The Tugboat Graveyard

On the shores of Staten Island, old, derelict ships lay rusting and decaying, succumbing to the ravages of time and tide. It has been called the "Tug Boat Graveyard" - part salvage yard, part junk yard. Retired tug boats, ferries, fire boats and other vessels await their fate. Some are cut up by salvage crews, some simply rust away and sink into the water.

Easter in the Park

After a little morning fog burned off, Easter Sunday turned out to be the perfect day for a little walk in the park. I started out at Gantry State Park in Long Island City, overlooking Manhattan.



One of the gantry cranes that gives the park its name. They were used to load and unload barges that moved train cars across the East River onto Long Island.


From there, it was in to Central Park. With warm, sunny weather on a holiday afternoon, it seemed like half of New York was in the park.


The street (park?) musicians were out in full force.


This little guy showed off impressive hand-eye coordination.


And we were even treated to some classical music.


NYPD responding in Central Park? Detectives Briscoe and Greene can't be far behind!

Boys and Their Toys

Some may say it's just guys playing with kids' toys, but the quality of craftsmanship on display at the MosquitoCon plastic model show would belie that. This annual show is sponsored by our neighboring chapter to the west, New Jersey IPMS. In nearly two decades, the show has grown to some 400 models on display, and a room full of vendors selling all manner of modeling paraphernalia. Another fine job by Big Bill and his club members!







The contest judges hard at work.

Signs of Spring

Finally on Thursday, the rains stopped, and the sun came out. It wasn't a perfect sunset, there were too many clouds for that, but what we were treated to was some beautiful color in those clouds, and that merited a run up to Bayville to enjoy it. And in the spirit of Census Day, I counted two people walking along the beach...



More warm weather on Friday had one thinking thoughts of Spring. This guy got his big, bad Chevy out for a little exercise. Don't worry, he wasn't really doing 95 mph through Glen Cove (not that you could get that kind of speed out of a Chevy anyway...) It's just a little fun with Photoshop.

Happy Census Day!

Did you return your Census form yet? April 1 is designated "Census Day". This is the official reference date used by the US Census Bureau to determine the count of the nation's population. Census information is used to apportion Congressional districts, and to distribute more than $400 billion in federal funds annually. Your information is confidential, and 10 minutes is all you need to complete the form and drop it in the mail.