By Terese Loeb Kreuzer | It was bright and early the morning of Wed., May 23.
Shortly after 8 a.m., when the tide was right, the tall ships of OpSail 2012 began their northward journey from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, headed toward the George Washington Bridge and eventually arrived at their temporary berths in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
By 9:15 a.m., as the rising sun gleamed on their white sails, they reached the Statue of Liberty. A crowd eagerly lined the Battery Park City esplanade to watch them pass.
Near the World Trade Center site, the Pride of Baltimore schooner fired a two-gun salute.
The procession consisted of 17 Class A naval training ships from all over the world as well as smaller, privately owned sailing ships that in any other context would be the stars of the harbor.
This year’s OpSail, the sixth ever in New York City, commemorated the bicentennial of the War of 1812. Though OpSail events have historically generated millions of dollars in tourism revenue for New York City, OpSail’s executive director, Chris O’Brien, said that this visit may be the last — or at least, the last for the foreseeable future.
