Hoboken Loses Historic Ship After City, Crew Can't Reach Docking Agreement

The one-of-a-kind 106-year-old ferry-turned-houseboat that’s attracted the attention of residents, tourists and television show producers since docking in Hoboken seven years ago left town Tuesday.

Yankee Ferry, a steel-hulled passenger ferry with a remarkable history that includes stints as a Navy-commissioned transport ship during World War I and II, and an Ellis Island immigrant ferry and Statue of Liberty tour boat in the 1920s, was tugged from Pier 12 to her new home across the Hudson in Red Hook, Brooklyn, as crew members perched atop the ship’s deck crooned farewells and waved to supporters below. 

“It’s a total loss for Hoboken,” said resident Colleen Castle, one of about 40 well-wishers who saw Yankee off just after 5 p.m. “It’s something you’re never going to see again.”

After spending its first six years in the Mile Square City docked at a private pier in the Shipyard Marina, Yankee relocated two piers south to city-owned Pier 12 on a temporary emergency basis following Superstorm Sandy.

Yankee crewmember and manager Josh Rasp said the ship’s owners, artists Richard and Victoria Mackenzie-Childs, had hoped to work out a permanent arrangement to keep the ship in Hoboken, but a deal could not be struck. Yankee received an eviction notice from the city in April, followed by a verbal notification in June that it had to vacate the pier within days.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer said Tuesday that Yankee’s owners had received ample time to work out a plan for docking the ship in either Hoboken or elsewhere, and that the decision to evict them came after several time extensions. She said that recent construction office and fire department inspections of the ship found multiple serious violations, including various electrical problems that needed to be resolved. 

Rasp acknowledged that the ship requires some updates to meet fire code standards — which he said will be made immediately — but claims the city has never seriously engaged the crew’s repeated attempts to negotiate a deal to keep Yankee in Hoboken. 

“We wanted to sign a contract, just to legitimize this whole thing, but they kept being non-responsive,” he said. “I think really they never really wanted to have any relationship with us.” 

Rasp said after Yankee received its eviction notice in April for “being a private vessel on a public pier,” the crew devised a plan to seek non-profit certification and gave city officials a presentation aboard the ship regarding their intention to become a satellite of the Hoboken Historical Museum and host an exhibit on the ship’s cargo deck.

Rasp said the officials seemed keen on the plan and expressed a desire to discuss things further — even telling the crew to disregard the eviction notice — but nothing came of it. When the Yankee crew approached Zimmer during her open office hours in June, Rasp said she told them there would be no further discussion. The Yankee had to vacate the pier post-haste.

Rasp said the crew was devastated by the news because they really wanted to stay.

“Hoboken is our home, we do love it here. We wanted to open up and provide to the city, but the city just doesn’t want us here,” he said. “So now we’re leaving. And everyone that we tell is very sad about it. Everyone says, ‘I can’t believe what this city is coming to. First Maxwell’s, now this.’

“Many people have said all the cool things are leaving Hoboken and it’s true,” Rasp continued. “This is one of the most unique things in the world and we were ready and willing and wanting to open it for the neighborhood, but we needed the partnership with the city and they just never even wanted to even delve into it on a serious level.”

Zimmer was adamant Tuesday that while the Yankee had to go, she would welcome the ship back to Hoboken provided its owners develop a comprehensive plan for operating as a non-profit enterprise and keeping the aging ferry up to code, and present the plan for approval before city council.

Whether the Yankee crew takes her up on the offer remains to be seen. Rasp said they’d had trouble finding another spot to stay because of the ship’s age, size and the general lack of space available for docking ships near New York City, but that recent discussions with the owner of a pier in Red Hook, Brooklyn had been fruitful.

“We should be in Red Hook and hopefully we can be in a new place where we can really flourish and provide to the community over there,” said Rasp, who called living aboard the Yankee “the most fertile experience” of his life.

In addition to guided tours, Yankee has hosted photo shoots, concerts, movie nights, brainstorming sessions for corporate think tanks and even offers a stay aboard program for people who want to experience life overnight on an historic ship.