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Subscribe to RSSA commuter ferry slams into a New York City dock, injuring dozens on board. NBC's Chris Clackum reports.
Updated at 3:35 p.m. ET -- A commuter ferry packed with more than 300 passengers crashed into a dock in Lower Manhattan early Wednesday, injuring 74, at least two critically. Nine people were also in serious condition, officials said.
The force of the crash tossed some morning commuters in the air and sent others tumbling down stairs, witnesses said.
“Everybody got jolted right out of their seats,” passenger Sean Boyle told NBC 4 New York, adding that it felt like the vessel went "full speed right into the pier.”
For more, visit NBCNewYork.com
After the accident, a large gash could be seen in the underside of the ferry, which was operated by Seastreak and originated from Highland, N.J., around 8 a.m.
Aerial footage showed people strapped to stretchers, their heads and necks immobilized, with firefighters swarming the ferry and surrounding areas.
“We were pulling in like we normally do every day, and the next thing I know, I was six feet in the air,” rider Ashley Furman told NBC 4 New York. “I woke up from getting knocked out six feet in the air behind me. Thank god I’m OK and I’m not on a stretcher like everybody else.”
One of those in critical condition was rushed to surgery with a head injury, a spokesperson with the New York Police Department said. A total of 326 people, including five crew members, had been aboard the vessel.
It was not known what caused the crash, which occurred at Manhattan's Pier 11, near Wall Street. Weather conditions were normal Wednesday morning, and no mariner warnings had been posted before the 8:45 a.m. accident happened, NBC 4 New York reported.
According to James Barker, Seastreak’s president, the ferry’s captain was at the controls when the vessel crashed. Barker said the captain had passed a breathalyzer test, and authorities were still waiting for results of a drug test – both of which are routine tests to be taken in accidents such as this one, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
He added that the captain, a 10-year veteran of Seastreak, was cooperating with authorities.
The National Transportation Safety Board launched a full investigation into the crash, and was working with the Coast Guard.
Seastreak commuter service offers rides from the New York metropolitan area to and from New Jersey, according to its website.
Wednesday's ferry accident was not the only one in recent New York history. In 2003, a Staten Island ferry got into an accident when its pilot, suffering from fatigue and on painkillers, passed out at the wheel; 11 people were killed. In May 2010, due to a mechanical malfunction, the same ferry smashed into a pier, injuring nearly 40 people.
PhotoBlog: Pictures from the ferry accident in Lower Manhattan
NBC News
A commuter ferry crashed into Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday, injuring dozens.
Leave a Comment:
Better ban high capacity ferries. We need to talk about this issue. If not today, when?
Never would be soon enough.
I agree we need to ban ferry's. We also need to ban ice that them two teenage boy's in New Jersey fill through. Seems global warming isn't melting the ice fast enough.
High capacity ferries don't go through movie theaters killing 6 people, and they don't break into schools and run over 22 innocent little children.
I'll bet you think this accident wouldn't have happened if everyone on the boat was armed, right?
You're an idiot, Tony.
Tony may be off topic but clear the point he is making about the nonsense we see nowadays and the kneejerk reactions that do little or no good in the long run or short term for that matter.
Anyways hope everyone who was hurt gets better. Now for my turn to point out some nonsense, breaking news? Hardly. Need for what appears to be 35+ rescue personal in just the vicinity of the boat in the picture above (guessing equal or more on the dock area not shown)? Likely no as well, but seems to be the norm these days. I was honestly surprised when that boat hit the bay bridge in SF that they allowed used common sense and let traffic to continue as normal and inspected to make sure everything was ok, in lieu of making a big issue out of it, shutting everything down for a few hours and summoning every fire and rescue person in a 100mile radius. Am I being a little cynical, yes, but my point being why does everything have to be hyped up and overreacted too? Its getting really ridiculous people. Again though hope everybody recovers who got hurt and that there were no serious injuries.
It is time
Suddenly and instantaniously for some Lawyers, they got giant woodys and other symptoms occurred for the MS's. requiring a band-aid. They all and rushed to the scence to provide needed "care". OMG darling, your neck is broke, you need to be indemnified!!
