By
Charter Boats
A Celebration Yacht Charter
1 World's Fair Marina
Flushing
718-899-7838
50 to 200 people at affordable prices.
Cloud Nine Marine Enterprise
25-32 Francis Lewis Blvd., at 168th St. (office)
Flushing
Minimum 110 people for big boat, 50 for little boat.
Boats are docked at World's Fair Marina, by Shea Stadium
718-321-0013
Skyline Cruises
1 World's Fair Marina
Pier 1 in Flushing Meadows, adjacent to Shea Stadium
718-446-1100
Parties 1-400 people, sightseeing tours around New York Harbor
Skyline Princess sails year round, three levels, fully enclosed and climate controlled.
Marinas
While most people think of parks as green spaces, there is also a substantial amount of water under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks and Recreation. This includes small ponds, lakes and streams that are located in many parks, as well as areas such as marinas and mooring fields.
The Department of Parks & Recreation has jurisdiction over 13 marinas, three of which are operated by the Marine Division of Parks. The remaining 10 are operated as concessions. DPR operates the marinas in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, the 79th Street Boat Basin in Manhattan and the World's Fair Marina in Queens. The 79th Street Boat Basin also has a kayak/canoe launch.
Concessionaires operate the marinas in Hammonds Cove in the Bronx; Mill Basin, Hudson River Yacht Club, Midget Squadron Yacht Club, Diamond Point Yacht Club, Sebago Canoe Club, and Paerdegat Squadron Yacht Club in Brooklyn; Dyckman Street in Manhattan; Bayside in Queens; and Lemon Creek in Staten Island. In total, DPR marinas support over 2,500 recreational boats each year.
These marinas have great variety in size and usage by DPR and concessionaires. The three marinas operated by DPR vary in size and slips and all have a waiting list for space. The fees charged for docking vary based on the size of the vessel, the season which one is docking, and the location of the marina. The same variety exists for concessionaires. While many of the yacht clubs are private and may require some sponsorship in order to join, there are some marinas that provide a diversity in public use.
The Sebago Canoe Club in Canarsie, Brooklyn, is a volunteer-run, not for profit, membership organization that allows the public to join and provides members with the use of the clubhouse, club boats, and boat storage. The club provides instruction in sea kayaking, sailing, and flatwater racing. The club has an “Open Paddle” program running from Memorial Day to Labor Day that offers the public the opportunity to kayak in Jamaica Bay for free on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. This kind of not-for-profit program is a model on how marinas can be made accessible to the public in a more affordable fashion.
Marinas serve the community by providing access to the water, supporting the shorelines and they are advocates of proper boating procedures. They also make an economic impact on the community through the sales of food, fuel and other services to boaters. Marinas have a vital importance to the communities they service as they are seen as gateways to a larger urban area.
In many circumstances, the general public has the perception of boating and its related services as a privileged activity. Marinas are often perceived as being outside of the community or as serving a special group instead of being recognized as part of the overall community. This perception needs to be changed, the City Council said in a preface to a hearing held in 2004.
Visit www.nycgovparks.org, click on facilities, then boating and marinas for further information.
