October 29, 2013 (Bart Chezar)
Accompanied by Mauricio Gonzalez and Liv Dillon, we went on the Indy, operated by Aaron Singh and Mike Pellizi, to the site off Governors Island where the osprey platform was extending out of the water from the collapsed section of Yankee Pier – picture 1. Though the platform pole was solidly attached, the angle of the pole was not perpendicular to the surface and therefore would not serve as a base for an extension as we previously thought might work. We attempted to detach the nesting platform from the pole but that was not possible. We then connected the nesting platform with a line to the boat, attempting to remove it from the pole. This resulted in the pole breaking at about 8’ below the nesting platform. That was not a problem since at that point all we were trying to do was recover the nesting portion of the platform. We towed the platform to the Pier 101 where it is currently being stored – picture 2, 3and 4. When we were at the site we observed some pilings extending out of the water that would be a good location to attach the nesting platform. – picture 5.
This morning, October 30th, I contacted Jonathon Meyers at the Governors Island Trust to see if they would approve our mounting the osprey platform on the piling. He had no issue with this but said he would need to check with DEC. I will contact him in a week to see where this stands.
Mauricio will look into cleaning up the osprey platform, make repairs, and consider how we will mount the platform to the piling if receive permission to proceed.