One after another sensed symptoms at their lawyers direction after the rubber dock bump. And this is why this state needs government bailouts. I wish the truely injured quick healing.......
Speaking of lawyers, I guarantee as we speak the dock has more lawyers on it than recue workers.
Don't forget docks and liquid water. Speaking of liquid water, this is the second incident in as many day someone was hurt or killed under or on liquid water.
Did anyone hear about the ferry carrying 382 lawyers which sank off of New York's harbor, just one mile from shore about 05:45 earlier today?
The New York Times had an article about it. I'm surprised no one has mentioned it at all.
"FERRY SINKS Early TODAY!
382 LAWYERS ON BOARD
ALL FEARED LOST!
ITS A BEGINNING!
Declares Governor!
Who is offering free tickets for any more lawyers interested in using New York's Ferry Service in the next week. Specifically early mornings red eye shuttle 05:40. Passengers must provide their own life preservers and proof of insurance. No warranties implied or guarantees given of safe arrivals. Tickets nontransferable except to another lawyer of equal or higher standing in your business or office. No family members can join you, nor other public members not working in like capacity. If mishap occurs, you are solely responsible for rescuing yourself and knowing proper swimming techniques. Please read the fine print which follows..............................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................Thanks!
Sorry,this is the first time I have every added humor during a mishap where others have been injured. I totally blame this person....
IXLR8 (Suddenly and instantaniously for some Lawyers) who got me laughing this morning. I really needed it i guess.
I hope everyone on the Seastreak Wallstreet will recover soon. As for the dock. well, it certainly needs to be taught how to do its job better. Wood should never let a wet situation let it get sloppy :P
Way to go Windy. LOL.
With all your past innocently honest posts, I never knew you to post a joke.
Have a good day...
wow windancer...you go girl. .....welcome aboard....(so to speak)
Tony-Vantucky "Better ban high capacity ferries"
Yeah - let's make them go on individual boats (by oars to stop carbon emissions). Then the cost will increase to $500 per passenger/trip - just look at the boost to the economy, not to mention union oarsmen.
Let's also ban Docks - after all, they were half at fault for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Are you for real??????????
Do any of these gun freaks even understand the meaning of "false equivalency". Even to be literal about it, and play along: The shooter in Colorado killed more people in 5 minutes than New York ferries have in 5 years. Well that was a waste of time...
Did someone step on the gas instead of the brakes?
ga Windy, Creek Dog, Tramp
Q: What's black and brown and looks good on a lawyer?
A: A Doberman.
Afternoon TFNJ, C Dog, Scooter! (Scooter, I read ahead. U R on fire today. LOL Keep it up!)
Windancersong, welcome 2 the playground!
If only Mr Burns were here.
@denver bill,
Do I gets points 4 thinkin' Roti?
;-)
The people in the pictures laying on the boards seem relaxed dreaming about the 60 inch Sony TV they will be ordering....
Hey U.
The people on the ground were able to quietly whisper, CHACHING!
"60 inch Sony TV"
"CHACHING"
How's this: "I wonder if I can get enough moola 2 buy Trump's apartment?"
I know there is a joke here about a people landing in NY and the word Settlement. Just can't seem to add the humor.
The Duke: "I'm sure you'll think of it, Pilgrim."
;-)
♪♫Lovin' you has got to be
Like the devil in the deep blue sea
Forget about your foolish pride
Oh take me to the other side!♪♫
HAHA, Tony, your funny! Hey Bluelake, losen up, you don't own a gun do you? hahaha Maybe they should do a mental background check on you, you seem tense, or unstable...
1 question for all of you lawyer critics , If you were injured in this accident and had to spend time in Hospital , remained out of work for sometime to due your injuries and did immense harm to your finances because you could not pay your regular bills or the Hospital bills incurred due to this accident , Would you avail of the services of a lawyer or would you just suck it up and lose everything .Most people in this country are only a paycheck away from financial disaster but I suppose thats acceptable to you guys as long as its not affecting you or your loved ones
it takes a special kind of a person to turn a boat crash into politics. /facepalm lol
Suk, you are sooooo right. these complainers would run to the nearest lawyer if they could win some money. no doubt. they just mad cause they wont get any. lol
What? Those people were actually hurt. Why would you automatically assume they're all faking it to get some money out of the ferry service? Why are you making this about lawyers? You people are literally insane
BlueLake:
I'm a gun freak, but on reading this , the first thing to comes to my mind is texting. Was the Captain trying to multi-task??
