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65-803: The line is used to access the port at the Upper New York Bay , which lies east of those crossing the Northeast Corridor . It runs parallel to the New Jersey Turnpike Newark Bay Extension for most of its length and passes through a cut in the Hudson Palisades . It travels north-south on the east side of Bergen Hill and through a short tunnel crossing beneath the PATH rapid transit system. At its southern end trains cross Newark Bay over

130-470: A deadline extension on investigating cleanups. according to the NJ DEP, clean-up at Constable Hook has included excavation, stabilization, capping, and the capturing of ground water contamination and installation of steel wall containment systems. The controversial ExxonMobil-New Jersey environmental contamination settlement was made during the governorship of Chris Christie . Most of eastern Constable Hook

195-573: A large underwater reef on the New Jersey side of the harbor. The reef was historically one of the largest oyster beds in the world and provided a staple for the diet of all classes of citizens both locally and regionally until the end of the 19th century, when the beds succumbed to pollution. Historically, it has played an extremely important role in the commerce of the New York metropolitan area . The Statue of Liberty National Monument recalls

260-525: Is a cape located on the north side of the outlet of Kill van Kull into Upper New York Bay in Bayonne, New Jersey . The cape has long been an important site of marine transfer operations in the Port of New York and New Jersey . Just offshore, Robbins Reef Light serves to guide harbor traffic. Since the late 20th century, brownfields have been repurposed for recreational and commercial uses. Historically

325-544: Is a remnant of the extensive freight rail infrastructure that once dominated much of the Hudson County , its right of way a combination of routes originally developed by different companies. The name is taken from the National Docks Railway which maintained yards and a storage depot at Black Tom , an island in the Upper New York Bay that was greatly expanded by land reclamation and connected to

390-622: Is also known as Upper New York Bay , which is enclosed by the New York City boroughs of Manhattan , Brooklyn , and Staten Island and the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Jersey City and Bayonne . The name may also refer to the entirety of New York Bay including Lower New York Bay . The harbor is fed by the waters of the Hudson River (historically called the North River as it passes Manhattan ), as well as

455-550: Is approximately 50 feet deep in the midpoint of the harbor. A project to replace two water mains between Brooklyn and Staten Island, which will eventually allow for dredging of the channel to nearly 100 feet (30 m), was begun in April 2012. The harbor contains several islands including Governors Island , near the mouth of the East River, as well Ellis Island , Liberty Island , and Robbins Reef which are supported by

520-813: Is held that the Gambino crime family controlled the New York waterfront and the Genovese crime family controlled the New Jersey side. In 1984 the Teamsters local was put under Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) trusteeship, and in 2005 a similar suit was brought against the International Longshoremen's Association local. In March 2006, the Port passenger facility

585-409: Is much healthier than it was 30 years ago." The Port of New York and New Jersey is the largest oil importing port and third largest container port in the nation. The commercial activity of the port of New York City, including the waterfronts of the five boroughs and nearby cities in New Jersey, since 1921 has been formalized under a single bi-state Port Authority of New York and New Jersey . Since

650-771: Is now used by Hudson Bergen Light Rail . Upper New York Bay New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay and an extremely small portion of the Lower Bay . It is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York/New Jersey Bight near the East River tidal estuary , and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the East Coast of the United States . New York Harbor

715-733: Is still served by cruise lines , commuter ferries , and tourist excursion boats. Although most ferry service is private, the Staten Island Ferry is operated by the New York City Department of Transportation . Passenger ship facilities are New York Passenger Ship Terminal , the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal at Red Hook , and MOTBY at Bayonne . 40°40′06″N 74°02′44″W  /  40.66833°N 74.04556°W  / 40.66833; -74.04556 Constable Hook Constable Hook

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780-476: Is the U.S. Customs "green lane" program, in which trusted shippers have fewer containers inspected, providing easier access for contraband material. The water quality in New York Harbor has been affected by centuries of shipping activity, industrial development and urbanization . Water pollution from these sources has been a constant phenomenon, although there have been improvements in some areas of

