Girls Club Worldwide

Hudson River Sky

photographer Lisette

Castle on the Hudson

We had seen a castle and it was very old and had caught on fire a long time ago.

photographer & text Lisette

The Scenic Hudson

This is a picture of the Hudson River I took when we were boating.

photographer & text lisette

The Chart of the Hudson

This is Captain's Johns map to show us where we are and how deep and shallow the river is.

photographer & text Lisette

Captain John Drives the Boat

This is Captain John. He’s driving the boat to show us the Hudson River. He taught us how the river works and what it is used for.

photographer& text Lisette

This is Me!

This is me driving the boat up the Hudson River.

photo by June
text Lisette

The Riverkeepers's Hudson River Boat Trip August 6

This is Jennifer. She is driving the boat and had a lot of fun that day. She has on a yellow safety jacket of case she falls in the Hudson river.

photographer & text by Lisette

The River Project by Jennifer Suggs

The River Project is a private, non-profit marine biology field station for the protection and restoration of wildlife through research, education, and hands-on programs in urban ecology. Located at Pier 26 in downtown Manhattan, it is an excellent site to include in our Hudson River (Source to Sister Project). On this visit to the River Project the GALA girls toured the indoor facility, which contains a lot of small aquariums with fish, crabs, eels, and other wildlife from the Hudson River. This wildlife is used in the research to test for water quality of the lower Hudson River (and examine the quality of the city’s drinking water supply). The River Project interns were the leaders of this small tour, which was neat because it was teenagers teaching teenagers, and the girls paid attention. Late the River Project Staff, let small experiments out on the pier, these series of experiments were also testing water quality, level, etc. The girls were particularly interested in this activity because it put their chemistry skills to the test! They were able to see the real life applications of the chemistry experiments in school. From the tour, the girls learned about the Super Fund and how the Hudson River has been undergoing a serious clean up for over twenty years, since the days of heavy pollution in the 1960’s and before. Though the waters are cleaner today they still will not be safe for swimming and or fishing for many years to come.

Bye Bye Governors Island! Hello New York City! N.Y.C.

We enjoyed our visit to Governors Island, but we are always happy to come back home! That's Renee doing a piorette!!!

The Statue of Liberty

Here we are on the ferry returning to New York City. That's the Statue of Liberty in the background.

We Make Friends!!

Everywhere we go the Girls Club makes new friends! I enjoyed taking their picture.

photographer Shadae

Let's Live Here!!!

Here we are posing in front of one of the largest mansions on the island.

Eve Interviews Valerie

The question of the day was, "What would you do with Governors Island?"

Monument

Here we are, along with other visitors to the island, entering a huge, majestic monument.

photographer Shadae

View from Governors Island

This is the view from Governors Island, NYC buildings in the background and greenery in the foreground.

photographer Shadae

Governer’s Island by Jennifer Suggs

Governor’s Island is a small island just south of Manhattan Island in New York City. The Girls Club is in Manhattan one of five boroughs or sections of New York City. The other sections are the Bronx, Staten Island, Queens, and Brooklyn. Most of the girls live in Manhattan, but some girls live in the Bronx.
To get to Governors Island, which has just recently been opened to the public,
we took the trains downtown, and then a ferry to the island. The ferry trip was short and upon arriving on the island we promptly started our tour. The 2 hour tour was directed by park rangers. The tour of the island took us through a history from the 16’s to the present. Historical Governors lived there in there colonial days. In the Revolutionary War it served as important military fort, which it remained until the 1940’s when the Coast Guard took it over. The Coast Guard left the island to the city in 1997. We saw two forts, all of the officer’s housing, churches, offices, etc. It was interesting to see the transition in the architecture. It was a beautiful day, and the island was so peaceful, you felt far away from NYC. We got lots of great pictures, and caught the 3pm ferry back across the Hudson to go home.

Subway to Ferry

We take the subway to the ferry to reach Governors Island.

photographer Shadae

Shadae Covers the Storey!

That's me taking my portrait in the subway station with the train speeding by.
That's a portrait of me with the digital camera on the ferry to Governors Island.

Eve Leads the Way to Governor's Island

Eve , our writing teacher, leads the way to Governor's Island the first day it is open to the public!
photographer Shadae

The trip to Governors Island

Our trip to Governors Island was a boring but cool learning experience. Our day was long but interesting.Llike most New Yorkers, our day started of with a train ride to the Governors Island ferry. Once we got to Governors Island we learned about what it was used for. Long ago at one time, it was a fort used for war then it was a housing quarters for the governor and other important government officials. Then it was used as a regular community and now it’s vacant and has no use. On the trip to Governors Island , I made a new friend. His name was James and he was one of the rangers on the island. I think that Governors Island can be put to use in so many ways. For example it could be used as housing for the homeless or for a really important matter we may face and do face, why not use the island to help decrease the population in the city which is why we have such a problem with homelessness now because we are over populated and over crowded.

