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Here's Joel Kotkin talking about his new book The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050 on WNYC: "We send too many people to four-year colleges and we don't teach people skills that are useful in the economy ... The system is tilted toward the financial...
Gabriel Thompson's new book Working In the Shadows: A Year of Doing the Jobs (Most) Americans Won't Do chronicles the year he spent undercover in the immigrant workforce, picking lettuce, cutting up chickens, working in Manhattan's flower district. I can't wait...
Looks like manufacturing is off to a good start in 2010, especially in apparel, textile machinery and transportation equipment industries. A report based on a private survey indicates strong current and future performance in manufacturing. "The US...
I'm so grateful to the Gotham Cener for New York City History for posting an excerpt from Chapter 1 of My River Chronicles on their fascinating Gotham History Blotter, "devoted to showcasing short, non-fiction essays about New York City history." Here's...
During her decades of FDNY service, fireboat John J. Harvey fought hundreds of serious fires, explosions, and marine disasters. One was aboard the ammunition ship El Estero. In 1943 fireboat Harvey and fellow FDNY vessel Fire Fighter went into harm's way...
I'm so grateful for all the warm messages I continue to receive from readers all over the country (and even overseas!) who are moved by the unforgettable people and captivating places whose stories I've had the privilege to tell in My River Chronicles, and who...
The cold has hit. Yesterday I drained down the main engines and fresh-water system on fireboat John J. Harvey. Bilge-water sloshing, lines creaking, flashlight batteries failing ... and the poor old girl braces herself for another winter. Brrr. ...
I've always felt a bit conflicted between my blue- and white-collar worlds. But my work both on the boats and on the book have taught me that not only do I need both worlds, our country does too. And the stakes today—as doubts loom about the dollar's future...
On March 10, 1931, construction began on a new New York City fireboat—the largest and most powerful in the world. High up in the fire department, a decision was made. For the first time a fireboat would be named for a man from the ranks: John J. Harvey. On June...
The historic ships community owes The Wall Street Journal's Jesse Pesta a huge thank-you for spotlighting on a national stage the importance of maritime preservation, raising a critical question in this consumerist, throw-it-away society: What do we save and why? He...