845-477: The Bayonne refinery strikes of 1915–1916 workers at the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey went on strike over wages and union organization. Bayonne police battled the strikers causing the death of one striker. A week later, on July 22, a riot broke out as gunfire would take the lives of four more men, one as young as 19, and injuring many others, one as young as twelve. A second strike would occur

910-775: The Gowanus Canal . It is connected to Lower New York Bay by the Narrows , to Newark Bay by the Kill Van Kull , and to Long Island Sound by the East River , which, despite its name, is actually a tidal strait . It provides the main passage for the waters of the Hudson River as it empties through the Narrows. The channel of the Hudson as it passes through the harbor is called the Anchorage Channel and

975-697: The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad , the forerunner of the Port Authority Trans Hudson , opened a tunnel under the PRR right of way from its Exchange Place terminal . It emerges in the yard and passes over what is now known as the Waldo Tunnel . The New Jersey Junction Railroad later became part of Conrail 's River Line until it was abandoned, and the right of way in Hoboken and Weehawken

1040-965: The Lehigh Valley Railroad Bridge to the Oak Island Yard in Newark . At is northern end the line travels through Bergen Hill via the Long Dock Tunnel and after passing under Tonnelle Avenue junctions with the Northern Running Track . At North Bergen Yard , the line becomes the River Subdivision . It is an alternate, or secondary, route to the Passaic and Harsimus Line across the Kearny Meadows for trains passing through

1105-561: The Port of New York and New Jersey . The National Docks Secondary is an integral component in the anticipated expansion of the Liberty Corridor and Cross Harbor Freight Movement projects, including the intermodal container transhipment operations on the west side of the Upper New York Bay in the Port of New York and New Jersey . To that end, as of 2010, the track is being restored, tunnel clearances increased, and redundant overhead bridges removed to allow double stacking of

1170-672: The 1950s, the New York and Brooklyn commercial port has been almost completely eclipsed by the container ship facility at nearby Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal in Newark Bay , which is the largest such port on the Eastern Seaboard . The port has diminished in importance to passenger travel, but the Port Authority operates all three major airports, La Guardia (built 1939) and JFK/Idlewild (built 1948) in New York, and Newark (built 1928) in New Jersey. The harbor

1235-631: The 1980s. It is surrounded by property owned by IMTT and is also maintained by the company. The industrial Port Johnson area is located in the southwestern portion of Constable Hook. In 1864, after building a railroad bridge over Newark Bay , the Central Railroad of New Jersey laid railroad tracks through Bayonne into Constable Hook. After the American Civil War , they built the Port Johnston Coal Docks , at

1300-759: The 450-foot (140 m) long tunnel under Pennsylvania's Waldo Avenue yards had cost $ 750,000, twice what had been projected. The Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR) initially reached its terminal on the Morris Canal Basin over the Central Railroad's line and later obtained trackage rights on the National Docks Railway. To protect access to its terminal, the LVRR acquired a half-interest in the National Docks in 1890. In 1891,

1365-684: The German navy's Operation Drumbeat set the top U-boat aces loose against the merchant fleet in U.S. territorial waters in January 1942, starting the Second happy time . The U-boat captains were able to silhouette target ships against the glow of city lights, and attacked with relative impunity, in spite of U.S. naval concentrations within the Harbor. Casualties included the tankers Coimbria off Sandy Hook and Norness off Long Island. New York Harbor, as

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1430-499: The Harbor and explored a stretch of the river that now bears his name. His journey prompted others to explore the region and engage in trade with the local population. The first permanent European settlement was started on Governors Island in 1624, and in Brooklyn eight years after that; soon these were connected by ferry operation. The colonial Dutch Director-General of New Netherland , Peter Stuyvesant , ordered construction of

1495-686: The LVRR consolidated its other holdings in northeastern New Jersey to form the Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway , and it began running a route on a bridge over Newark Bay in 1892. In 1897, another consolidation took place with the merger of the National Docks Railway Company, New Jersey Junction Connecting Railway Company, the Kill von Kull Railway , and Bay Creek Railway , the latter two being short lines running south to Bayonne . The merged company

