EYES TO THE SKY November 14 – 27, 2016

If you’ve opened your Broadsheet between 5 a.m. and around 6:15 a.m. on the 14th, seize this moment to look to the west to be bowled over by the sight of the closest full moon in over half a century. Whether from a window or your favorite location for viewing sunsets that are slightly north...
Laurent Laveder, published August 7, 2014 by Sky & Telescope. Image courtesy SkyandTelescope.com

TODAY IN HISTORY November 11

1634 – Following pressure from Anglican bishop John Atherton, the Irish House of Commons passes “An Act for the Punishment for the Vice of Buggery”. 1640 – Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, impeached by the House of Lords on the evidence of John Pym, and imprisoned in the Tower of London; he was later executed....
John and Yoko

In Our Defense

For all its embrace of diversity, there is one population that is vanishingly scarce in Lower Manhattan: active duty U.S. military personnel. “There are probably about five of us,” reflects the U.S. Army’s Lieutenant Colonel Marci Miller, who lives in Battery Park City. “I know there are a few Coast Guard officers on active duty,...
Army Lieutenant Colonel Marci Miller and her daughter Jordan

TODAY IN HISTORY November 10

1202 – Fourth Crusade: Despite letters from Pope Innocent III forbidding it and threatening excommunication, Catholic crusaders begin a siege of Zara (now Zadar, Croatia). 1580 – After a three-day siege, the English Army beheads over 600 people, including papal soldiers and civilians, at Dún an Óir, Ireland. 1766 – The last colonial governor of...
The EDMUND FITZGERALD

National Thoughts

To the editors: Matthew Fenton’s editorial this morning is the best thing we have read since the election debacle. Thank you, Matthew, for writing such a hopeful, calming piece in the face of the unimaginable. It should be read by everyone. Sincerely, Brian and Carol Rogers ————————————————————————— Although Matthew comments were largely on point, the...

RiverWatch Red Hook Water Stories

PortSide NewYork, is a community of people on one part of New York harbor’s waterfront, and the dream of one woman, Carolina Salguero to keep local maritime history alive. She does that through her work on the Mary A. Whalen, a small oil tanker built and launched in Camden, New Jersey in 1938 for Ira...
Erie Basin, Red Hook c.1900, "Boating at Sunset" by Jenny Young Chandler, courtesy of the Henry Ford Museum