Sleepy Hollow Residents Say Rescued 9/11 Fireboat Is Ruining Their View
SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Some people are flocking to Sleepy Hollow's River Street to see a fireboat famous for its service with the FDNY after the September 11, terror attacks.
Some who live in the area don't want the boat there, saying it blocks their view.
The retired FDNY Fireboat, the John D. McKean was used in rescue efforts following 9/11 and Miracle on the Hudson, now the Hudson is its home in Sleepy Hollow.
"I do appreciate the boat and what it stands for," one woman said.
But some riverfront residents in pricey homes don't like what they see. They say it's blocking their views.
"I get up in the morning for breakfast, sit down, and one morning I looked up and said, 'what the heck is that?" Rafael Soltren said.
Soltren said aside from not liking it, he said it showed up without warning about 2 months ago, and he and some other neighbors said they should have been allowed to weigh-in beforehand.
"I just think it's in the wrong place," he said.
Edward Taylor is one of the men who bought the fireboat at auction from the City of New York.
"It's a responsibility to take care of her," he said.
The cost for the McKean was $70,000 and tens of thousands more went into fixing it up.
"Everything right now is fully functional," Taylor said.
He said because it is a working boat that is not derelict or resting on the river's bottom, it's legal.
His partners in the non-profit McKean Preservation Project are Michael Kaphan and firefighter Miguel Valle.
"It's a classic case of not in my backyard, and you're talking about a piece of American and New York history," Kaphan said.
"I just think people forgot 9/11," Valle said.
For the residents wanting to move it, it will set sail, but only from time to time, giving people boat tours in a vessel saved from the scrapyard.
