Heartbeats in the Muck

by John Waldman

Book Overview

An intimate look at New York Harbor's incredible arc of history, from pristine animal abundances to the suffocation of marine life, and ultimately to an ongoing but surprisingly hopeful recovery.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558217207
• ISBN13: 9781558217201
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

An overlooked topic finally examined

Perhaps not as much as it used to, New York City has always been dependent on its waterways. From the get-go in the early 17th Century, it was a port city. However, no sooner did development expand the city when the East and Hudson Rivers became sewers, dumping grounds for tanners, chandlers, and dyers. By the late 19th Century, the pollution extended all the way out to the Harbor, the Narrows, and then the Atlantic. John Waldman's HEARTBEATS IN THE MUCK traces this sad history and then, to the surprise of many readers, describes the comeback staged by these waterways.In a way, this book is quite inspirational, in as much as that it gives the reader hope that, when confronted with an ecological crisis, local and state governments can and will intervene, even if it needs to be put under pressure. Villains abound, but so do heroes, and the anecdotes about local seafarers do more than just entertain; they make you proud of them for their determination. Lastly, even to the most seasoned New Yorker, this little tome will provide information about his/her city's remarkably complex network of rivers, streams, "kills", and canals. Having grown up near the Gowanus Canal, I remember how awful it smelled even on good days. Now, it is so clean, it seems strange. In any event, Mr. Waldman deserves a great deal of credit for his dogged research and his sea legs.

New York Harbor Survives

There hasn't been such an intimate look at New York Harbor sinceJoseph Mitchell's classic "The Bottom of the Harbor". JohnWaldman captures the mystique and dark romance known only to a fewNew York bayman. Readers will become familiar with New York eventslike "Floaters week", underruns, blow out tides; fishing holeswith unlikely names such as Aquatic Appalachia, Tin Can Grounds, AcidGrounds, and Cholera Banks; flotsam that will never be found in anydictionary like "Coney Island Whitefish" and "blop-blops";nautical entrepreneurs like the "Belford Pirates", illegalpinhookers, Kenney's Killer Killifish, headboats and even an urbansports fishing guide. John Watchman takes you to backwaters andcommercial dead ends where the "Fiftteenth Ward SmellingCommittee" once searched for the source of health-giving vapors,sludge bubbles, perfume wagon stenches; and a criminal defense lawyereven tried to use the black, bubbly water of the bay as a possibleneurological "The river made me do it" defense.I spent manyof my early years wandering New York Harbor and it's many tributariesin search of stripped bass, jacking for blue claw crabs, ice boating,racing sailboats or simply drifting down the Harlem River on a warmsummer night listening to the urban mixture of steel bands, fireengine horns, police sirens and elevated trains. It was a treat tohear that you can still do many of these things and the hostilities tothis great body of water are being addressed by special people likeJohn Watchman. We owe him a lot.Richard Quis now lives in SouthernCalifornia where the colorful flotsam is oranges, lemons and tennisballs.