Police and Coast Guard vessels converged on a cruise boat before a late night party on Friday, July 9. The boat was a Stamford, Connecticut, vessel named Annabel Lee, stationed that night on Pier 1, but never before seen in Sheepshead Bay.
NYPD officials on the scene declined to comment, and the party eventually went forward. But we’ve heard that they were likely cited for liquor license violations.
In the above video, you can see party promoters carrying liquor onto the ship just before an NYPD vessel came alongside it. The NYPD boat docked at Pier 2, where a number of officers unloaded and met on the sidewalk. They then entered the Annabel Lee just minutes after 11:00 p.m. and stayed on board for approximately an hour. Plainclothes detectives came on board at around 11:30, and a Coast Guard vessel stayed next to the cruise boat the entire time.
Last week’s removal of a sunken boat near the Ocean Avenue footbridge made me reminisce about the old Coast Guard cutter that was moored nearby for the majority of my life. The Cartigan, as it was called, and pictured above when it was still brand spankin’ new, was built and delivered in 1927. It served our country for 42 years, before being decommissioned in 1969. I was about to write my own history about this fine vessel, but then I found this amazing article in the New York Times that I think did it justice, written when the boat was removed from our waters in 2004.
Here’s an excerpt:
For more than 30 years, the Cartigan, a decommissioned 125-foot cutter that, according to legend, once chased Nazi submarines, squatted and rotted by the quaint footbridge across Sheepshead Bay. Its owner and part-time resident, a retired bridge painter and boat dealer named Nicholas Mitchell, defied all attempts to force its removal, disagreeing vigorously with those who called the Cartigan a symbol of Sheepshead Bay’s long decline and, later, a barrier to its renewal. Opponents of the boat got their big break last year, when the Cartigan keeled over like a sclerotic uncle.
We just received these photos of a small sailboat slamming into the Ocean Avenue footbridge, near the Manhattan Beach side. We’re not sure yet what happened or if there’s any damage. But from the looks of it, the boat somehow became unanchored and drifted with the storm’s choppy waves, eventually hitting the bridge. Please leave any info you have in the comments. We’ll update you as we find out more. (Photos and tips courtesy of nolastname)
UPDATE (6:55 p.m.): I’ve been out of the ‘hood all day, and now I’m getting reports that the wind and rain are incredibly bad and doing a lot of damage. Reportedly, the marina is overflowing and water is splashing onto the sidewalks and the bridge. Gusts are also taking down signs in the area.
Perhaps most importantly, the wind has taken out power, phone, and cable lines in a few spots. Please be careful and stay inside! It goes without saying, but downed power lines can be very dangerous.
Please take photos/video of damage and send it over to us. More importantly, be safe!
