By Don Rittner

During the week of September 8th (my birthday) and the 13th, we were invited to New York City by the Dutch Government to participate in the Dutch Harbor   Day Celebration.  This was their contribution to the Henry Hudson 400th anniversary celebration better known as the New York State Quadricentennial under the  directorship of Tara Sullivan.

There were many activities and events taking place throughout the city but one of our roles was to act as a backdrop for the opening celebration where the Prince and Princess of the Netherlands (Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, NYC Mayor Bloomberg and others cut the ribbon aboard the US Intrepid.  We were docked next to the Intrepid at Pier 84.  It was quite the contrast between our little 17th century jacht (52 feet long) and the Intrepid, which is the size of a small city!  On Saturday morning, we met up with several ships near the harbor and sailed up to the Intrepid where the opening ceremonies took place.  That day Richard Roth from CNN did a live remote from the decks of our ship and came back to do a piece for the Wolf Blitzer Show (The Situation Room) so we made CNN and were viewed in 240 countries that day. Greta’s mother called her from Belgium and told her she had seen her waving to the Prince.  I received email from a friend in the Netherlands telling me the same thing.

The Onrust and the Royal Family’s Tromp! Photo by Will Van Dorp.

On Saturday night, Greta and I were invited to have dinner with the Prince and Princess on their ship the Tromp.  There were about 100 dignitaries at the dinner and at our table sat the Lady in Waiting (the Queen’s personal secretary), a ship commander, and a few others.   The Princess sat across from us (very stunning). During the dinner, the Dutch minister in charge of the ceremonies came up to our table and asked Greta and I to follow him.  We did of course and were led over to the Prince’s table where we were introduced to him (I might add we were the only ones brought to his table).  He stood up and quickly began a conversation about the Onrust and we spent about 6 minutes or so talking about the project, which he knew a great deal about, and then went back to our seats to finish dinner.  We had rabbit as the main course.

The Onrust leading the parade in NYC. Photo by Bert Barat.

The following day, the Half Moon, our Onrust and several other ships led a flotilla of 80 ships past the royal Tromp and we fired off a 4 cannon salute to the waving Prince and Princess.  The parade was carried on Dutch National TV. On Monday, we began our journey home leading 19 Dutch flat bottoms to Albany along with their crews of about 75 people.

We took the boats northward stopping at Nyack, Kingston, Catskill, Castleton and finally to Albany.  All of the communities along the way hosted the Dutch flotilla until we arrived at Albany where not a single representative of the city or state greeted them.  Pretty discouraging.

Don at the tiller

 

An art trip to New York, with Silvia Russel. By Judy van Blaricon

A few weeks ago I went with Silvia Russel on a trip for borough(ed) stories-  I wasn’t to sure about this goal, or what it meant. But I really wanted to find out how a fellow-artist would ‘do New York’. I had never done that. And I like to share some here.

I live in Amsterdam, the city in which my father met my mother. He came from Indiana. He had travelled the world searching for something, and he found many things. For some reason the urge to leave must have been strong, cause he didn’t like to fly. He’d avoid the plane if possible. So when he wanted to introduce his future wife to his parents, he took the boat from Rotterdam to New York. All this I had to think of, jogging along the Hudson; all that is made possible 400 years ago, and how we shape current reality.

I met Silvia Russel at a Dutch network called Bites and Business. We liked each others ideas and doings. So when I heard about her plan, I asked if I could come too. This was fine, if I would to join the project”. I would bring reflections on the project in a constant flow. As well as do some thorough documentation. We both thought this a very good idea. That I am actually American could help too. ( like our own version of NY400.) Three days later we were on the plane. Work to do.

I asked if there was a plan. Borough(ed) stories- is the name of a book of her work, and it was going to be launched. Silvia’s gallery organized it for within two weeks, so she wanted to visit the gallery and check out how things were going.
The gallery turned out te be very nice. LMAKprojects.  and it is represented by a a great women (who happens to be Dutch.) Silvia also wanted to return to Bed Stuyvesant. For whom this name doesn’t ring a bell (despite famous connections as Spike Lee and notorious B.I.G ) : Bedford-Stuyvesant is a neighborhood in the central portion of New York city, USA, borough of Brooklyn.

