03 August 2002

Historic fireboat visits Rockland

by Khurram Saeed

STONY POINT - The historic New York City fireboat that was brought back into service after the Sept. 11 attacks made its entrance into Rockland yesterday beneath parabolas of water shooting from its brass cannons.

Arcs of water more than 200 feet high rose from the red, 70-year-old John J. Harvey, leaving behind white streams to glisten in the afternoon sun.

Stationed at Panco Petroleum's dock in Grassy Point, the boat was opened to the public for a free tour. The crew also took about 100 spectators for 30-minute ride on the river, dousing many of them when it fired its water cannons.

"I loved it," said Anthony Fox, a 13-year-old from Stony Point who toured the 130-foot John J. Harvey with his family. "It's just amazing to see it's still working like that."

Fox's mother, Karen, agreed.

"It was a once in a lifetime experience to take a ride on that boat," she said. "It was a great way to spend a summer afternoon."

This is the second year the boat has toured the Hudson River, although this was the first time it stopped in Rockland. After leaving Stony Point in the afternoon, the boat spent the night in Piermont. Last week, it was at Bear Mountain.

Since last Tuesday, the fireboat has been touring the Hudson, making stops in Albany, Hudson, Kingston, Poughkeepsie and Troy. It concludes its 10-city tour today in Yonkers.

The John J. Harvey was built as America's first modern fireboat in 1931 for the New York Fire Department. It was named for John J. Harvey, an FDNY pilot of the steam fireboat Thomas Willett, which was assigned to Engine Company 86 at Bloomfield Street in Manhattan's West Village.

The Harvey's brass water cannons can still pump 18,000 gallons per minute, which is enough to shoot water over the George Washington Bridge's roadway.

The boat was retired in 1994 and declared scrap. In 1999, a group of eight people, including Chase Welles of Nyack, bought it at auction and has since transformed it to a floating classroom.

Eric Weisler, a New City resident and one of the boat's 14 owners, said one of the reasons to take the boat on tour was so people could appreciate its rich tradition and historical design.

"I hope people look at it and say, 'What a majestic sight,' " Weisler said of the boat, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Carter Craft, program director for the John J. Harvey, said the boat's other mission was to promote new investments in marinas and docks along the Hudson. He said $100 million in federal funds was available for waterfront improvements, but that New York received only 2 percent despite the fact that it carries half of the country's ferry passengers.

"We're trying to draw attention to the fact that there aren't many places along the Hudson for great ships like this to visit," Craft said.

The historic boat also has a children's book written about it, titled "Fireboat, The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey," by Maira Kalman.

Although the John J. Harvey has been out of service for eight years, it was called into action Sept. 11. Not only did it help evacuate some 150 people trapped at the sea wall near the Battery, but it also played a critical role in pumping water to fight fires at the World Trade Center until midnight that Friday.

Stony Point resident Kevin Huslinger, 14, said he was very impressed with the boat's performance despite its age.

"What it did," Huslinger said, "is incredible for an antique."

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