On the morning of the Fourth of July, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill gathered on Governors Island to ring the Wavertree ship bell and welcome 40 tall ships from 28 countries into New York Harbor.
In a way, that welcoming act was made possible by Toby Haynes, an artist who splits his time between East Hampton and Cornwall, England. Mr. Haynes built the belfry that supported the bell at the behest of Chris O’Brien, the president and vice chairman of Sail4th 250, the nonprofit that organized the flotilla.
“It’s funny that an English guy should be making a bell for Independence. But both the bell and the ship came from England,” Mr. Haynes said last week. The Wavertree was built in Southampton, England, in 1885 and spent her first years transporting jute between Scotland and what is now Bangladesh and another 22 as a cargo ship. In 1970 she was brought to the South Street Seaport in Manhattan to become a part of its Street of Ships and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Long separated from the ship, the bell is usually on display at the South Street Seaport Museum
Mr. O’Brien and Mr. Haynes had worked together building a number of treehouses with Jeanie Stiles, also from East Hampton. He was looking for elements to feature as part of the tall ship celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. When the Wavertree bell became a part of it, he contacted Mr. Haynes, knowing that a wooden structure would need to be created to hold it.
“It had to be done yesterday,” Mr. Haynes recalled. And because time was of the essence, and Mr. O’Brien knew Mr. Haynes could be relied on, “there was a lot of mission creep. First it was, ‘Can you make the belfry.’ Then the podium, too, and then, ‘Can you supervise the assembly, and can you deliver it.’ “
The belfry was designed as a temporary home for the bell, in use only for the ceremony.
“This is my first belfry, I must say.”
But the Englishman originally from Essex was definitely up to the task.
“The main thing was to make it sufficiently interesting to add to the bell, but without overshadowing it, because if you look, you’ll probably find that there are some very fancy belfries on ships,” Mr. Haynes said. “It had to be relatively plain, but ornamental enough to enhance the thing.”
Mr. Haynes is also one of dozens of artists whose work will be part of the annual Box Art Auction for East End Hospice, which will be held on Aug. 22 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church’s Hoie Hall.
With Reporting by Carissa Katz
