Not even rain could stop City Island residents from celebrating their great history.
On Friday June 12, despite inclement weather, City Island residents and P.S. 175 students gathered to honor the rich history of New York State with a Quadricentennial Celebration of Henry Hudson’s famous expedition.
The celebration was marked through the unveiling of a replica Half Moon ship that was placed in the garden, planted by school parent and botanist at the New York Botanical Garden, Han Yu Hung, in front of the registered Quadricentennial school.
Bob Adams and Ed Rothschild created the replica of the ship Hudson sailed on in 1609, in honor of their daughters, Abby Adams and Anna Rothschild, and the rest of the graduating 8th grade class.
“It’s an amazing experience to work with someone in a cooperative project where you have to bring ideas together in a way that wasn’t done before,” said Adams, who owns a woodwork shop in New Rochelle. “This turned out to be a wonderful learning experience.”
Lisa Fines, co-president of the P.S. 175 PTA, approached Adams with the idea back in December in preparation for the celebration, believing the idea would be a wonderful way to honor the shipbuilding history City Island was once known for.
“We have got a really unique community here, it’s a touch of New England in the five boroughs,” said Fines. “This is part of our history for both City Island and New York State.”
The ship took over 4 months to construct and contains over 200 separate pieces of wood.
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto joined in the celebration.
“When a school holds an event I always try my best to make it because there is nothing more important than education,” said Benedetto. “Here the children can see the replica of the ship and get a sense of what these explorers traveled on. It brings history alive.”