Silvia has lived there some time ago. I guess that already is a sign that Bed Stuy was going upscale, and cappuccino, curry and Char-donnay already had mostly elbowed out crack in smalls’ old stamping grounds (not my line).

This process of upscale is also referred to as gentrification:  the change in an urban area associated with the movement of more affluent individuals into a lower-class area. Interesting maybe, but much more if you read insights on this of a Bed Stuy blogger, who quotes the artist Banksy.

I joined the first day but it didn’t work for me. I felt guilty. A useless and typical Dutch reaction. Silvia however, went every day. She helped to distribute packages of food (a.o) and listened to the stories of the people she met. This exchange is important. I could very much relate to the stories she shared. I did my work from Manhattan. We talked a lot. In a week or so the date of the launch was set with it’s perfect location: Participants Inc. at the Lower East side. Very good place for many insights on the topic.

It all worked out very well. For me, here the documentation stops. The stories I can’t tell you. They have become drawings by now.

It could be the book is still available at the Dutch museum for modern art, Het Stedelijk Museum. In september Silvia Russel will exhibit in New York at the White Box with Towing the Line, Drawing Space: 40 Contemporary Dutch Artists Defining the Moment in Holland. I have a a great time, am truly grateful for the opportunity, and glad I took it too. Off to the next creative journey, which can take us anywere!

About the author
Judy van Blaricon is  born in the Netherlands, in 1969.
Own company in online communication; heyjude.info
Studies art at the Rietveld Academie; Dogtime.

About the Artist
Silvia Russel is born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, in 1969
Visual Artist http://www.silviarussel.com/index.html Works and lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

By Pascal J.W. van den Noort

New York and Amsterdam, like many other global cities, face challenges regarding mobility and requiring immediate solutions. An urgent look at necessary changes in mobility is the objective of the symposium  ‘Global trends in sustainable mobility.’ How did Amsterdam and New York get to where we are now with regard to mobility and what analyses can we bring to the table? What are the systematic differences in urban planning between New York and Amsterdam? Do these differences only exist in the field of mobility or has it other psychological and cultural backgrounds? What makes cities not only livable, but attractive to live in, and what good can mobility bring or bad by making things disappear? Can cities live with less or no petrol cars at all and what does such an idea do to the economy? How will public transport play a role in the triangle with emission rich mobility and more sustainable modes of transport?

These and other questions will be discussed in the Symposium & Salon: Global trends to Sustainable Mobility

The New Amsterdam Bike Slam is a live debate “battle” between two teams with competing visions for how to dramatically increase sustainable mobility in New York City in the years to come, and how to plan the New York Harbor District as part of this achievement. The New Amsterdam Bike Slam is organized from 10 till 13 September 2009. The ideas generated by the competition - and other activities organized during these days - will be heralded as strategies to achieve Mayor Bloomberg’s stated PlaNYC goals to increase bicycling and achieve a “greater, greener NYC” in 2030. Spread over four days, the New Amsterdam Bike Slam is a live design battle, a dance party, a world-class transportation summit, a bridge across the Atlantic, and a path forward.

By Renny Ramakers

I am writing this blog while working on the last preparations for Pioneers of Change. These last moments are as usual full of tensions. We have disagreements with the graphic designers, who think that we are making too many changes in the texts, with the risk of destroying their precise design. They are right, with so many parties involved in the process and people on holidays, changes after changes came.

We will try to get our signage system placed on the island without disturbing their rules and regulations. We want a huge bill board, shouting: LAND! It should be the first thing you see when arriving by boat.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed… We asked the designer of the VIP room, which is furnished with Droog pieces,  to change his beautiful design. The balloons he envisioned hanging from the ceiling turned out to be not a good idea because we just heard from one of our team members that she is allergic to latex. Yesterday we rejected the designer’s alternative, again very charming, but not environmentally sound. We feel we are driving him crazy, but we are convinced that he will come with another beautiful solution.

