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IT’S SAIL LA VIE!
City bans party boats from operating at Sheepshead Bay
pier, offers safe harbor at some other berths in borough
Booze vessels can’t set sail from
Emmons Ave pier starting in May
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
They’re offering safe harbors.
The city will help owners of
controversial party boats move
their vessels to other municipal
docks after offi cials banned
the ships from operating out of
Sheepshead Bay’s Emmons Avenue
pier.
Leaders of the Economic
Development Corporation —
whose so-called Dock NYC program
oversees fi ve borough
piers, and others in Manhattan
and Staten Island — will assist
captains of the controversial
boats with fi nding alternate
ports to set sail from, according
to a mayoral spokeswoman,
who said the ships can also dock
at privately owned berths.
“We will work to accommodate
pick-ups at appropriate
Dock NYC locations as capacity
allows. Or, they can relocate to
privately owned marinas,” said
Jane Meyer.
Starting May 1, the booze
boats will only be able to dock
at the Emmons Avenue pier
under a new ban that prohibits
the vessels from picking up and
dropping off revelers there, Assemblyman
ADRIFT: Party boats like this vessel are banned from operating out of
the Emmons Avenue pier starting May 1, according to city and state offi
cials. FIle photo by Adam Lucente Continued on page 12
Steven Cymbrowitz
(D–Sheepshead Bay) an-
Vol. 74 No. 9 BROOKLYNPAPER.COM
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
They’re lost at sea!
Party boats will offi cially
be banned from operating out
of Sheepshead Bay piers starting
this summer, a local pol
announced.
Starting May 1, the boats
will be prohibited from picking
up and dropping off passengers
at the neighborhood’s
Emmons Avenue pier, where
they will only be allowed to
dock while not in use, according
to Assemblyman Steven
Cymbrowitz (D–Sheepshead
Bay), who said the ban will alleviate
quality-of-life issues
caused by the controversial
vessels.
“This is a fair and reasonable
resolution that will help
restore Sheepshead Bay’s
quality of life during the summer
months, and bring in
weekend visitors who were reluctant
to come here because
of the crowds and backed-up
traffi c on Emmons Avenue,”
Cymbrowitz said in a Feb. 19
statement. “I’ve said all along
that you can’t have thousands
of people boarding and disembarking
from party boats
in the middle of a residential
community.”
For years, several booze
cruises set sail from the Emmons
Avenue pier, with some
boats welcoming as many as
600 passengers at a time —
some of whom would return
drunk, leading residents to
complain of noise, littering,
and fi ghts in the otherwise
sleepy seaside community.
Last April, Mayor DeBlasio
ordered the party boats
to ship off to Mill Basin after
Cymbrowitz and Councilman
Chaim Deutsch (D-Sheepshead
Bay) called for their removal.
But Mill Basinites erupted
over Hizzoner’s decree, staging
protests that stalled that
plan and left offi cials searching
for alternative docks ever
since, most recently at the
Gateway National Recreation
Area — where the Feds that
operate the park’s marina in
October said they wouldn’t be
able to accommodate the boats
Continued on page 12
Banished ships
welcome at city
piers in S’Park,
other nabes
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