1560-662: The NYC's West Shore Railroad at National Junction. The line consisted of the New Jersey Junction Railroad and the National Docks and New-Jersey Junction Connecting Railroad , with the National Docks Railway coming under the control of the NYC. It was now the Pennsylvania's turn to protest against the crossing of its property, and a costly " frog war " ensued. When it was finally completed in 1897,

1625-464: The Narrows , the strait between Staten Island and Long Island that connects the Upper and Lower New York Bay , where he received a canoe party of Lenape. A party of his sailors may have taken on fresh water at a spring called "the watering place" on Staten Island—a monument stands in a tiny park on the corner of Bay Street and Victory Boulevard at the approximate spot—but Verrazzano's descriptions of

1690-722: The Pennsylvania Railroad. The line was subsequently extended as the Bergen Neck Railroad to Constable Hook in Bayonne where Standard Oil had additional facilities. In 1891, the Bergen Neck Railroad and the National Docks Railway were consolidated. Six years after its initial construction, Standard Oil reached an agreement in 1889 with the New York Central Railroad (NYC) to connect the National Docks Railway with

1755-616: The Staten Island shore. Liberty State Park opened in 1976. In recent years, it has become a popular site for recreation sailing and kayaking . The harbor is traversed by the Staten Island Ferry , which runs between Whitehall Street at the southernmost tip of Manhattan near Battery Park ( South Ferry ) and St. George Ferry Terminal on Richmond Terrace in Staten Island near Richmond County Borough Hall and Richmond County Supreme Court. NY Waterway operates routes across

1820-666: The amusement parks in Coney Island , Brooklyn , and the Coney Island Light , and Sandy Hook Lighthouse . The Harbor reached its peak activity in March 1943 during World War II, with 543 ships at anchor awaiting assignment to convoy or berthing (with as many as 426 seagoing vessel already at one of the 750 piers or docks). Eleven hundred warehouses with nearly 1.5 square miles (3.9 km ) of enclosed space served freight along with 575 tugboats and 39 active shipyards ,

1885-450: The bay and through The Narrows to locations near Sandy Hook . The harbor supports a very diverse population of marine species, allowing for recreational fishing, most commonly for striped bass and bluefish. The original population of the 16th century New York Harbor, the Lenape , used the waterways for fishing and travel. In 1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano anchored in what is now called

1950-507: The first American drydock was completed on the East River. Because of its location and depth, the Port grew rapidly with the introduction of steamships ; and then with the completion in 1825 of the Erie Canal New York became the most important transshipping port between Europe and the interior of the United States, as well as coastwise destinations. By about 1840, more passengers and a greater tonnage of cargo came through

2015-578: The first engineer in chief. By the turn of the 20th century numerous railroad terminals lined the western banks of the North River (Hudson River) in Hudson County, New Jersey , transporting passengers and freight from all over the United States. The freight was ferried across by the competing railroads with small fleets of towboats , barges, and 323 car floats , specially designed barges with rails so cars could be rolled on. New York subsidized this service which undercut rival ports. Major road improvements allowing for trucking and containerization diminished

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2080-399: The first time: I have never seen the bay of Naples , I can therefore make no comparison, but my imagination is incapable of conceiving any thing of the kind more beautiful than the harbour of New York. Various and lovely are the objects which meet the eye on every side, but the naming them would only be to give a list of words, without conveying the faintest idea of the scene. I doubt if ever

2145-571: The first wharf on the Manhattan bank of the lower East River sheltered from winds and ice, which was completed late in 1648 and called Schreyers Hook Dock (near what is now Pearl and Broad Streets). This prepared New York as a leading port for the British colonies and then within the newly independent United States . In 1686, the British colonial officials gave the municipality control over

