“This is going to be an incredible collaboration,” said deputy Brooklyn borough president Diana Reyna, addressing a roomful of maritime industry stakeholders on February 18. More than 50 people from a range of professions—marine transportation company owners, container terminal executives, government agency representatives, union leaders, educators, and many others—had gathered at Brooklyn Borough Hall for a roundtable discussion on how to preserve, support, and expand the maritime industry in Brooklyn. The event was hosted by the Brooklyn Borough President’s office in collaboration with the Waterfront Alliance and Local 1814 of the International Longshoremen’s Association.

     The first half of the discussion examined the state of maritime jobs in Brooklyn. The New York-New Jersey port industry directly employs 191,000 workers and supports a total of 336,000 jobs, though only 18,000 of those workers directly employed are in New York City. In Brooklyn, maritime sites include Red Hook Terminals, Erie Basin Bargeport, Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, 65th Street Float Bridge, Atlantic Basin, Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Gowanus Bay Terminal.
     Bob Hughes of Hughes Marine and Erie Basin Bargeport started off the discussion. “We need help with three things from city and state agencies,” he said. “Zoning, taxes, and permits.”
     With regard to zoning, “it’s imperative that we stay industrial,” he said. As for taxes, “our taxes on the property went up by 122 percent last year. At that rate, I don’t know how much longer we can do what we’re doing. And with both in-water and upland permits, the people in industry need help. We have to drive piles, and maintain or replace our bulkheads. We’ve had projects where the permits cost us more than the project. We’ve been trying to build a 25,000 square-foot building at Erie Basin, but we can’t get an appointment with the Buildings Department to get our permit done.”
     “We’re busy,” he said, concluding on a positive note. “We hope to create another dry dock down the road and hire more people.”
     Others spoke of the need for more marine facilities as port business picked up. John Bowie from Vane Brothers Maritime Services , which transports oil to marine, power, and manufacturing industries, said, “We need more places to dock our equipment.”
     Ms. Reyna noted, “we’re expanding ferry service in New York City and yet we service our vessels outside the city.”
     “Once waterfront property is turned over to commercial or residential interests, we can’t get it back for the maritime industry,” she added.
     “The maritime industry is vital,” said Andrew Genn, senior vice president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. “There’s a new generation of people that recognize the waterfront is a good place to be employed.”
     Ms. Reyna placed a large part of the responsibility of workforce diversity with the bistate Waterfront Commission. “The Waterfront Commission is not in the room,” she observed. “We’re going to begin challenging the Waterfront Commission.” (please see this week’s Waterfront Q&A with deputy borough president Reyna for more on her plans to challenge the Waterfront Commission.)
     “We need people with skills, and we need access to jobs along the waterfront,” said Jeremy Laufer, district manager of Brooklyn’s Community Board 7.
     “There has to be a long-term investment in creating a workforce,” agreed Juan Camilo Osorio, research director for the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, urging that the focus expand to include industrial uses as well as maritime uses at the waterfront. Mr. Osorio referred to the updated New York City Waterfront Revitalization Program, which has just been approved by the New York State Department of State, calling it a “robust document that improves the performance of SMIAs [Significant Maritime and Industrial Areas].”
     This segued into the topic of the second half of the morning’s discussion: how to connect Brooklyn residents with waterfront jobs. “They don’t know about these jobs,” commented Ms. Reyna, “or they think they don’t belong because no one is inviting them. How do we build the industrial park to integrate with community?”
     Brendan Malone from the New York Harbor School spoke about the importance of inspiring young people to understand that there are maritime employment options. The high school, based on Governors Island, has forged relationships with maritime industries, such as the Brooklyn Navy Yard, to create student internships.
     “But a kid shouldn’t have to travel to the Harbor School to learn a vocational trade,” said Lou Pernice, president of the ILU Local 1814. “These skills used to be offered in high schools, but they disappeared as the manufacturing jobs left the city. We have an opportunity to bring them back. Skills are needed on the waterfront.”
     Tony diLernia, program director at Kingsborough Community College, chimed in by Skype from Florida. “Workforce development is not a difficult thing to do,” he said. “The obstacle is funding. We ask people in the maritime industry what skills they need, and then we develop curriculum based on the answers. Hands-on instruction, though, requires equipment, facilities, and teachers.”
     From another angle, Teamsters representative Bernadette Kelly told the group that “standards are difficult to maintain. As far as job training is concerned, we’re trying to find ways…it’s time-consuming and expensive to get a Teamsters license.”
     Ms. Reyna zeroed in on this comment, asking why training is provided by the Teamsters on site at other locations but not in Brooklyn. “That’s unacceptable,” she said. “That has to be addressed immediately. CWE [Consortium for Worker Education] provides funding for it. Considering the funding is there, why is the training not happening? I expect we’re going to deal with this issue.”
     Ed Kelly, executive director of the Maritime Association of the Port of New York/New Jersey, had one of the many last words. “Brooklyn has unparalleled opportunity for maritime industry growth,” he said, “but there’s an awful lot more that we need to do.”
     SUNY Maritime’s Christopher Clott had three main suggestions for the group. “First, the freight tunnel is crucial,” he said. “Second, move toward a logistics cluster. Third, decide what you want to be and build around it. You can’t do them all.”
     “This was a terrific exchange of views about the maritime industry in Brooklyn, and, most important, the focus was on tangible steps we can all take to protect and expand this vital industry and better connect people with good-paying jobs,” said Roland Lewis, president and CEO of the Waterfront Alliance. “We look forward to working with the Borough President and the many waterfront stakeholders toward implementation.”