The Sailing Ship That Went in the Wrong Direction

New York Times

19-05-2025

Good morning. It's Monday. We'll get details on the Mexican naval vessel that crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday. We'll also find out about a change in leadership at Citizens Union, a venerable good-government group.
For investigators, one of the immediate questions about the Mexican navy training vessel that hit the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday was why it was going in the wrong direction.
The 297-foot ship, the Cuauhtémoc, edged out of Pier 17 in Manhattan around sunset on Saturday, bound for Iceland. Naval cadets stood in formation on the rigging, its lights shimmering brightly — a proud display after four days in New York.
It was supposed to make a quick refueling stop in Brooklyn, then head out to sea.
Instead, it appeared to go stern first toward the bridge, its masts snapping as they hit the span. Two people were killed and at least 22 others were injured, including 11 who remained in critical condition on Sunday, according to the Mexican Navy. No one on the bridge was hurt, and city officials said the bridge did not sustain serious damage.
Another question has to do with a tugboat that was alongside the Cuauhtémoc in images and videos on social media. The Coast Guard said that foreign vessels like the Cuauhtémoc are required to have a tugboat 'escort/assist.' McAllister Towing, a venerable New York tug service, said that one of its vessels had assisted the Cuauhtémoc as it left Pier 17. The company, which said it was cooperating with the authorities, said it would not comment on the accident.
But Senator Charles Schumer of New York said that the Cuauhtémoc 'did not use a tugboat's assistance' and that the tugboat 'pictured in widely posted videos was responding after the fact, not assisting before.'
The ship had left Acapulco on an eight-month good-will tour in April. Its itinerary included stops in New York; Reykjavik, Iceland; and ports in Barbados, Cuba, Jamaica, England, Scotland, and Spain. Its captain told the cadets onboard that 'this training cruise will be a school without walls.' He said that they would learn from 'every maneuver, every dawn at sea and every challenge we face together as one crew.'
The commander of the Mexican navy, Adm. Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, said in a statement on Sunday that cadets who were not injured would continue their training. 'We know that every sailing trip involves risks inherent to our seafaring vocation,' Admiral Morales Ángeles said.
Today will be sunny and breezy with a high near 73. Tonight, expect a mostly clear sky with a high near 52.
In effect until May 26 (Memorial Day).
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For a venerable good government group, a 'generational change'
What good can a good-government group in New York do these days?
'More than ever, I would argue,' said John Avlon, who is the chairman of one — Citizens Union, formed 128 years ago by luminaries like the financier J. Pierpont Morgan, the department-store magnate Benjamin Altman and the journalist Carl Schurz. 'New York needs a new era of reform. That should be self-evident.'
Citizens Union itself is entering a new era, one of what Avlon called 'generational change.' Betsy Gotbaum, 86, the former public advocate who had been the executive director of Citizens Union for seven years, retired. She is being replaced by Grace Rauh, 46, a former NY1 television reporter who has been the executive director of another nonpartisan public policy group, the 5Boro Institute.
She and Avlon said that Mayor Eric Adams's indictment on federal corruption charges — and their dismissal, at the request of the Trump administration — had made the group's work all the more important. Citizens Union endorsed Adams in 2021. But in February, it called for his resignation after what it called 'a 'quid pro quo' deal,' with the Justice Department dropping the charges and Adams cooperating on Trump's immigration crackdown. Last month, Citizens Union also suggested changing the way mayors could be removed amid allegations of misconduct.
'What is happening on a local level, with the backdrop of what's happening in Washington, has deepened the level of concern and highlighted the fact that Citizens Union is a nonpartisan organization,' Rauh said. 'Issues of corruption ethics and cronyism are not only the purview of one party or another.'
Avlon added, 'The Adams scandals to an unusual degree highlight the corrupting influence of a federal government that is not committed to upholding our democratic norms.'
Avlon, 52, was an anchor and political analyst on CNN and was a top editor at The Daily Beast who had earlier worked as a City Hall speechwriter and political adviser when Rudolph Giuliani was mayor. Last year, he ran as a Democrat for a House seat on eastern Long Island. He lost to the Republican, Representative Nick LaLota.
He succeeded Randy Mastro as the chairman of Citizens Union in December. Mastro had withdrawn his nomination to be the city's top lawyer after it became clear that the City Council was unlikely to approve it; in March, Adams named Mastro the first deputy mayor.
Two proposals from Citizens Union were among the recommendations in the preliminary staff report of the city's Charter Revision Commission that was issued last month — one to hold local elections in New York City in even-numbered years, the same as federal and state elections, the other to permit open primaries. That would let voters in the city cast ballots for any candidate, regardless of party affiliation. Under the current rules, the city's more than one million unaffiliated voters have to sit out the primaries.
Gotbaum said she retired because 'as a friend of mine said, 'Who works at 86?'' She added: I did feel it was time.' She said that she was joining the board of Citizens Union 'so I can help with the fund-raising, which is what they really need me for.' She said she also wanted to work on a new project, apart from Citizens Union, to set up a call center for Social Security recipients who cannot get through because the Trump administration's planned job cuts have reduced staffing levels.
The big man
Dear Diary:
In 1984, I was fresh out of college and living on East 44th Street and Second Avenue. I had an entry-level job on East 74th and I took the Second Avenue bus home every night.
Once, someone reached into my purse while I was on the bus and stole my wallet without my even noticing. The thief got my credit cards, my driver's license, and what little cash I had. (I didn't carry much at the time since I only made about $186 a week.)
What was truly devastating was the loss of a Heineken label I had been carrying in my wallet for some time. It was from a memorable evening.
I was at Big Man's West in Red Bank, N.J., a club owned by Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band. I was sitting at a table with Clarence himself.
Out of sheer nervousness, I had peeled the Heineken label off a bottle in one piece. Clarence saw me do it, took the label and signed it: 'Right on! Love, The Big Man, Clarence Clemons.'
I could get a new license and credit cards, but that label was irreplaceable.
About three weeks later, I received a notice from the post office. A package with $1.08 postage due was waiting for me there.
It turned out that the thief had taken the money and then tossed my wallet into a mailbox. I got back my license, credit cards and, unbelievably, the Heineken label!
I still have it to this day but no longer carry it with me. I know I couldn't get that lucky twice.
— Mandy Cooper
Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B.
P.S. Here's today's Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.
Makaelah Walters and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at [e-mail].
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