A couple years ago, I traveled the same road to my place of work everyday. The same brown van , wandered into other lanes every morning. When you stopped at a stop light, he was texting.
One morning he apparently was texting real busily . He hit a cat , he could have avoided easily. Literally cut the poor thing in half.
Approximately , 3 months later , whats left of his van was in a intersection. He had t-boned a silver sedan. The police had their rain coats over the occupants of the sedan.
I also remember we had a train incident recently caused by texting.
So texting while driving, hits me more than other issues, when I read this article.
UH...what the hell did this story have to do with Guns?
Did I miss something?
NRA: If those passengers would have been armed they could have shot away the dock before it had a chance to slam into the ferry and avoided injuries!
Nobody from the NRA would advocate such irresponsible behavior with a gun.
Does anybody from the NRA know a joke when they see one?
Dam ProFreedom!
You've got one hellava good idea! Too bad they didn't think of that in the nick of time...
Yes, some of them would actually shoot the doc down, I saw it once on Mississippi near Destrahan LA. They shot off a wonky 1/2 telephone pole in the water, that was leaning!--BUT THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE--I think!--When I heard 100 shots or so, I thought they had given the kindergarten off early--that is what it looked like.
FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM and please make sure they have those guns, so they can save OUR lives!
Funny how gun-nuts turn a story that has nothing to do with guns, into a comparison of WITH guns.
Not everything else in life has to be banned, simply because the rest of us want to live in a world without gun weilding maniacs running around all over the place.
Yeah, especially running around on a horse!
That sure as hell would give them the advantage...
Z` England is waiting
Z...can you get a passport?
Pro Freedom............Wrong, but too funny..........just squirted coffee from both nostrils!
Z... I'll keep my guns, but I'll do my best to get rid of the maniacs for you.
If you do need a lawyer, just call us at Dewey, Cheatum and Howe.
1-800-settlement
Disclaimer: this has been a joke, it is only a joke, had this been an actual commentary you would have been notified by registered mail.
The use of words is always amazing. "hard docking" versus ran into pier due to negligence. Start using terms to avoid litigation before the people get their injuries treated.
This post brought to you by William, William & William.........
ya mean like:
It simple leagalise for...oh @!$%# this is gonna cost us.
Scooter I suspect the cost will go up when it is found out the Ex-Captain of thfe Italian Liner the Concordia was hired as a trainer for Seastreak. Or it may have been a case of "hold my beer and watch this!"
followed by, "What could possibly go wrong"!
or "I bet i can make this turn at 30 knots."
BREAKING NEWS !!!
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE...!!!!!!
A heard of people dressed in off the rack business suits were seen storming the Manhattan peer earlier today, although thought to be lawyers this could not be confirmed.
Though upon speaking with a person acquainted with the incident ...who naturally could not be named as he was not authorised to speak about it publicly...This reporter learned that they all had "legal representative forms" in their hands. And they were described as normal run of the mill sleazebag ambulance chasers. Meanwhile the more profitable "legal representatives" were seen handling this in their normal fashion of dropping business cards from helicopters.
More updates will be posted as this case develops...
Heard being yelled among the screams of panic and pain, were the words Litigation and Settlement
If you were wondering where the captain of the Costa Concordia wound up..
kudos best one this week.
The head waiter wanted to get closer to the pier so he could wave to his family.
Hit at higher than normal speed would cause a "hard docking."
Why is yet to be determined.
They're waiting for the skipper to sober up so they can ask him.
Actually, not mentioned here is the fact that others are reporting that the ferry captains have had trouble with this particular boat for the past month or so, the boat's maneuverability has been difficult.
So, it may be more of a case that there was something wrong with the boat, but they let it sail anyway.
