Hoboken Mayor Moves To Rid Hudson River Of 17 Abandoned Boats

HOBOKEN, NJ — Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla and Hoboken Fire Chief Brian Crimmins announced on Thursday that the city will apply for a grant to help fund the removal of 17 sunken and abandoned sailboats in the Hudson River. The move comes days after a resident posted a petition against a slew of abandoned boats near the city's coast, first reported on Patch on Monday.

The city is asking residents to support their grant application by signing a letter.

The city will submit a grant application to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the project. They hope to be awarded as much as $104,000.

Residents can show their support for the grant application by signing a letter below from Mayor Bhalla, Chief Crimmins, and Hoboken Director of Environmental Services Jennifer Gonzalez by clicking here or visiting http://www.hobokennj.gov/boatremoval. The letter will then be provided as a part of the City’s application to NOAA.

The letter says: "Please accept this letter of support for the City's application to the FY2021 Marine Debris Removal Grant to remove sunken boats from Weehawken Cove. As residents of the city of Hoboken, we are fully supportive of this effort to create a safer, cleaner, and more beautiful shoreline. As you may know, currently there are 17 boats that have been abandoned in the Hudson River. This is of concern to our community, as not only are the sunken boats an eyesore for residents and visitors, but they are contributing to pollution in the Hudson River and adversely impacting marine life."

The city is partnering with Riverkeeper, a 53-year old non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and restore the Hudson River, to seek funding.

"Removing abandoned and derelict vessels will eliminate the potential release of harmful metals and chemicals, such as oil and mercury, as well as plastics and fiberglass as they deteriorate, thereby reducing the harm caused to the Hudson River," the letter states. "Removing sunken vessels is part of the city’s overall initiative to improve Weehawken Cove, including:

• Construction of Cove Park, a resiliency park that enhances our flood mitigation infrastructure.
• Installation of a living shoreline that supports growth of marine mollusks that naturally filter water and attract a more robust marine habitat.
• Educational activities and volunteer opportunities to restore and maintain critical wildlife ecology.
• Possible installation of a reef in or near Weehawken Cove.
• Ongoing maintenance of Hoboken’s waterfront walkway through public/private partnerships."

Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher said on Thursday, "This is such a great opportunity and I want to thank Chief Crimmins and Director Gonzalez for working together with the Riverkeeper to find and pursue this amazing grant. There’s so much potential for our historic Weehawken Cove and removing the boats is a critical and long overdue step, one that would not have been taken without the advocacy of Hoboken residents.”

A petition posted online by residents last week reads, "For several years, Hoboken Cove has become a 'dump' for unwanted boats. These abandoned boats are not protected from the elements and most have sunk. The sunken boats with their skeletal masts rising out of the water ruin the aesthetics of our beautiful cove and pose potential environmental issues."

The petitioners say that with winter coming, it'll be harder to exhume the defunct vessels.

According to a Patch story from 2015, the city of Hoboken said it had no responsibility to remove the boats.

In 2017, Hoboken-based novelist Jeff Somers summed up, "Boats have been abandoned and left to sink in the cove for a long time, and every now and then a news organization looks into it, gets as far as discovering that city and county officials don’t care, the Department of Environmental Protection isn’t concerned, and the Coast Guard isn’t interested before giving up."

In 2018, the city of Hoboken announced it had spent money to remove four boats. A councilwoman said she feared teens would climb on them, among other issues.

A Reddit user explained, "It's a boat graveyard for those that want to avoid proper disposal (and associated fees) of their craft, and don't care about littering the Hudson."

One woman who signed the new petition had this to say: "It's about damn time."

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