By Letasha .k. Betancourt

Thank you RIVER KEEPER

Thankyou River Keeper friends for showing us the beauty of the Hudson River and teaching us how important it is to protect it.

photographer Paloma

We Made It!

Here we are with Craig and his assistant in front of the River Keeper Mountain that we had just climbed.

photographer Paloma
text Roselleen

Searching for Ticks

In this photo, Craig is teaching us how to check ourselves for ticks. If there was a tick on us and we did not find it, we could become infected with the painful Lyme disease.

photographer Paloma
text by Melanie

Hiking Down the Mountain

It is cool and shady in the heart of the forest, but that does not prevent the girls from feeling as if they are in the midst of a heatwave! Fortunately, the cool breeze coming from the Hudson River helps a little in cooling them down.

photographer Paloma
text Shadae

The Highest Point

This is Shadae. We reached the top of the mountain. The highest point was 1,000 feet. We were the first group to make it to the top. We felt proud but very, very tired.

photographer Beatrice
text Melanie

Top of the Mountain

I couldn't beleive how high the mountain was and that I made it to the top! Such a beautiful view of the Hudson River from the River Keepers Mountain.

photo by Paloma
text Jessica

The Tree

This is a normal picture of a tree in the Hudson River countryside. It is very nice being surrounded by trees in spite of the many bugs.

photograph Paloma
text Beatrice

Tree Trunk

This is a picture of one of the logs cut down for #1) the hiking path #2) the environment so animals can make homes and help the ecosystem.

photographer Paloma
text Beatrice

Sneakers

Jessica maneuvers her way across a small brook by stepping on the “stepping stones.”

photograher Paloma
text Ana

The Pond

This is a picture of the small pond that was along the trail that we hiked.

photograph & text by Latosha

Rocks

On the hike, we encountered fallen trees and plants that decompose and eventually become new soil for other plants.

photographed by Paloma
text by Ana

Ferns

This is a picture of some ferns. Craig told us that many trees had died and created lots of light around that area for ferns to grow.

text by Melanie

Broken Tree

This is a broken tree. Craig told us that once a tree dies it will decompose into the soil and create new plant life.

photographed by Paloma
text by Melanie

The Trail

This is a picture of the beginning of the hike we took up the mountain.
photographer & text by Letasha

Craig's Interview

Before the hike, the girls were asking lots of questions. One of the questions asked was if there was any wild life in the mountain that could harm them?

Photograph & text by Letasha
Posted by Renée

RiverKeepers Hike by Jennifer Suggs
The Riverkeepers in an organization dedicated to protecting the Hudson River. The organizations has a lot of lawyers working for it which take companies polluting the river to court. For example, right now the Riverkeepers have a big campaign against the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, because many people say that it poses a threat both to the environment and New York City residents. The Riverkeepers also do a lot to educate the public about the river and environmental justice issues. The Girls Club went to the Riverkeepers headquaters in upstate NY to meet with Craig, the educational outreach worker. Craig took us on a big hike this day, on the mountain just behind the headquaters. The location was beautiful because we were in the highlands overlooking the Hudson. It was a challenging hike, but the girls made it. For many of the girls, it was their first time hiking in their life!

Craig, The Riverkeeper

This is Craig the man who lead the girls through the hike, all the way to the top of the mountain.

Photographed by Letasha
Posted by Renée

Hudson River Hike

Hello this is Beatrice, your fellow narrator here. And boy am I ready to start. So um, I don’t really know how to start this so I am just going to explain what happened in these following pictures. These pictures are when we i.e.: the GALA girls when upstate to the Catskills for the Hudson River Keepers Project. This was all part of our many adventures, as I like to call them leading to the Hudson River Source. One of the activities we did up there was the 1.3 mile hike. I know it may not seem like a lot but when we finally reached the summit we all were very satisfied.

We also learned about the main purpose of having the River keepers; which was to protect the Hudson from anything that maybe harmful for the environment.

PH Testing

This is Mu and Susan. Susan is another Hudson River Project intern. She is around the same age as Mu. They are doing a PH test to test the acid of the water.

By LESGC photographer Paloma
Text by Melanie

Oysters

This is Mu, the Hudson River Project intern. He is roughly 16 years old. He is standing over the black fish tank, trying to take the fish out to show us.

