Welcome Home, Intrepid!The beloved floating museum returned to Manhattan today, and some photographer snuck into an important person’s office to take a picture of it.
Amateur Submarining in East River? NYPD, Coast Guard Say No
It is, as we’ve already made clear, a day to be by the water — or, even better, in it. But might we suggest you not attempt to go in the water by building a homemade submarine and launching you Cousteauian adventure in the East River near the Queen Mary 2, which is docked off Red Hook? “Several men are being questioned by police after being stopped apparently attempting to set sail off Brooklyn in a makeshift submarine-type vessel,” reports WABC-TV. WCBS-TV says three people were escorted from the area by police, the captain was issued a Coast Guard violation, and — here’s the best part — “the vessel bears a striking resemblance to the ‘Bushnell Turtle,’ the first American submarine, invented around 1775 in Connecticut by David Bushnell.” So remember, kids: No revolutionary-era subs near the big cruise ships. Okay?
Makeshift Submarine Found in East River [WABC]
Odd Replica Sub Intercepted Near Queen Mary II [WCBS]
Adventures With an Egg [Flickr via Gothamist]
photo op
Oil and Water
One advantage of that flooding that’s bound to overtake New York? Deeper waters will presumably make it all the more difficult for oil tankers to run aground off Coney Island, as this one, the White Sea, did this morning. (Reportedly no oil was spilled.) See, a benefit to global warming: It’ll make it easier to import oil. Perfect!
Oil Tanker Runs Aground Off Coney Island [AP via Crain’s]
the morning line
New Jersey and You: Skinnier Together
• Channel 7 is back on the air after a Sunday-night fire at its Upper West Side headquarters forced the staff to flee the studio. No victims, but the Live With Regis and Kelly set is kaput. [NYDN]
• It doesn’t take extraordinary political perception to guess that Governor Spitzer and the Senate majority leader Joe Bruno hate each other; leave it to the Times, however, to treat it as an odd-couple comedy setup: “Mr. Spitzer’s eyes pierce. Mr. Bruno’s wink.” [NYT]
• The Circle Line, which runs ferries to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, has unveiled a noiseless electric vessel complete with a “solar sail.” It will be operational in a year and a half, provided the whole green vogue doesn’t blow over. [AP via WCAX]
• New Jersey is launching an Office of Nutrition and Fitness, the nation’s first; the Garden State leads the nation in obese children under 5 (a stunning 17.7 percent). [NYP]
• And who’s paying for the slimming of N.J. kids? Well, maybe you: Governor Corzine is considering a tax hike that will put the end to the state’s famously low gas prices and institute more toll roads. [amNY]
photo op
The Fleet Is In
The USS Wasp passing the Statue of Liberty earlier today. We’ll spare you the obvious joke about our being down by the piers if you need us.
in other news
It’s Fleet Week
One problem with announcing Fleet Week is that it’s nearly impossible to say “Welcome, sailors” without sounding at least a bit like Mae West. So far today, only a New York Sun editorial made it work, by going off on a ridiculous tangent about Iraq and how, despite “a variety of views about the war,” we’re not going to call the guests babykillers. (Um, yes. Agreed.) Well, the boysships are coming in right about now. Starting tomorrow, there’ll be the usual assortment of slightly quaint official events (a Navy band at the Times Square recruitment station! Camouflage face-painting in Riverside Park!) and the less official, though no less sanctified, nighttime revelry. Mostly, though, we were intrigued by the bizarre names of the ships set to arrive here, which just reminded us how little we know of the naval life. On parade today will be the USS Wasp, the USS Winston Churchill (we hope the Royal Navy has an HMS Dwight Eisenhower), and the USS Hue City. We hope that last one gets along with the USS Wasp.
Navy Week Events Schedule [PDF]
Welcome, Sailors [NYS]
photo op
Youth, Weather Wasted on the Young
Could there be a better day to take your boat for a walk? Students at Eugene Lang College the New School for Liberal Arts spent all semester building a boat they christened this morning. They built the Quixotic near Union Square and then pushed it west to Pier 40 (shown here on West 11 Street crossing Sixth Avenue). Ain’t the liberal arts grand?
