PortSide NewYork,
New York City Economic Development Corporation
and
 Manhattan by Sail, Inc. offer free sails on
Clipper City tall ship

 Come sail USA’s largest passenger sailing vessel
out of Atlantic Basin, Red Hook!

PortSide NewYork, New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), and Manhattan By Sail Inc. are making available 550 free tickets for sails on the Clipper City Tall Ship, a 158’ long topsail schooner from Pier 11, Atlantic Basin in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

The Clipper City Tall Ship will depart from Pier 11, Atlantic Basin, next to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. The ship can take up to 145 passengers at a time.  Rides are about one and a half hours long and will depart on the following days and times:

Fri 4/30 10:00 a.m.
Sat 5/1  10:00 a.m.
Fri  5/7  10:00 a.m.
Sat 5/8  10:00 a.m.

Directions at www.portsidenewyork.org/PortSideDirectionstoAtlanticBasin.pdf

Note: cars enter at Bowne + Imlay Street. Pedestrians can enter there or gate at Pioneer + Conover Streets.

The closest bus stop on the B61 is at Van Brunt and Verona. Keep walking south to Pioneer (Kevin's, who is opening early to provide coffee, cinnamon buns and fruit from 9AM and a Clipper City Brunch special after the sail, is across Van Brunt) and turn right at Pioneer.

If you know someone who does not use the web and who wants a ticket, physical tickets are available beginning on Friday, April 16, 2010 at the office of Brooklyn Community Board 6 (250 Baltic Street, between Court Street and Clinton Street) from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday to Friday. Tickets are limited to two per person there and on this website.

Tickets at Community Board 6 that have not been picked up 3 days before the sail, will become available on line.

The remaining tickets have been given to local senior centers, community organizations, and representatives of public housing tenants for distribution.

About the Tall Ship Clipper City: 

The Clipper City came to New York City’s Pier 17, South Street Seaport from Baltimore in 2009, and is the newest addition to the Manhattan By Sail historic fleet of traditional sailing vessels.  She is a steel replica of an 1854 wooden cargo schooner built from the original plans in the Smithsonian Institution and is licensed for 144 passengers.

"We are excited about bringing the largest passenger sailboat in the United States to Red Hook,” said Carolina Salguero, PortSide NewYork’s Director. “PortSide is working to animate NYC’s Bluespace, and our local goal is to bring more boats, visitors and economic activity to Atlantic Basin. The Clipper City does this majestically!”  More about PortSide NewYork at www.portsidenewyork.org

"Reactivating the Atlantic Basin and creating opportunities for public programming in Red Hook are part of our ongoing efforts to balance community needs with access to New York City’s working waterfront,” said NYCEDC President Seth W. Pinsky. “By providing tickets for the Clipper City to Red Hook residents, we are making good on our promise to bring additional public programming to this underserved area.”

“This is just the beginning,” said Tom Berton, a NYC native and President of Manhattan by Sail on its new partnership with PortSide, NYC Economic Development Corporation and the Port Authority. “My first sailing experience, in 4^th Grade, was a P.S. 3 class trip on the Clearwater Hudson River Sloop with Pete Seeger singing songs to us kids as we raised sail. It’s exciting that in addition to our commercial harbor cruise operations, the Clipper City traditional tall ship sailing programs will now enrich the lives of New York schoolchildren and community-based groups.”