The Municipal Archives picture collections – the mayoral series in particular – are an inexhaustible source for documenting events in the city’s history. And of those, Mayor Koch’s collection rarely disappoints. The camera loved Koch (or maybe it was the other way around).  A recent search for a picture to show how the city celebrated Independence Day during his administration brought up the file for Harbor Festival ’85.  The folder included pictures taken by the Mayor’s photographer Holland (Holly) Wemple, a briefing sheet about the event for the Mayor, and a transcript of his speech at the opening ceremony.

Sponsored by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Independence Day Harbor Festival celebration dated back to the Bicentennial in 1976. “Nation of Nations” was the theme for 1985, and Mayor Koch was invited to ride as Grand Marshal in a “Cavalcade” of 100 antique and classic cars. Starting at the World Trade Center and ending at the Battery, the Cavalcade was the climax of a race that began in southern California one week earlier. Before being escorted to the lead car, a 1933 Chrysler, by “Uncle Sam,” and “The Statue of Liberty,” (on stilts), Mayor Koch made opening remarks: 

Hi, Everyone,

I’m happy to celebrate with you this afternoon the historic and contemporary importance of New York harbor, and delighted to serve as Grand Marshal of the Harbor Festival ’85 Cavalcade.

As a municipality composed of one peninsula, two islands, and part of a third, New York is a city whose waterways first put us on the map and soon made us the world’s busiest port city. Three and a half centuries into New York City’s history, our waterways are still shaping our character. The passing years have increased their immense commercial and recreational value to us.

Our harbor created our historic role as our nation’s gateway city, embracing the immigrants who made us a “Nation of Nations,” welcoming them to American freedom and opportunity. This function of our harbor helped make New York the dynamic city it is, because so many immigrants and their descendants stayed here to build our city, their rich diversity adding strength to New York’s cultural, intellectual, and economic vitality.

Tens of thousands of New Yorkers benefit directly from the multitude of activities on our busy waterways and waterfront, and all of us depend on them indirectly every day.  But New York City’s bicentennial celebration and Op-Sail focused public attention, as no events had in decades, on these invaluable resources that had too long been taken for granted.

Watching the renewed pride in our harbor grow since then has been gratifying, and that intensified interest has contributed to our city’s new prosperity. Harbor Festival has added to the momentum begun in ‘76, and Harbor Festival ’85 promises to surpass even last year’s in its scope and variety.

Under the guidance of Alan Sagner and Peter Goldmark, the Port Authority has played an outstanding role in New York harbor’s resurgence, and I’d like to express the City’s gratitude to them, to Robert Johnson and Newsday for sponsoring today’s exciting activities, and to everyone responsible for Harbor Festival ’85.

Have a great Fourth of July, everyone!

Thank you.  

In the decades since Mayor Koch celebrated the diversity of New York City and the importance of its harbor, new immigrants have continued to arrive, now making up almost 40% of the population. Many miles of the revitalized waterfront are now lined with parks, bikeways, and recreational facilities.

Echoing Mayor Koch, “Have a great Fourth of July, everyone!