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August 2006

Pier A, the historic pier perched on the edge of Battery Park, was once a Victorian symbol of New York City’s splendor. Today, it is a dilapidated blight on the Lower Manhattan landscape, and as discussions to revive it repeatedly disintegrate, its future remains perennially in doubt.

Claiming that Frank M. Charles Memorial Park, a Howard Beach recreation spot enjoyed by young and old alike, has gone largely untended for another season, the frustrations of many Howard Beach and South Queens residents have hit a highwater mark.

Barges are poised for a comeback. Not that they ever left New York-the big flat vessels travel up and down New York waterways filled with petroleum, stone, rocks, sand, scrap and chemicals. Almost all of the home heating oil used on the East Coast comes through New York Harbor on barges.