2210-413: The following year. On October 10, a riot broke out that left three policeman and several strikes injured. As the riots continued in the streets, police and strikers traded gunfire and one woman was killed. The strike ended on October 19 as the strikers returned to work and Standard Oil agreed to give everyone a raise. The 600 acres (240 ha) facilities of IMTT are located at the southeastern portion of

2275-432: The geography of the area are a bit ambiguous. It is fairly firmly held by historians that his ship anchored at the approximate location of the modern Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge 's approach viaduct in Brooklyn. He also observed what he believed to be a large freshwater lake to the north (apparently Upper New York Bay). He apparently did not travel north to observe the existence of the Hudson River. In 1609 Henry Hudson entered

2340-577: The harbor complex in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. A 2019 study of the harbor identifies water quality trends in nine regions of the harbor, using data collected during 1996 to 2017. The Lower New York Bay region has the highest quality, due to frequent exchange of water with the Atlantic Ocean. The poorest regions are those with limited exchange of water flows: Newtown Creek , Flushing Bay and Jamaica Bay . High levels of nutrient pollution (nitrogen and phosphorus) were observed throughout

2405-472: The harbor even at slack tide. Gedney's Channel, as it came to be called, was also shorter than the previous channel, another benefit appreciated by the ship owners and the merchants they sold to. Gedney received the praise of the city, as well as an expensive silver service . In her 1832 book Domestic Manners of the Americans , Fanny Trollope wrote of her impressions upon entering New York Harbor for

2470-427: The high-cube containers increasingly favored for intermodal transportation. The line will connect with ExpressRail Port Jersey, a ship-to-rail container transfer operation, planned to open in 2014, and to the planned new post-Panamax container terminal at MOTBY . As of June 2018, the crossing Chapel Avenue was updated and expanded at and siding tracks added between Linden Avenue and Liberty State Park . The line

2535-525: The hook. and were sold it to Macquarie Infrastructure Company in 2014. Exxon is responsible for clean-up of environmental damage caused by oil facilities, and has been the subject of extended litigation. As of 2015, Exxon has completed a soil investigation at the 324-acre terminal. It has until May 7, 2016, to finish its groundwater investigation under a bill passed unanimously by the New Jersey Legislature in late 2013 that gave polluters

2600-455: The huge sandbar, which was interrupted in a number of places by channels of fairly shallow depth: 21 feet (6.4 m) at low tide and 33 feet (10 m) at high tide. Because of the difficulty of the navigation required, since 1694, New York had required all ships to be guided into the harbor by an experienced pilot. The new channel Gedney discovered was 2 feet (0.61 m) deeper, enough of an added margin that fully laden ships could come into

2665-582: The immigrant experience during the late 19th and early 20th century. Since the 1950s, container ship traffic has been primarily routed through the Kill Van Kull to Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal , where it is consolidated for easier automated transfer to land conveyance. As a consequence, the waterfront industries of the Harbor experienced a decline leading to diverse plans for revitalization, though important maritime uses remain at Red Hook , Port Jersey , MOTBY , Constable Hook , and parts of

National Docks Secondary - Misplaced Pages Continue

2730-473: The land. The first settler is believed to be Pieter Van Buskirk (Boskerck). Born around January 1, 1665, Van Buskirk built a stone house overlooking Upper New York Bay on Constable Hook at what became known as Van Buskirk's Point around the year 1700. Van Buskirk started a small family cemetery next to his house in 1736. His wife, Tryntje died on October 31 of that year and was buried in the cemetery. Pieter Van Buskirk died two years later on July 20, 1738 and

2795-469: The largest being Brooklyn Navy Yard . With a large inventory of heavy equipment, this made New York Harbor the busiest in the world. Deterrence and investigation of criminal activity, especially relating to organized crime, is the responsibility of the bi-state Waterfront Commission . The commission was set up in 1953 (a year before the movie On the Waterfront ), to combat labor racketeering . It