We are negotiating with New York catering companies because we have the feeling that they are overcharging us. We have to arrange extra toilets because we expect 700 people to attend our VIP opening. Security rules oblige us to fence our space during the opening and have the audience checked for their age. Now we have to design wristbands that they can wear as proof of being over 21. That’s all because we are serving delicious cocktails.

Our two sweet interns, we call them Tom & Jerry,  are stuffing the invitations in the envelopes while watching a movie.  I hope that can be sent out today because they proceed very slowly. Tomorrow the last shipment will leave the country and the team will fly over next week, surely to what will be an exciting event.

And at the other side of the ocean our New York team is busy having the houses cleaned and preparing all electrical matters. Sixty different second hand chairs for the Open Talks house are waiting to be painted. We really did not want to ship a lot of stuff and rely as much as possible on old furniture to be found in New York. I was a bit worried about being able to find so many of them. But our New York producer did!
Our New York team also found 15 elderly people, eager to serve food and drinks in our Go Slow house, A tough job to spot elderly people living in elderly people’s homes that actually look like elderly people are supposed to look and not like those botoxed and facelifted old girls so common in the U.S.  But we have got them! And they will serve you slowly but attentively.

It’s no wonder two weeks time before the event, that the moment is full of scary excitement, when bringing together so many parties and bridging two continents. I can’t wait to be on Governors Island, to see the results and to hear all the reactions of the visitors.

About the author
Renny Ramakers conceived and curated Pioneers of Change, and is art critic and co-founder and director of Droog, the conceptual design company which was set up in 1993. She organizes design exhibitions, is member of the jury of various design prizes and is giving lectures and workshops worldwide. Ramakers took part in governmental advisory boards, amongst others as a member of the Council of Culture (1995-2001). As an art critic, Ramakers wrote for international magazines, books and catalogues and published several books under her own name.

ALSO READ: Pioneers of Change: A Sneak Preview

The Boulevard of Broken Dreams is the heart of the New Island Festival, where people get together, eat, drink, and from there on find their way to all the performances and exhibits the festival has to offer. At night we return to the boulevard to party, dance, dream.

No dreams without broken dreams.

The Boulevard of Broken Dreams is shaped after the encampment the Dutch pioneers built here on Governors Island four hundred years ago. To them, this was the new island.

Now, the New Island returns. With us, everybody can be a pioneer, is a pioneer, and will be treated like one.

Chef André Amaro serves typical Dutch food on an enormous 400 foot long table, together with Miss Rockaway Armada from New York. In the afternoon, there are performances for kids; in the evening there are ten short performances by young and adventurous dance companies, a highly exclusive opera/dinner experience of the Veenfabriek, Iris de Hond on her Flying Grand, and virtual art by PIPS:lab.

Everything takes place around, and even on top of the giant table. Around ten o’ clock, the music- and dance program kicks off with pop diva Ellen ten Damme,  the legendary Living Jukebox, and the Silent Disco, the most unusual dance party you’ve ever seen.

The Newest Island of New York, virtually undiscovered.
For all those pioneers out there: come discover the ‘nieuw’ New York with us!

About the author
New Island Festival comes to New York under the artistic leadership of Terts Brinkhoff(1952) , together with Joop Mulder (Oerol Festival). Terts Brinkhoff is the creator of the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, which he founded in 1984, and has since grown into one of the most important arts festivals in Europe. In 1990, he renamed the festival Parade. Today, it is the only traveling theatre and music festival in the world. Terts dropped out of vocational school and bought a tractor in 1973.  He began organizing mobile arts events wherever there was space.  A few years later, he bought a circus tent and before long, he was on the road, pulling performances with him.

ALSO READ: ‘NEW ISLAND FESTIVAL: A SNEAK PREVIEW’

How to describe an unforgettable wedding day. It was the best of days. Only a few months ago we heard about the search for 5 same-sex couples to be married by the Mayor of Amsterdam during Gay Pride in Holland, as part of  I do. I amsterdam. We’re happy to say that we are one of the 5 couples that got selected!

