceBoats #SpeedBoating #Powerboating taken in East River, New York City by @eastriverkeeper

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3 days ago

Bello, the Mute Swan, has a new friend!

See my 10/1 post introducing the rescue and rehabilitation of Bello by the @wfffoundation on Roosevelt Island.

Bello’s friend, another baby swan boy (cygnet), was rescued from certain death on the Whitestone Expressway and delivered to Roosevelt Island for some TLC. The two swans are now inseparable and surrounded by friends.

This brings to mind a children’s nursery rhyme…

Young Mother Goose, when she wanted to wander,
Would ride through the air on a very fine gander.
Mother Goose had a refuge, ‘twas built in a wood,
Where the angel at the gate made it all good.
– apologies to Mother Goose & Rossana

About the Wildlife Freedom Foundation…

Founder Rossana Ceruzzi runs the wildlife sanctuary with intense devotion and care for the animals. For over two decades, the @wfffoundation is a 501c3, volunteer-run organization that operates as a state and federally licensed wildlife sanctuary near the historic Smallpox Memorial Hospital site. It’s dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and protecting local wildlife in NYC, especially along the East River.

“The pets all have a history of neglect, abandonment, or animal abuse. Our rescued cats are all spayed/neutered, vaccinated, micro-chipped and friendly. Most of them love to meet and greet visitors [and purr for adoption]. In our sanctuaries they are cared for daily by our loving, compassionate volunteers.”

Cobs and cats and anything else in distress, oh my! It’s amazing to see how they peacefully coexist. Check it out at @wfffoundation, www.wildlifefreedomfoundation.org, or even better, in person (just respect their space and stay off the fence).

🎥 📸 by @eastriverkeeper (except for the photo of the two swans chilling in the jacuzzi)

#Cygnet #Swan #BirdSanctuary #CatSanctuary #AnimalSanctuaryLife taken in Roosevelt Island - New York City, New York by @eastriverkeeper

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3 days ago

Things you see on NYC’s East River…

This “party barge” doesn’t need a twin screw, 2,700 hp tug to push it through the current, just a Yamaha 150 hp outboard motor.

The skipper’s passage under the Queensboro Bridge was timed perfectly during the tidal strait’s slack water window for the calmest conditions. Otherwise, the photos of this pontoon hitting the turbulent waters would have been…

Looney (pon)toons.

🤣 😂 🙄 🤢

Check out some of my favorite photos and rocking video at the end where the turbulence at mid-cycle peaks swallows a 47’ sailing yacht and kneecaps with whitecaps jet skis, rescue boats, sailboats, motorboats, two Hinckleys, tugs ‘n barges, tour boats, kayaks, and even a swimmer…

🤘 🤘 🤘

ERVs (East River Virgins) and Merry Mariners may find this helpful: @amnautical’s “Cruising Guide for New York’s East River” (Google: “American Nautical + East River”). It’s also informative for anyone wanting to learn more about our East River tidal strait.

📸 🎥 by @eastriverkeeper

The boat is a @godfreypontoonboats’ Sweetwater #PontoonBoat.

#Pontoon #Pontoons #PontoonLife #GodfreyPontoonBoats @Pontoon_Life taken in East River, New York City by @eastriverkeeper

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4 days ago

Now THAT’S a StairMaster to heaven on @donjonmarine’s DOUGLAS J.

What kind of a workout would this for you?

Calorie burning or calories barfing?

Muscle toning or muscles screaming?

Cardio training or cardio attacking?

Joint friendly or joint’s snap, crackle and popping?

Knowing my luck, I’d climb all the way up to the “widow’s walk,” sit down, and then get the urge, only to climb back down to the “poop deck” – that is, if tugs had a poop deck.

Shout out to the mariners with the gluteus maximus on this Wicked Wednesday.

📸 by @eastriverkeeper

#Tugs #Tugboat #TugBoatLife #TugBoats #StairMaster taken in East River, New York City by @eastriverkeeper

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5 days ago

Happy Birthday, @USNavy!

Are ya one? Are ya two… Are ya 251 years old today!

