Following last week’s testimony before Community Board 1 by Sal Polisi and his supporters, the Board yesterday issued the following Resolution:
Relocation of Maritime Crafts Center
WHEREAS: Sal Polisi, the proprietor of the Maritime Crafts Center is a master woodcarver who has worked at the South Street Seaport for nearly 30 years in a small woodcarving shop drawing dozens of curious visitors every day, and,
WHEREAS: The nautical master woodcarver is credited with building a new figurehead for the Wavertree, teak benches for the Peking and worked on other vessels at the Seaport, and,
WHEREAS: The shop is located near Pier 15 under the FDR Drive and Mr. Polisi has been told by the NYCEDC that the facility must be moved because to allow for pedestrian traffic flow on the new East River Waterfront esplanade, and,
WHEREAS: A Preliminary Scope Report, prepared in February 15, 2011 by HRD Consultants recommended a site under the FDR Drive to which the facility could be moved but that will not work because there is not enough space for handicapped accessibility, and other potential locations, including an NYCEDC-owned lot on John Street, have also not been successful for other considerations, and
WHEREAS: The NYCEDC is working with the South Street Seaport Museum on a new location for the shop on Water Street, but advocates said the location is not ideal because it is farther from the East River and the museum’s historic boats, now
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT: Community Board One encourages the NYCEDC and the South Street Seaport Museum to find a suitable relocation site for the Maritime Crafts Center.
We’ll keep you posted on further developments.