It truly was an unbelievable experience. 560.000 People stood alongside the canals celebrating a sunshine filled day while we were on the wedding boat during canal pride with Job Cohen, Mayor of Amsterdam, joining us into the bonds of matrimony.
The organization did an amazing job in making the event very special for all of the 5 couples getting married.

In the end the whole I do I do team really succeeded in making it possible that our wedding felt individual and special to us as a couple. During our ceremony when Ira broke the glass according to Jewish tradition thousands of people cheered and it was a very emotional and heartfelt experience.

Luckily we did find shoes in time that made us feel secure on the boat and confident enough not having to be ambulanced by boat  to the hospital with pieces of glass in Ira’s foot. Pictures and comments were sent all over the world in newspaper articles and through TV correspondence in numerous countries. Hopefully it will give lot’s of governments that still do not value human rights a chance to reconsider their discriminatory policy about their tax paying citizens that just happened to be born gay.

We spent our 10 day honeymoon in Umbria, Italy and just yesterday we had to say goodbye since Ira left for New York to go home while Hans lives in Amsterdam and is about to leave for the Ukraine to work. Even now, when we do not even know when we will have the time or money to travel towards spending time with each other again, we do know that our now legally bound love will keep us together for ever.

About the authors
Hans Pieter Herman is a Dutch freelance opera and concert singer who lives in Amsterdam where he also teaches voice. Ira Siff is a New Yorker who directs opera, performs, teaches voice, writes about opera and is Weekly Commentator on the Metropolitan Opera Broadcast. Hans and Ira met in New York and fell in love in 2006. Beside their love for each other and each others cities they share a deep love for Italy where they will spend their honeymoon.

The New York Times’ article on I do. I amsterdam.

By Danielle Latman

American expat Danielle Latman takes the train to Breukelen, exploring the past, present and future of the two Brooklyns.

Present

The train ride from Amsterdam to Breukelen is a little different from the commute I used to take from Stuyvesant High School in lower Manhattan back home to Brooklyn. The train here passes through city streets to grassland dotted with grazing animals in less than half an hour.

I took the train in late June to attend Brooklyn Night, organised by the Breukelen gemeente (local government) to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Dutch settling in New York.

One to two hundred Breukelenites, mostly native Dutch, gathered in Boom en Bosch, a park by the Town Hall, to watch videos of Brooklyn and eat hot dogs.

Breukelen Burgemeester (Mayor) Ger Mik, wearing a traditional chain of office, led children in a lantern competition and later to a dazzling fireworks display.

It was a warm show of friendship and community, but I couldn’t help wondering… what is the point? Why should anyone outside of tiny Breukelen care?

My answer came from Carla Koopmans, general manager of the gemeente. “If you don’t know your historical roots, you lack something,” she said.

Past

So I visited the related exhibit, “Breukelen-Brooklyn 400″, at the Regionaal Historisch Centrum. The one-room display, all in Dutch, uses old maps, newspaper clippings, books, videos and old materials to tell the story of the two Brooklyns.

The Dutch settled in Breukelen, a small section of the current Brooklyn that is now located around Borough Hall, in 1646. They developed five other towns as well: Gravesend, Nieuw Amersfoort (now Flatlands), Midwout (now Flatbush), Nieuw Utrecht, and Boswijk (Bushwick).

After the British takeover of New Amsterdam in the 1660s, many Brooklyn streets and neighbourhoods retained their Dutch names. Even the Brooklyn motto remains Dutch: “Een Draght Maakt Maght”, translated to “In Unity there is Strength”.

Future

So why is the bridge to Brooklyn – both physical and historical — important here?

“It’s a brand that has emotional value,” said Bram Donkers, project manager of BrooklynBridgeBreukelen, a small grassroots organisation aimed to re-establish the connection between the two places.. “A lot of Americans started in Brooklyn. For a lot of Americans the Brooklyn brand stands for coming home.

“We’d like to remain on the world map as the original Brooklyn,” he said.

I got on the train back home thinking that new Brooklyn may be key to old Breukelen’s survival.