2860-588: The major convoy embarkation point for the U.S., was effectively a staging area in the Battle of the Atlantic , with the U.S. Merchant Marine losses of 1 of 26 mariners, a rate exceeding those of the other U.S. forces. Bright city lights made it easier for German U-boats to spot targets at night, but local officials resisted suggestions that they follow London 's lead and blackout the lights of coastal cities. However, some lights were darkened, including those of

2925-427: The nearby main port of entry at Ellis Island processed 12 million arrivals from 1892 to 1954. The Statue of Liberty National Monument , encompassing both islands, recalls the period of massive immigration to the United States at the turn of the 20th century While many stayed in the region, others spread across America, with more than 10 million leaving from the nearby Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal . After

2990-400: The need. The harbor saw major federal investment at the end of the century when Congress passed the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 . Over $ 1.2 million of initial funding was appropriated for the dredging of 40-foot-deep (12.2 m) channels at Bay Ridge , Red Hook , and Sandy Hook . The Statue of Liberty ( Liberty Enlightening the World ) stands on Liberty Island in the harbor, while

3055-440: The north of Caven Point by a long causeway . The line was built during an era of tremendous growth along the west shores of the bay and the North River (Hudson River) , fueled by competing railroads wishing to gain access to the harbor to develop shipping and carfloat operations as well as intermodal passenger transport terminals. The complex history of the line reflects the shifting alliances between competing railroads in

3120-411: The pencil of Turner could do it justice, bright and glorious as it rose upon us. We seemed to enter the harbour of New York upon waves of liquid gold, and as we darted past the green isles which rise from its bosom, like guardian centinels of the fair city, the setting sun stretched his horizontal beams farther and farther at each moment, as if to point out to us some new glory in the landscape. In 1824

3185-469: The port of New York than all other major harbors in the country combined and by 1900 it was one of the great international ports. The Morris Canal carried anthracite and freight from Pennsylvania through New Jersey to its terminus at the mouth of the Hudson in Jersey City . Portions in the harbor are now part of Liberty State Park . In 1870, the city established the Department of Docks to systematize waterfront development, with George B. McClellan as

3250-417: The property of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and the Central strongly objected to the condemnation of its land for the benefit of its competitor. After an extended legal battle, the National Docks won a surprise concession in 1882 from the Jersey City aldermen to build an elevated track between the junction with the PRR and the oil docks, and the line was quickly constructed and opened in 1883, operated by

3315-438: The region. The National Storage Company was an arm of Standard Oil , which constructed storage and lighterage facilities on Black Tom Island and the Communipaw shoreline in 1876. Standard Oil had a contract with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) for transporting oil, but the railroad's charter prevented it from extending a line from its cut through Bergen Hill to the National Storage facility. The National Storage Company

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3380-406: The term Constable Hook was used more broadly to be synonymous with Bergen Point as defining the southern extent of Bergen Neck and of Bergen Township when established in 1693. On March 15, 1861, the New Jersey Legislature approved unification of Constable Hook along with Bergen Point, Centerville and Salterville into the Township of Bayonne. Three weeks later the Charter for the City of Bayonne

3445-551: The time the largest coal port in the world. Many Irish immigrants took jobs with the railroad living in Constable Hook. So many Irish had moved there that the residents of Bayonne referred to the area as "Irishtown." On July 26, 1877, the first full scale strike occurred in Bayonne at the Port Johnston Coal Docks when workers walked off the job. Port Johnston was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Italian soldiers during WW2. In 1872, John D. Rockefeller 's Standard Oil bought 176 acres of land on Constable Hook, and by 1885 there

3510-422: The various harbor regions, although there has been a general lowering trend in total nitrogen, and some other indicator parameters show improvements. The implementation of the Clean Water Act and related pollution control laws, along with cleanup programs and conservation measures throughout the region, have begun to yield some improvements since the 1970s. The study authors state that "the New York Harbor ecosystem

3575-418: The war, the 1919 New York City Harbor Strike by the Marine Workers Union shut down the port for weeks. It started on January 9 and was paused on January 13 for arbitration. The strike resumed March 4 after workers rejected the War Board labor ruling and ended on April 20, 1919 after new terms had been offered by both public and private port employers. After the United States entered World War II ,

