Paddle-Wheel Boat Breaks Loose From Hudson Pier
NEW YORK (AP/CBSNewYork) -- A police boat and a commuter ferry helped tow an empty paddle-wheel charter boat back to shore after it broke loose from a pier on the Hudson River.
The New York Police Department says Queen of Hearts broke from its moorings on Tuesday morning around 10 a.m. at Pier 40 and smashed into some other boats before drifting into the middle of the river.
The police boat and three New York Waterway ferries, The Abraham Lincoln, The Bayonne, and The Empire State, tied lines to the boat. New York Waterway spokesman Pat Smith says they held it until a tug boat arrived to take the vessel back to shore.
"Of course we came to the aid of a lady in distress," said Capt. Vincent Lombardi on The Abraham Lincoln, who rescued 56 people from Flight 1549 in the Miracle on the Hudson on Jan. 15, 2009.
Affairs Afloat, the company that manages the boat, declined comment. The company's website is advertising a Valentine's Day cruise on the ship on Saturday.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