About the author
Danielle Latman is a writer and editor from Brooklyn, NY now living in Amsterdam, NL. She currently works at Expatica.com, and her articles can be found at http://claimid.com/danielle_latman

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Only a few months ago we heard about the search for 5 same-sex couples to be married by the Mayor of Amsterdam during Gay Pride in Holland, as part of  I do. I amsterdam. We’re happy to say that we are one of the 5 couples that got selected! After receiving multiple congratulations from friends and family it left us with less than two months to arrange this wedding.

a
The ceremonial part is all in the great care of the city of Amsterdam, run by a special “I do, I do” team. But invitations, flowers, photographer, dinner, honeymoon, suits, rings, almost everything still needed to be arranged in less than two months and since we’re both working away from home this summer, it was quite a challenge. Luckily, everything is more or less under control now. Friends and family are getting plane tickets and hotel rooms are being booked.

However, we still need to find shoes.

Shoes are always an important aspect of a major event but since the whole day will be spent on a boat with 200.000 people standing alongside the canals witnessing the ceremony and hearing the actual I do’s over the speakers, one does not want to slip and fall into the water.

We are overwhelmed by the daily response and positive reactions from everyone we encounter. Two people being celebrated by thousands and their union being honored by a government - tying the knot, like billions did before them, just because they can’t live without their love for one another. One would almost think that gay rights are no longer an issue in this world. Of course we know this is not the case and thus it feels great to be able to show everybody, including thousands of still oppressed people in the world, desperately fighting for their human rights, that things are changing.

 
About the authors
Hans Pieter Herman is a Dutch freelance opera and concert singer who lives in Amsterdam where he also teaches voice. Ira Siff is a New Yorker who directs opera, performs, teaches voice, writes about opera and is Weekly Commentator on the Metropolitan Opera Broadcast. Hans and Ira met in New York and fell in love in 2006. Beside their love for each other and each others cities they share a deep love for Italy where they will spend their honeymoon. Check back with NY400 in August to read all about their wedding during Amsterdam’s Gay Pride!

The New York Times’ article on I do. I amsterdam.

By Paul Laster and Renée Riccardo

Iris van Dongen’s ‘Suspicious’ - a survey show of the artist’s large-scale drawings from 2003 to 2009, recently on view at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam - was a striking exhibition by a rising star on the international art scene. Born in Tilburg in 1975 and living and working in Berlin, Van Dongen mixes pastel and charcoal in her works on paper that portray gorgeous, gothic mistresses and femme fatales.

We only recently discovered her work when Paul photographed New York magazine art critic Jerry Saltz alongside one of her pastels at the Armory Show. The figure in the drawing totally dwarfed him, and Van Dongen’s work forever stuck in our minds. We later discovered that she had shown in New York at Salon 94, a gallery run by our friend Jeannie Greenburg Rohatyn, but we had somehow missed that 2005 solo exhibition.

Since her 2005 New York showing, Van Dongen has leapt on the world stage with solo exhibitions in Amsterdam, Paris, and Athens. Her romantic imagery, which is equally inspired by the aesthetics of Symbolism and the glam appeal of decadent fashion photography and music videos, lures the viewer into its seductive and haunting trap. Young women emerge from shadows, pose with rock ‘n roll and hooligan emblems, are entwined by snakes, and flaunt goth accessories and tattoos, and stare blankly for an imaginary lens.

While viewing Van Dongen’s work, we thought of an American counterpart, or an opposite, if solely considered for his mostly male subject matter: Hernan Bas. The Miami-based, Cuban-American artist is someone we have been following for many years, since first seeing his work in a group show at Frederic Snitzer Gallery, some ten years back. The subject of a recent exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum- which covered a decade of works on paper, paintings, installation, and video- and a current show of new work at Lehmann Maupin in New York, Bas is also an artist with a romantic penchant, and one equally in demand worldwide.