3640-405: The waterfront. In 1835, Lieutenant Thomas Gedney of the Survey of the Coast (renamed the United States Coast Survey in 1836 and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878) discovered a new, deeper channel through the Narrows into New York Harbor. Previously, the passage was complex and shallow enough that loaded ships would wait outside the harbor until high tide, to avoid running into

3705-491: Was a pipeline connecting it to the field of Texas. Three years later, Prentice Oil Company was also established at Constable Hook. This company was later sold to a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad called Empire Transportation Company , a competitor of Standard Oil. Other oil companies like Tidewater and Ocean Oil also built refineries on Constable Hook. The oil companies attracted Hungarian, Czech and Slovakian immigrants from Eastern Europe. The Van Buskirk farmhouse

3770-458: Was also buried in the cemetery. In 1798, Van Buskirk descendants sold a portion of Constable Hook to the Hazard Powder Co. that built a factory and dock. During the War of 1812 , the Hazard Powder Co. factory produced gunpowder for the U.S. Navy and for fortifications in and around New York harbor. In 1854 James J. Van Buskirk (1791–1856), wrote a will and mentioned 2 acres (8,100 m ) of his land situated at Constable Hook off East 22 Street

3835-461: Was demolished in 1906 by the Standard Oil Company, which owned the land and were expanding their refinery. Standard Oil has now refurbished the cemetery. On July 4, 1900, a fire broke out in the Standard Oil refinery. It started when lightning caused a number of the large oil tanks to explode. Flaming oil spread out into New York Bay. It took three days to extinguish the fire that in the end caused $ 2.5 million in damages yet only nine injuries. During

3900-432: Was known as the National Docks Railway. Much of the company was eventually absorbed by the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1898. By 1900, the LVRR had full ownership of the line to its terminal at the mouth of the Hudson. Under the direction of the LVRR, the National Docks Railway remained an important connecting line along the Hudson Waterfront , handling traffic for the Erie , New York Central , and Pennsylvania . In 1911,

3965-411: Was signed by Governor Charles S. Olden . In 1646, the Dutch West India Company , under the leadership of Director-General William Kieft , gave a land grant to Jacob Jacobsen Roy who was a chief gunner or constable in Fort Amsterdam in New Amsterdam . the capital of New Netherland . The area, "Konstapel's Hoeck" in Dutch, takes its name from Roy's title. Roy, however, never cultivated or settled on

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4030-469: Was the 20th century Bayonne city dump, and now belongs to the Bayonne Golf Club, including a recreated lighthouse on the highest hill on the cape, serving as its clubhouse. The north end has South Cove Commons, a late 20th-century shopping mall off Route 440, and a public shoreside nature walk east of there, affording views of tidal mudflats , the former Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne , and New York Harbor. The Hudson River Waterfront Walkway runs along

4095-405: Was thus compelled to use the Central Railroad of New Jersey , which had tracks adjacent to the Black Tom facility. To circumvent the restrictions on the Pennsylvania Railroad's charter, Standard Oil and the Pennsylvania colluded in 1879 to create the National Docks Railway Company, connecting the National Storage facilities directly to the Pennsylvania line. The line would of necessity run through

4160-406: Was to be reserved for a cemetery. The cemetery was not opened until December 1854 and plots in the cemetery were sold soon after. The official name of the cemetery is not known, but it was often referred to in documents as "Hook Cemetery", "Bayonne Cemetery", "Constable Hook", and is known as the " Bayonne Constable Hook Cemetery ". The remaining parts of the cemetery underwent a restoration project of

4225-465: Was to be transferred to Dubai Ports World . There was considerable security controversy over the ownership by a foreign corporation, particularly Arabic, of a U.S. port operation, this in spite of the fact the current operator was the British-based P&O Ports , and the fact that Orient Overseas Investment Limited , a company dominated by a Chinese Communist official, has the operating contract for Howland Hook Marine Terminal . An additional concern

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