Harlem Rocket – For Kids and Community

Ride the Rocket, learn about the history and culture of the Upper Manhattan and Harlem waterfront, and help introduce New York’s youth to a host of maritime career paths

About Our Campaign

Mentoring youth, empowering our community, sharing our history and culture, and bringing families and friends together — that’s The Harlem Rocket vision. This fun, fast boat tour is the first family-friendly attraction to launch at the award-winning West Harlem Piers. It’s the spark for new opportunities for youth enrichment, workforce training, maritime jobs, and an activated, exciting riverside magnet for tourism and more. Contribute today to access discounted Rocket rides and special perks, all while supporting New York’s youth by opening their eyes to new experiences and career opportunities on New York’s waterways — because “A Kid Can’t Be What a Kid Can’t See!”

Restore Harlem’s Working Waterfront

Created in Harlem. Created for everyone. Riding on the Harlem Rocket is more than an exciting excursion. It’s a way to create jobs, bring people together, and invest in our future. It’s a cultural and historic tour and will reclaim the working waterfront for our legacy of maritime activity historically rooted in Black and Brown communities worldwide.

Why will Harlem Rocket help spur this future? There are two key reasons your contribution will make a difference:

Beginning in the Summer of 2023, the Harlem Rocket activates the revitalization of the West Harlem Piers. Acting as an economic development engine, it will create jobs in maritime tourism and bring new customers to local businesses such as restaurants and retail, spurring additional local hiring, while being the centerpiece of youth outreach, mentoring and education.

As early supporters to our launch, you earn big perks as you support our kids and community. Major donors earn branded recognition, VIP tickets, special events and more. (See all of the perks here on Indiegogo, including more detail at the bottom of this page!)

Besides our humble gratitude, we’re rewarding Rocket Riders with some pretty great (if we do say so ourselves) perks for you generous people! We have deep discounts, free rides, lifetime passes, and sunset cruises. Plus, we offer VIP access to special events and more. Most of all, you will sponsor explorations in the harbor for New York City kids, job training for youth, and access for neighborhood nonprofits and congregations.

For many, the Rocket will open their eyes to maritime experiences for the first time, often just a few blocks from their homes. We’ll open new vistas together – because “A Kid Can’t Be What a Kid Can’t See!”

How We’ll Do It – Together!

We’ve already raised funding to acquire our 90-passenger boat, which is in overhaul at the Derecktor New York Shipyards. Now we’re looking to raise $100,000 through this campaign, in small-dollar contributions to be matched and exceeded by corporate and institutional funding, including by recognized sponsors. This will contribute additional capital to launch our vessel, begin training new hires, expand career paths, and guarantee a rich array of kids and community and programming. You haven’t seen New York until you Ride The Rocket!

What You Get

Because this is pre-launch, we’ve put together some pretty neat perks including major ride discounts, special access, and events with local Harlem hotspots. How about unlimited/lifetime passes for four! A scenic tour followed by a cozy dinner at the renowned Melba’s restaurant? You can even donate tickets for a curated tour for a boatload of kids from your church or after-school program or charter a sunset cruise for your corporation or non-profit!

Michael Preston and Garry Johnson of Harlem Rocket with legendary sailor Captain Bill Pinkney by the schooner Amistad, renowned for the 1839 Amistad Uprising, a lesson in racial justice. Photo: O & Co. Media.
 

The Impact

A Kid Can’t Be What a Kid Can’t See: The Harlem Rocket offers a gateway to a new world of learning, enjoyment, and employment. Your Rocket Rider contribution creates fun rides but, more importantly, it directly benefits deserving children and students in New York City who will be inspired by and learn about the fascinating and growing world of maritime industries.

The Harlem Rocket is also part of a vision to create an economic development initiative designed to transform Harlem’s award-winning West Harlem Piers at 125th Street into a one-of-a-kind tourist destination and cultural center employing hundreds of local residents. (Learn more here about possible future attractions and community impact.)

Bringing new tourism and investment to Harlem, these waterfront activities will engage community members in ways never seen. The rich history, culture and flavor of Harlem will energize the riverside experience, benefit longstanding area businesses while attracting new ones.

Support

The Harlem Rocket concept has been met with great enthusiasm by local residents, respected community organizations, and elected officials. Our team has been recently featured in a host of print media including MarineLink and Black Enterprise magazine and to TV audiences on ABC-TV and PIX-11 News. We have also been fortunate to obtain support from major corporate partners including marine electronics leader Raymarine and the acclaimed Black-owned entertainment group UniverSoul Circus. But we still need your support to launch our workforce development model to create the exciting career opportunities and jobs that empower local communities and sustain scalable economic development. And let’s launch the first major new tourist attraction in Harlem in over 30 years!

Why Maritime Matters

The U.S. Marine Transportation System (MTS) is critical to national security and the economic prosperity of the United States, with 361 ports sustaining $5.4 trillion of economic activity each year. As this field continues to evolve to meet the demands of a global economy and growing populations, it also faces big challenges — aging infrastructure, security threats, keeping pace with technology, and meeting growing shipyard demands.