You’ve come a long way since the Continental Congress gave birth on October 13, 1775, judging by these four Combatant Craft Assault (CCA) boats high-speeding it down NYC’s East River.

In the front cockpit of these insertion and exfiltration CCA speedboats, the Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen (SWCC) Teams operate the boats, “with a team of special operations personnel from the #NavySeals (or Marines) behind them… It’s light enough for Low-Velocity Airdrop into the sea, allowing U.S. naval special forces rapid insertion from anywhere in the world’s oceans… The ‘Deep Vee’ 41-foot monohull is constructed of High-Tech composites and hits speeds in excess of 40+ knots with a range of ~350 miles… It carries top-secret specialized gizmos or Combatant Craft Mission Equipment and armament.” — @navalnewscom 12-28-20.

But, nothing is ever that simple — all those gizmos can’t protect their bodies…

“Naval Special Warfare Command is not doing enough to protect SWCC members from traumatic brain injuries and musculoskeletal damage on small CCA boats, the Defense Department’s top watchdog agency found. A 16-page report, published March 30 by the Defense Department Inspector General, found the Navy has yet to implement recommended modifications and retrofits to make the boats safer despite documented injury risks due to the boat’s rigid hull slamming repeatedly against choppy waves and blast pressure from weapons firing.” — @navytimes_ 10-2-26.

Meet Anthony Smith on the last slides to read his story and his TBI research on his fellow “Dirty Boat Guys” (SWCC fast-boat operators) from @taskforcedagger, a nonprofit “supporting all service members and their families in the USSOC.”

For more unclassified info on CCAs, google: “USSOCOM + NavalNews + Photo Reveals” and on CCA TBI, google: “MEET ANTHONY SMITH + @taskforcedagger” or “Navy Times + TBI in service members.”

📸 by @eastriverkeeper (photos captured 8-5-25)

#NavyLife #TraumaticBrainInjury #SupportOurTroops #SupportOurVeterans taken in Roosevelt Island - New York City, New York by @eastriverkeeper

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6 days ago

“I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away…”

…And, if I’m working and fallin’ off the dock into the bay, this BRIDGE SAFETY boat would pull my soggy butt out of the East River before the tide rolls me away…

As reported in our trusted local news source, @rooseveltislander, on 9/17/26: “Work began on the long-delayed repair of Roosevelt Island Eleanor’s Pier on the East River waterfront. @rooseveltislandny expects the Pier to be open before next summer.”

Some have wondered about the BRIDGE SAFETY boat that sits in the rolling tide watching the dock during the construction. It’s an example of another boat we see on the NYC waterways. “A life-saving skiff or rescue boat is required for worksites on, near or over water,” according to @nyc_dot’s Safety Bulletin, Code SB-14-4, superseding SB-12-24, Subject: Working in Proximity to Water.

About the Pier: The pier we see today was first built in 1990 and was partially renovated in 2014 following Hurricane Sandy. “Eleanor’s Pier was opened many years before it was called Eleanor’s Pier. Originally built in the 19th century, the pier under the current pier was to be an abutment built to support the never completed Blackwell’s Island Bridge (now Queensboro Bridge moved further south) in an effort led by Dr. Thomas Rainey of Queens,” explained Judy Berdy, President of the @Roosevelt_Island_History Society.

Sorry boaters, before you ask, Eleanor’s Pier doesn’t serve as an authorized commercial or recreational boat dock. You could rip your cleats (and the pier’s railings) out with that mighty tidal strait current. To see the current in action, just watch a @nycferry land at the island’s terminal. Not even the @NYPD Harbor Unit ties up when they do their Starbucks coffee run (see the last three photos).

Before it was closed to the public, Eleanor’s Pier was a great spot to sit and watch the East River traffic, Manhattan Skyline, and sunset – all things you see on my Instagram page.

I’m looking forward to “just sittin’ on the dock of the bay, wastin’ time…”

📸🎥 by @eastriverkeeper

#ConstructionSafety #SafetyBoat #MarineSafety #MarineConstruction #Workboat taken in Roosevelt Island - New York City, New York by @eastriverkeeper

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7 days ago