Bas’ earliest works were colored with the dietetic drink Slim Fast- a commentary on the fashion world’s desire to define our form-but once he started painting on paper with water-based oil, he developed a black-and-white illustrative style that could expressionistically convey the adventures of teenage boys. Bas’ boys, inspired by Nancy Drew’s fictional girls, share an adventurous camaraderie while camping out, exploring caves, reading Oscar Wilde, flying a kite, and dressing like harlequins and dandies, while exploring other Proustian delights.

These two artists, who were born three years apart and come from completely different culture, share more in thought and intention than in end result, but as we see it, in a world where information and trends spread fast, they are kindred spirits, drinking inspiration from the same well.

About the authors
Paul Laster and Renée Riccardo, who live and work in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, are former Adjunct Curators of Photography at New York’s P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. Laster is the editor of Artkrush.com, a contributing editor at Flavorpill.com and Art Asia Pacific, and a contributing writer at Time Out New York and Art in America. Riccardo, who directed ARENA Gallery for 13 years, is an independent curator.

Photo credit: Aura Rosenberga

By Malcolm J. Bowman

At some time in the future, New York City will inevitably be struck by an extreme hurricane or winter nor’easter that will lead to significant damage to infrastructure including power, communications, water and sewage systems, hospitals, schools, industries, commercial activities, transportation systems, buildings and homes. Serious flooding and threats to human life will follow. Global warming, rising sea level and a growing population living near the waterfront will increase the risk and worsen the consequences. Among the port cities of the world, New York ranks among the top ten most vulnerable in the size of the population exposed, second only to Miami in the infrastructure assets at risk, and undoubtedly first in terms of the economic damage that would result.

On June 9-10, 2009, 75 scientific, engineering, legal, insurance, policy and environmental experts on climate change and adaptation measures gathered from around the world at Stony Brook University, Manhattan campus at a forum entitled “Connecting Delta Cities” to discuss these issues and all their implications.

Underwritten by the City of Rotterdam, the purpose of the workshop was to discuss common threats to four major coastal cities: Rotterdam, London, New York and Jakarta. Discussion topics focused on adapting to both climate change and flood risks, entailing a broad portfolio of options, such as minimizing the probability of floods occurring (e.g. flood walls or storm surge barriers) and minimizing  their consequences should they occur (e.g., new architecture, building codes).

Scientists presented the latest findings and predictions on climate change, sea level rise and how rapidly they are occurring. Engineers discussed Dutch-type storm surge barriers and other protection measures suitable for Metropolitan New York. Environmentalists presented ways to make our shorelines more resilient and sustainable. Risk management experts compared Dutch, British and American approaches to flooding disaster management and relief. Policy experts discussed evacuation schemes, improved communication between government agencies and emergency services, hospitals, fire departments, communication infrastructure, businesses, and civilians. Insurance representatives discussed post-disaster measures, such as insurance and emergency relief.

New York City can learn much from the Dutch experiences and heritage in coastal protection. The ambitious Delta Project system of sea walls, barriers and levees was commissioned after the 1953 flooding disaster caused by an extreme North Sea storm event, when the coastal protection failed. A rise in water level exceeding 5.6 m (18 ft) drowned over 1800 people in The Netherlands (and 300 in the UK). The Delta Project has since successfully protected the country against nature’s fury. Now Dutch scientists, engineers, social scientists and policy makers are making valuable contributions to the New York experience in climate change “proofing” the city.

New York City has yet to face up to the possibility of a major, sustained flooding event; present emergency measures depend principally upon the evacuation of up to three million people in the face of an extreme hurricane or nor’easter. Up to one third of the city’s land area could be inundated should a storm make landfall at a conjunction of peak ocean storm surge, astronomical spring high tides, high precipitation rates and swollen river discharges.

My own research interests are in storm surge science and the need to seriously evaluate storm surge barriers for Metropolitan New York. The major port cities of Rotterdam, London, St Petersburg, Venice and Tokyo have all built (or are building) barriers to protect themselves against the fiercest storms. Dutch and American professionals are learning from each other to ensure that a flooding disaster never happens to New York City.

About the author
Malcolm J. Bownman is Professor of Oceanography, State University of New York at Stony Brook.

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