I have been staying at Liberty Landing Marina for a few nights each season over the past several years. I have enjoyed it for its helpful and accommodating staff, protected slips and unrivaled view of Manhattan along with everything else that has made it, in my opinion, a great place to stay. The new marine center is an enormously positive addition. The marina's spectacular new restrooms are unrivaled and the ship's store is extremely well-stocked with both general marine supplies and basic conveniences from coffee to toothpaste. I was told by staff there that the building is contracted to be completed by July 4th and will include a casual grill restaurant and something more formal. It is the kind of facility that makes LL truly world-class.
Having said all that, I wanted to make people aware of something I experienced during my recent stay there. It was my first time as a transient when a вЂbooze cruise' was running from Liberty Landing's fuel dock. If you have stayed there before, you know that the fuel dock shares the same pier as the transient docks and therefore the same gated entrance. In past years, I have never known this gate to be locked, day or night. This year I was given key cards for the new marine center restrooms which also worked for the gate to the docks, although it was never closed and locked.
While I was aware of the line of people streaming down the dock to board the cruise before it departed, that part of the evening was uneventful. But it was a much different scene upon the boat's return. Sometime around midnight as passengers disembarked, many of them were drunk and disorderly, some hanging around, smoking on the fuel dock and others stumbling around on the main docks. I observed one individual board a deck boat tied closest to the main pier, cigarette in hand, seemingly attempting to figure out how to start it. Another transient asked if it was his boat to which the cruise guest responded, “no, so what are you going to do about it?" The individual then untied the boat's stern line before stumbling away. The boat (which turned out to be LL's work boat) swung around with the exposed prop coming within inches of the neighboring Hinckley Picnic Boat's blue hull, if it didn't in fact touch.
The same transient who attempted to intervene approached the cruise boat's disinterested captain who rudely responded to the suggestion that he needed to secure the situation by saying, “we have insurance." A polite but ineffective Liberty Landing security guard eventually appeared but it was transients who waited by the gate for everyone to leave before securing it themselves at 1:30am. The dockmaster was informed the next day and I am told he said this would be investigated and dealt with.
If Liberty Landing is going to continue to risk the reputation of their marina by running these cruises without proper security lining the docks and escorting guests to land, I would strongly encourage anyone staying there to be sure they are awake and standing by their vessel if a booze cruise is planned for a night of your stay. Imagine if a boat with people aboard was untied without anyone paying attention. It could have happened just as easily.
Having said all that, I wanted to make people aware of something I experienced during my recent stay there. It was my first time as a transient when a вЂbooze cruise' was running from Liberty Landing's fuel dock. If you have stayed there before, you know that the fuel dock shares the same pier as the transient docks and therefore the same gated entrance. In past years, I have never known this gate to be locked, day or night. This year I was given key cards for the new marine center restrooms which also worked for the gate to the docks, although it was never closed and locked.
While I was aware of the line of people streaming down the dock to board the cruise before it departed, that part of the evening was uneventful. But it was a much different scene upon the boat's return. Sometime around midnight as passengers disembarked, many of them were drunk and disorderly, some hanging around, smoking on the fuel dock and others stumbling around on the main docks. I observed one individual board a deck boat tied closest to the main pier, cigarette in hand, seemingly attempting to figure out how to start it. Another transient asked if it was his boat to which the cruise guest responded, “no, so what are you going to do about it?" The individual then untied the boat's stern line before stumbling away. The boat (which turned out to be LL's work boat) swung around with the exposed prop coming within inches of the neighboring Hinckley Picnic Boat's blue hull, if it didn't in fact touch.
The same transient who attempted to intervene approached the cruise boat's disinterested captain who rudely responded to the suggestion that he needed to secure the situation by saying, “we have insurance." A polite but ineffective Liberty Landing security guard eventually appeared but it was transients who waited by the gate for everyone to leave before securing it themselves at 1:30am. The dockmaster was informed the next day and I am told he said this would be investigated and dealt with.
If Liberty Landing is going to continue to risk the reputation of their marina by running these cruises without proper security lining the docks and escorting guests to land, I would strongly encourage anyone staying there to be sure they are awake and standing by their vessel if a booze cruise is planned for a night of your stay. Imagine if a boat with people aboard was untied without anyone paying attention. It could have happened just as easily.
