'Country's Most Famous Floating Crane' Begins Journey to Hudson

Get involved and stay informed with this round-up of the week's events in our villages.

Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter, and check out the events calendar to make sure you don't miss a thing. Have an event you'd like to share with the community? Add to our calendar here.

Monday, Dec. 23

_Holiday week(s) and first order of business: the sanitation schedules. Sleepy Hollow announces:

• Monday, today: household garbage pickup for the entire village; 
• Tuesday, Dec. 24: recyclables pick up only
• Wednesday, Dec. 25: DPW, village offices closed
• The rest of the week remains as usual
• Monday, Dec. 30: Household  garbage pickup for entire Village
• Tuesday, Dec. 31: Recyclables pick up only
• Wednesday, Jan. 1: New Years’  Day, closed; but come for the New Year's Day community meal. More info here.
• The rest of the week remains as usual

_In Tarrytown: Writes Village Administrator Mike Blau, "Newspaper and cardboard will be collected on Thursday, Dec. 26 and commingle Friday Dec. 27.  If the weather turns bad the collection will be postponed until Monday the 30th and Tuesday the 31st.  The collection will be the same on New Years week."

_Don't let the bustle of the season make you overlook that STAR registration deadline and lose your Star property tax breaks. NYS requires every homeowner who receives Basic Star to register by Dec. 31. If you do not register you lose your tax breaks. If you have not received a letter from the state, call (518) 457-236 or apply online at http://www.tax.ny.gov. Note: This does not apply to enhanced STAR which must be applied for every year!

_Kids are home from school - what are you doing with them? Traveling? Hanging out and crafting? Getting them into one of these holiday camps that seems to popping up everywhere? Share your strategy and advice to parents below.

_Left Coast Lifter on the Way!

Forget SantaTracker, how about mapping the route of the Left Coast Lifter?

This weekend, writes the Thruway Authority in their latest "New NY Bridge" update, "one of the country’s most famous floating cranes will weigh anchor and begin its journey, traveling from Oakland Harbor, near San Francisco, to the site of the New NY Bridge project. Named 'The Left Coast Lifter' for its use in the replacement of the eastern span of the San Francisco—Oakland Bay Bridge, the floating crane will be used in the construction of the New NY Bridge.

"A highly experienced crew of mariners will guide the 400-foot-long crane along the West Coast, through the Panama Canal and the Gulf of Mexico, and then up the East Coast before arriving in the Hudson River. The trip is approximately 6,000-miles long and will take between six and eight weeks to complete."

Pretty impressive. Let's hope the tentative, yet still unfunded, plans for a viewing station to come to Tarrytown's riverfront will come soon.

Patch had heard the Left Coast Lifter was closer to our side of the country a while back but one Californian was quick to fact-check, providing this cool shot of the famous crane (above) and this timeline and correction. From David Hindin:

Citizens,

I write as a citizen of the San Francisco Bay Area and a keen observer of the “Left Coast Lifter.”

Despite reports of the giant crane making its way its last assignment completing the rebuild of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, in fact, the Lifter remains berthed in the Oakland Outer Harbor (OOH) at the Port of Oakland, Burma Road Terminal, Berth 7.

Your long wait for the Lifter began with a bogus tweet on 3 Jan 2013 at @NewNYBridge, the Official Twitter account for the New NY Bridge Project:

"Unique Left Coast lifter crane will save time and money. On it's way from Okland Calif. thru Panama Canal."

@NewNYBridge issued an update of sorts on 30 May 13, with this Tweet: "The Left Coast Lifter, one of the world's largest floating cranes, will sail to New York from California this summer."

The Lifter did move locally in July to a San Francisco Dry Dock for some bottom paint but returned to the Oakland berth.

Summer is over and the Lifter is still in Oakland.

David Hindin, Sunnyvale, CA

Stay tuned!

Enjoy your holiday week and stay safe!