Fleet week kicked off with a parade of ships entering the bay and sailing up the north river. The larger vessels, the USS Bataan and the HMS Protector, headed directly for their births at Pier 88 and Pier 90, but the shallower draft vessels proceeded up the north river towards the bridge before u-turning to their berths in Stapleton on Staten Island. See my article in the West Side Rag for more details: https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/05/26/the-fleet-is-in

The Bataan is the largest naval vessel to visit Pier 88 since the hospital ship USNS Comfort arrived at the height of the pandemic in April 2020.

Of course, regular commercial life went on as usual on the river. The Jennifer Turecamo remained anchored off Riverside Park and would have had a great view of the arriving ships. Sand headed north and sludge and empty tanker barges headed south.