Fund for a Better Waterfront to Honor Hudson River Fishermen’s Association at Fundraiser — THURSDAY, NOV. 14 @ Hoboken Elks

(via FBW / image above via Hudson River Fisherman’s Association)

At its annual Connect the Waterfront event, the Fund for a Better Waterfront (FBW) will present the 2019 Riparian Award to the Hudson River Fishermen’s Association, the group that helped start the “riverkeeper” movement, and have been fighting to protect the Hudson River for more than 50 years.

This year, the Connect the Waterfront/Save Your Waterfront event will be held at the venerable Hoboken Elks Club, featuring an open bar (beer & wine), music from the Bryan Beninghove Trio, a hearty selection of hors d’oeuvres, plenty of bucket raffle offerings as well as prizes awarded for FBW’s First Annual Hoboken Trivia Contest.

Bryan Beninghove is taking the night off from his usual gig with Manouche Bag at Madame Claude’s in Jersey City to provide the music for this event.

CLICK HERE for ticket information.

The Hudson River Fishermen’s Association began in 1966 when a group of commercial and recreational fishermen, including a Sports Illustrated writer named Bob Boyle, organized to combat the industrial pollution they witnessed contaminating the Hudson River. Boyle uncovered two obscure laws, the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1888 and the Refuse Act of 1899, that prohibited the polluting of American waters; the laws not only fined polluters but provided a bounty to those reporting them.

The fishermen resolved to find and prosecute polluters, and within a few years had won cases against major industrial offenders, including Penn Central Railroad, Standard Brands, Ciba-Geigy, and Anaconda Wire and Copper. The HRFA used the bounties they collected to fund new cases, and eventually, build a patrol boat and hire the first “Riverkeeper.” The actions of the original group of fishermen created an environmental movement that now includes more than 300 “waterkeepers” across the globe. Today the HRFA continues its fight for the Hudson River, and, with a youth angler program and family activities, inspires a new generation of environmental stewards.

Since 1990, the Fund for a Better Waterfront (FBW), a nonprofit advocacy organization, has persisted in its vision for a continuous, public waterfront park for Hoboken’s 1.5 mile of shoreline. Today, Hoboken is close to realizing this idea and FBW, through its annual Connect the Waterfront event, will seek to raise funds to help complete its mission.

FBW would like to thank BCB Bank, Classic Harbor Line, Liberty Realty, Choc-O-Pain, Maridian Properties, JDAGroup, Bijou Properties and Lime Scooter for sponsoring this event.

CLICK HERE for ticket information.
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