In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

I had the wonderful opportunity this morning to view the arrival of the U.S.S. New York — which was built in part with steel from the fallen World Trade Center towers — into the harbor which bears its name.

THE USS NEW YORK PASSES BY GROUND ZERO THIS MORNING (ABOVE)

The Navy ship was welcomed on the Hudson River by a flotilla of local boats ranging from Coast Guard vessels to Water Taxis to individual kayakers. I viewed the arrival on a retired police boat, the “Big G,” which is now owned by the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, a group I am involved in whose mission includes highlighting the role of the waterfront in emergency preparedness. The New York’s ‘return’ had a good deal of meaning for New Yorkers both on the ship itself and those watching it from the land and the water.

Being in a boat, I did not see the ceremonies in Lower Manhattan during the New York’s stop at the site of the World Trade Center. This is how the Associated Press described it:

First responders, families of Sept. 11 victims and the public gathered Monday at a waterfront viewing area, where they could see the crew standing at attention along the deck of the battleship gray vessel. The big ship paused. Then the shots were fired, with a cracking sound, in three bursts. The bow of the $1 billion ship, built in Louisiana, contains about 7.5 tons of steel from the fallen towers.

“It’s a transformation … from something really twisted and ugly,” said Rosaleen Tallon, who lost her firefighter brother, Sean, on 9/11. “I’m proud that our military is using that steel.”

…After the ground zero stop, the ship — escorted by about two dozen tugboats and other vessels — headed up the Hudson River toward the George Washington Bridge. After a U-turn there, it was to head south to Pier 88. An official commissioning ceremony is scheduled for Saturday.

The New York will remain in the city through Veteran’s Day and then head to Norfolk, Va., for about a year of crew training and exercises, Murphy said. The ship is 684 feet long and can carry as many as 800 Marines. Its flight deck that can handle helicopters and the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. It was scheduled to be built before the terrorist attacks. About a year later, the announcement came that the ship would bear the name New York to honor the city, state, and those who died.

THE U.S.S. NEW YORK HEADS UP THE HUDSON RIVER SURROUNDED BY LOCAL BOATS . I WAS ON ONE OF THE SMALLER ONES. (Photo By ABC News)