Retired New York City fireboat John J.
Harvey has been recognized as a national treasure with a
$165,000 “Save America’s Treasures” matching grant from the National
Trust for Historic Preservation. The grant will be used to make urgent
repairs needed to stabilize the fireboat. The nonprofit Save Our Ships
New York needs to raise funds for the match. Make a donation at 
Have you ever wondered what it would take to bring an 1887
tugboat back to life? Eric Fischer, who has been restoring the railroad
tug New York Central 13 since 2002, gives all the
gritty details on his photoblog. 
Hudson River Park Pier 25
has opened as the
PortSide New York’s 
Historic Ship Festival Draws 1,000 to Hudson River Park Pier 25
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| Guests on the deck of the John J. Harvey at Hudson River Park Pier 25 await the first river trip of the day, as Lehigh Valley Barge # 79 opens its museum and the 104-year-old tug Pegasus prepares to get underway with guests aboard. Photo by Mai Armstrong. |
Beautiful weather and the chance to explore historic ships and take trips on an ancient tug and fireboat brought approximately 1,000 visitors to the four-day North River Historic Ship Festival in Lower Manhattan, July 28 through 31, 2011.
The festival took place at Hudson River Park Pier 25, the first park pier to offer long-term dockage to historic vessels. The North River Historic Ship Society and the Friends of Hudson River Park sponsored the event.
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| The North River Historic Ship Festival July 28 - 31, 2011. Photo by Milo Hess. |
Participating vessels included the Steamer Lilac, Tug Pegasus, Fireboat John J. Harvey, and the barge Lehigh Valley Railroad Barge No. 79.
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| The Steamer Lilac, one of the ships at the festival. Photo by Betsy Frawley Haggerty. |
The 173-foot former Coast Guard Lighthouse Tender Lilac, was built in 1933 and is the last remaining steamship in the Coast Guard fleet. Lilac, which now makes her home at Pier 25, was open for free dockside tours, photography exhibits and an evening party featuring live music by the Coast Guard Auxiliary Band Flotilla 22-7, followed by the acoustic duo Evanescent.
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| U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 22-7 Band plays aboard Lilac at Pier 25. Photo by Betsy Frawley Haggerty. |
The 103-year-old tug Pegasus, who spent her long career towing barges and docking ships in New York Harbor, offered both dockside tours and free educational river trips to more than 200 people.
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| Tug Pegasus underway on the Hudson. Photo by Mai Armstrong. |
Retired NYC fireboat John J. Harvey, built in 1931, did water displays while more than 240 adults and children were aboard during free Hudson River trips throughout the day.
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Fireboat John J. Harvey doing a water display.
Photo by Mitch Waxman.
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Lehigh Valley Railroad Barge No. 79, which was built in 1914 and is the only surviving wooden railroad barge of its type afloat, hosted the opening night party, dockside tours on Friday and Saturday, and circus performances on Sunday.
Lehigh Valley Barge No. 79 docked at Pier 25 Hudson River Park. Photo by Mai Armstrong.
The festival kicked off with an opening night party aboard the Lehigh Valley Barge #79 featuring world renowned author and ocean-liner lecturer Bill Miller, who delighted the crowd with tales of the heyday of ocean-liners arriving and departing from the Hudson River piers.
Bill Miller, "Mr. Ocean Liner." Photo by Mitch Waxman.
Sunday brought CIRCUSunday on the SHOWBOAT aboard the Lehigh Valley Barge No. 79, with two sell-out performances featuring circus magic by the Grand Falloons, stilt-walking and tricks from the Bond Street Theatre, and Serious Foolishness by Captain David Sharps.
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| CIRCUSunday on the barge: Serious Foolishness by Captain David Sharps. Photo by Etienne Frossard. |