Seeking a diverse, multidisciplinary, and well-trained workforce, the maritime sector is battling a decade of steady decline in qualified personnel. Workforce development is a hot topic and critical need, from training mariners and shipyard personnel to creating opportunities for many economically disadvantaged communities located near these very same ports and shipyards. This is how we fit in! Plus, there are new opportunities: New York now has five offshore wind projects in active development – the largest offshore wind pipeline in the nation, which will need thousands of new workers in maritime-related fields.

Who We Are

The cofounders of The Harlem Rocket bring specialized and complementary expertise in maritime operations, development, large-scale venues and public attractions. Garry Anthony Johnson and Michael A. Preston are the founders of Paradise Express Ferry, the parent company of the Harlem Rocket. Garry also brings fiduciary leadership from his 30 years in real estate development and management. A member of the U.S. Naval Institute, for the past 15 years Garry has also volunteered as Economic Development Chair of the NAACP New York State Conference.

Michael A. Preston is cofounder and vice president of customer experience for the Harlem Rocket and Paradise Express Ferry. He is a board member of HARLEM WEEK and has managed the Harlem Mile of the New York City Marathon. Previously Michael managed customer service at the Atlanta Civic Center.

Founding patrons of the Harlem Rocket include the “coolest show on earth,” UniverSoul Circus, as well as Raymarine, part of Nasdaq-listed corporation Teledyne FLIR.

Other Ways You Can Help

Spread the word! It’s that simple. We appreciate your endorsements and each and every share on social media or through other channels. Invite your family, friends and groups to experience Harlem Rocket! It’s a new way, both exhilarating and edifying, to learn more about Harlem and experience New York City on the water.

Thank you!

Our Special Offers and Perks

$50
Discovery Expedition – Any Two tickets (E.g., 1 adult and 1 child) – $70 value – 28% Off!

$100
Family Favorite Fun Pack! Any combination of 4 Adult, Children/Senior tickets – $160 value. 37% Off!

$250
FEATURED PERK: The Entertainer Value Pass! – Total of 12 tickets: Show off to friends and family when they’re in town! $480 value. Save almost 50%

$500
Captain’s Club Member – Be recognized as the VIP that you are and never have to pay again! Membership allows priority boarding and admission of up to 4 Adults, Seniors or Children — indefinitely – that means tour anytime, as many times as you want. Forever! Yes, forever!

$5,000
The Philanthropist I – Show your heart. It takes a Village! Donate 80 Tickets to your favorite church, youth group or nonprofit! We’ll thank you with dinner for 2 at Melba’s and we’ll make you a Captain’s Club Member – which allows priority boarding and admission for up to 4 Adults, any time, every time, forever!

$10,000
The Philanthropist II – Go the extra mile—and let us handle it for you! Luxury Coach to pick up and return 80 guests from your favorite church, youth group or non-profit! Plus free Rocket T-Shirts and lunch at nearby Dinosaur BBQ for all! We’ll thank you with dinner for 2 at Melba’s and make you a Captain’s Club Member—Admission for up to 4 Adults, any time, forever!

$10,000
Corporate Captains – Reserve a private Sunset Charter for 60 of your staff, clients, or best friends, while 10% of your contribution will go toward supporting minority students at SUNY Maritime. We’ll put your corporate logo or your name on our Step & Repeat, and you’ll get a photo OP at our launch event, for which we’ll provide you 4 VIP tickets and add your name in the Launch Program, which will be issued that day.

About The Harlem Rocket

The Harlem Rocket by Paradise Express Ferry, is an exciting high-speed tour on the Hudson River along the famed Harlem and Upper Manhattan waterfront, launched from the award-winning West Harlem Piers. It is as thrilling as it is educational, focusing on the many historical and cultural contributions of the dynamic people who have lived and worked in Harlem, Washington Heights and neighboring communities.

The uniquely branded, immersive maritime experience, will be integrated with novel drone, AI, and cloud-storage technologies in the near future, enabling guests to capture and share their experiences of the Upper Manhattan waterfront and the NYC skyline like never before. It will also utilize a workforce development model that will create exciting career opportunities and jobs that empower local communities and sustain scalable economic development. This includes exposing area youth to the myriad of career opportunities available in the maritime space, because as we like to say, “A Kid Can’t Be What A Kid Can’t See!”

The Harlem Rocket concept has been met by local government and community leaders with great enthusiasm and it will be the first major new tourist attraction in Harlem in over 30 years! It is also stirring discussion about future proposed developments on the Harlem Waterfront under the Harlem Waterfront Gateway Initiative (harlemwaterfront.com). With these exciting projects and other uniquely branded immersive maritime experiences in development, Paradise Express is positioned to be one of the world’s most innovative and exciting entertainment companies, creating local jobs and unforgettable experiences.