By LESGC photographer Paloma M. Gonzalez Lopez
Text by Melanie Caldwell

Valerie's Portrait

This is a picture of Valerie, 14 years old and a Girls Club member. She is sitting next to the Hudson River. The pier that is behind her is used by the interns of the Hudson River Project to measure water quality.

By LESGC photographer Paloma
Text by Ana

Syringe

This is a picture of one of the interns at the Hudson River Project taking care of their daily duties of measuring the PH and salinity of water through various tests.

By LESGC photographer Paloma
Text by Ana

We Arrive

This is a picture of Renee, Beatrice, Melanie, Eve, our writing teacher and myself. We are standing in front of the Hudson River Project. The reason there are trailers is because the Hudson River Project is being remodeled.

LESGC photographer Paloma
Text by Letasha

Portrait of Jennifer

This is a picture of Jennifer, who is in charge of the G.A.L.A. program at the Girls Club. It is a program for high school girls basically to help the community.

LESGC Photographer Paloma
Text by Beatrice

HORSE SHOE CRAB

This is a picture of a Horse Shoe Crab.

LESGC photographer Paloma
Text by Beatrice

GREEN SHRIMP

Green shrimp eat plankton. The green shrimp act like filters. They are too small to eat and live on the bottom of the Hudson River.

LESGC photographer Paloma

Text by Jessica

THE FLOUNDER

LESGC photographer Paloma

Fish Traps

LESGC photographer Paloma

On the Water

This is a picture of a building directly across from the Hudson River Project.

LESGC photographer Paloma
Text by Beatrice

Beatrice's Hand

While this picture is obvious enough, this is a picture of my hand holding a crab at the Hudson River Project headquarters.

LESGC photographer Palom
Text by Beatrice

The Sea Horse

This picture is of the moment they were measuring the PH contents of the Hudson River.

LESGC photographer Ana
Text by Jessica

PH TESTING

Esta foto es de momento en que estaban mudiendo lo que contenio el agua del Hudson River. Pic PH test .jpeg
This picture is of the moment when they were measuring the PH contents of the Hudson River.

LESGC photographer Ana
Text by Paloma M. Gonzalez Lopez

Portrait of Paloma

Esta foto es de Paloma frente del Hudson River.
This picture is of me, Paloma, in front of the Hudson River.
LESGC photographer Ana
Text by Paloma

Oyster Beds

This is a picture of an oyster bed that is being studied at the Hudson River Project.
LESGC photographer Ana
Text by Letasha

Interviewing Mu

This is a picture of one of the interns at the Hudson River Project. His name is Mu and he is holding up a small crab that they are studying at the Project.
LESGC photographer Ana
Text by Letosha

Aquarium

This is a picture of the aquarium at the Hudson River Project. This picture shows a tank with fish. The water in this tank comes directly from the Hudson River, straight into a tube which goes into the tank, out through another tube.

LESGC photographer Ana
Text by Valerie

The River Project by Jennifer Suggs
The River Project is a private, non-profit marine biology field station for the protection and restoration of wildlife through research, education, and hands-on programs in urban ecology. Located at Pier 26 in downtown Manhattan, it is an excellent site to include in our Hudson River (Source to Sister Project). On this visit to the River Project the GALA girls toured the indoor facility, which contains a lot of small aquariums with fish, crabs, eels, and other wildlife from the Hudson River. This wildlife is used in the research to test for water quality of the lower Hudson River (and examine the quality of the city’s drinking water supply). The River Project interns were the leaders of this small tour, which was neat because it was teenagers teaching teenagers, and the girls paid attention. Late the River Project Staff, let small experiments out on the pier, these series of experiments were also testing water quality, level, etc. The girls were particularly interested in this activity because it put their chemistry skills to the test! They were able to see the real life applications of the chemistry experiments in school. From the tour, the girls learned about the Super Fund and how the Hudson River has been undergoing a serious clean up for over twenty years, since the days of heavy pollution in the 1960’s and before. Though the waters are cleaner today they still will not be safe for swimming and or fishing for many years to come.

The River Project

This is a picture of the home of the Hudson River Project. The photographer is Ana, one of the girls from photography class. She took this picture when we were about to enter the Project.

by GALA Girl Valerie

The Hudson River City Visit

By Letasha k Betancourt

The trip we took to the Hudson River Project was really fun. We learned a lot about the river. We got to see live specimens like sea horses and flounder and crabs. And we got to see specimens of a horseshoe crab. We had a real cool tour guide named moo he was one of the interns that showed us around. One of the cool things I learned was that it will take at least 10 to 20 more years to get the water clean enough to eat fish from it or drink water from it. The reason it’s so dirty is because of our pollution and the fact that General Electric dumps chemicals into the river polluting it even further.