The Maxwell Park Boathouse, located near the city’s uptown Maxwell Place development and park, is extremely popular with residents and visitors who often look to spend a summer afternoon on the Hudson River paddling just off the city’s coast.
The city took ownership of the park following a deed transfer from the developer Toll Brothers earlier this year. Now, they are looking for a way to open the boathouse more than just six days a year, as it is now. The boathouse, although owned by the city, is operated by the non-profit organization, the Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse.
Sandra Sobanski is the founder of the Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse.
“When it was drawn up, it was all a pipe dream.” – Danny Gans
____________
When it is open, the boathouse offers free kayaking, river trips to New York City, and other activities.
Mayor Dawn Zimmer wrote on her Twitter page earlier this month that she enjoyed free kayaking with her family, encouraging residents to try it.
Open it more often?
Danny Gans, a developer from the Hoboken Brownstone Company who helped build the cove, said he wishes the boathouse could be open more often.
Gans sent a letter to Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Health and Human Services Director Leo Pellegrini on April 20, saying his goal is to “get the boathouse open on a more permanent basis and to create programs at the boathouse that will be self-funding.”
Gans spoke about potentially renting spaces out to residents who wish to store their boats or kayaks in the boathouse, or renting kayaks out to paddlers for a small fee for an afternoon of usage. The services of the boathouse are currently free of charge, run by the non-profit organization.
Sobanski said she wants the program to remain free. She is worried that the program will turn into a costly endeavor for residents.
“It takes a lot of people to run these programs safely,” Sobanski said, stressing the importance of maintaining the volunteers. “You have to have a lot of people with a certain kayaking skill level to keep it safe…you just don’t want to hand it over to any lifeguard.”
Pellegrini said he has been meeting with interested parties to potentially open the boathouse more often.
“From the city’s perspective, we are looking to open it up longer in the summer, maybe during the day, but we also have to figure out what the currents are and if they allow us to operate at certain times,” Pellegrini said. “I don’t want to just open it up and not have the proper staffing…I believe it needs to be open more during the week.”
Gans agrees.
“When it was drawn up, it was all a pipe dream,” Gans said, pointing to a rendering of a crowded Maxwell Park beach in his uptown office. “In a waterfront city like Hoboken, we have to have something open. This was the first Jersey Shore.”
Although he is no longer involved with the day-to-day management of the cove, Gans said he wants to see more waterfront activities available to residents.
“Kearny High School has a crew team,” he said. “It would be great if we could get a Hoboken High School team to practice around here and challenge Kearny…we have camps in Hoboken; it would be great to be able to bring kids down and use the boats during the day.”
He added that having the boathouse open during weekdays would increase the appeal of waterfront activities for residents and their children.
Pellegrini said a long-term goal is to provide water recreation activities in conjunction with the volunteer organization, and he added that he is working with New York boathouses to see how they run their operations, hoping to emulate some of the practices done in Manhattan.
Where it is
The Maxwell Park Boathouse is located near the intersection of Frank Sinatra Drive and Maxwell Place uptown.
The boathouse will be open for two more days this summer: Aug. 7, from 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Aug. 21 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The boathouse will also offer a river trip for the general public on July 30, with a lottery taking place at 9 a.m.
Sobanski said that often there are more people interested in going on a trip than they can take, so they hold a lottery.
The trip can be a good workout, according to the boathouse website. The trips are also for adults only, and paddlers must know how to swim.
For more information, visit www.hobokencoveboathouse.org/.
Ray Smith may be reached at RSmith@hudsonreporter.com