One of the best days of a man\u2019s life may be the day he gets rid of his boat, but it\u2019s among the worst for the city.<\/p>\n
More than 500 rusting and decaying boats are littered throughout the Big Apple\u2019s winding waterways, some of which have been bobbing for close to a century \u2013 and locals are growing sick of the eyesores.<\/p>\n
The city has plucked just 85 abandoned ships from the shores over the last 14 months as part of a slow-moving, expensive project bogged down by archaic marine laws.<\/p>\n
There are more than 500 abandoned boats cluttering New York City\u2019s waterways. Stefano Giovannini<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want to get that cleaned up. It\u2019s been like that forever,\u201d Brock Weiner, head of the College Point Civic and Taxpayers Association, told The Post.<\/p>\n
The seaside Queens nabe has roughly eight derelict boats leaking rust, fuel and other pollutants in its waters, hazards residents have been complaining about for decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing back 100 years, you could get lobsters out of there and you could get clams out of there. It\u2019s been polluted for a long time \u2013 120 years ago, it wasn\u2019t like that, Weiner said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The city has cleared 87 decrepit vessels from the Big Apple\u2019s 520 linear miles of shoreline since launching the Office of Marine Debris Disposal and Vessel Surrendering last spring.<\/p>\n
The Parks Department cleaned up 87 abandoned vessels over the last 14 months. stefano giovannini 2025<\/p>\n
\u201cThey definitely pose hazards for people who are on the water and they\u2019re just a real blight on the neighborhood,\u201d said Coastal Preservation Network president Kat Cervino. stefano giovannini 2025<\/p>\n
When collected, the parks department disassembles and crushes abandoned vessels. NYC Parks<\/p>\n
The office, a subsection of the Parks Department, was created to clean up the more than 600 estimated derelict ships, which not only blemish the city\u2019s waterways but also act as a hazard to operating boats and seriously pollute the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the office has been bogged down by archaic marine laws, dating back to the 17th century, that were established to protect the cargo on \u201cwrecks\u201d from being pillaged \u2013 an issue that is no longer relevant to the fiberglass pleasure cruisers currently befouling the Big Apple\u2019s shorelines.<\/p>\n
Progress on cleaning up the skiffs and sloops is also hampered by a high price tag, costing roughly $7,000 to remove a single boat and transport it to a designated marina to be disassembled and crushed.<\/p>\n
Debris from abandoned boats has become a fixture along the coast of College Point, Queens. stefano giovannini 2025<\/p>\n
Complicating the clean-up process even further is how far-reaching the problem is.<\/p>\n