Funny you mention the captain sobering up - I assume you're referring to the Exxon Valdez. But the actual Coast Guard findings were that Hazelton's being drunk was only a minor contributing factor - there was a full complement of qualified watchstanders on duty when the Valdez went aground. The primary cause was the fact that the boat's navigation and radar equipment were either non-functional or degraded and in need of repair. Exxon wouldn't spend the money to repair the boat's equipment, which led to the grounding. Not that most people know this - Exxon spent probably 500x the repair cost in PR and advertising to make everyone think it was the drunk captain's fault.
Watch this one closely and let's see what really led to this.
It sounds like a case of "not enough oars" in the the water...........
SeaStreak's usually a pretty well run outfit. Wonder what happened.
I have seen very good boaters bang into a dock when a wind gust or a large reflected wave catches them at just the correct moment. An empty oil tanker hit the Golden Gate Bridge a few days ago. Riding light and high in the water makes a big sail out of the sides of an oil tanker. And those guys are supposed to be the best.
It was the docks fault... i seen the whole thing, if any seastreak lawyers are reading this, yes i am available to testify. For a "nominal fee" of course.
Scooter. dude. enough with the lawyer jokes. It was mildly amusing the first few times someone else made the joke but you're just beating a dead horse now. It's not really funny and i'm sure some of the people are really hurt.
Why was that Captain allowed to have a High Capacity Ferry? What could he need that for?, did he buy it on the black market? Did he pass a background check before he bought it? These questions and more need answering NOW!
You, and the rest of your "sarcastic" cronies, need to go jump into an active volcano.
likely raised a lamb
If this had happened at a dock in Duluth, Mn this would never have made the news.
Duluth MN... New York City... HUGE difference.
Why is it. Lives are lives. Hypocrite much. N.Y. is nothin but a @!$%#in cesspool.
had this happened in Duluth it would have involed an ice breaker.
Who cares. An accident is an accident, and lives are lives.
LOL way to backup your argument.
I read a story on Duluth the other day about.... LOL nah I never hear anything about Duluth.
Not trying to back up anything. Its the flat out truth, N.Y. is a @!$%#hole.
LOL. This from a guy scorned over a news story.. How easy can this get? HAHAHA
♪♫Pride and joy and greed and sex
That's what makes our town the best
Pride and joy and dirty dreams and still surviving on the street
And look at me, Im in tatters, yeah
Ive been battered, what does it matter
Does it matter, uh-huh
Does it matter, uh-huh, Im a shattered
Don't you know the crime rate is going up, up, up, up, up
To live in this town you must be tough, tough, tough, tough, tough!
You got rats on the west side
Bed bugs uptown
What a mess this towns in tatters Ive been shattered
My brains been battered, splattered all over Manhattan
Uh-huh, this towns full of money grabbers
Go ahead, bite the big apple, don't mind the maggots, huh
Shadoobie, my brains been battered
My friends they come around they
Flatter, flatter, flatter, flatter, flatter, flatter, flatter
Pile it up, pile it high on the platter♪♫
;-)
I knew a lady who came from Duluth
Bitten by a dog with a rabid tooth
She went to her grave just a little too soon
flew away howling on the yellow moon
(snicker)
2 the haters, just B glad that poem didn't start with: there once was a man from Nantucket............
I didn't put it in quotes, but that is from a Nirvana song. Well technically from some other band that Nirvana did a cover of.
You guys are a special kind of retarded. Very special.
if ferry's were outlawed things like this wouldn't happen. ban all boats.
Works for Hawaii, no ferries allowed
I don't know, I believe you call them mahu's.
hope your happy posting that, now the island will be overrun with homophobes.
The fact that every single story is being used as an opportunity to post snarky comments that relate back to gun regulation tells me that you guys have a hard time thinking about anything other than your guns. This is called obsession. It is a serious psychiatric condition. Get some help.
ehrmagerd!! ban ferries!! who needs them in this day and age!?
You have to look at the amount of people who commute to NYC daily. The multiple bridges, trains,and tunnels is not enough. These are relatively new ferries.
TFNJ
glad you weren't aboard headed to the museum this morning.Nice to know your ok.
Doesn't San Fransisco have a lot of ferries?
Wrong vowel NewStart2012.
wow,hope they dont ban ferrie-boats....such violence !
Oops...I thought this was another LGBT article!! LOL
whynot 3744228
a song by Barefoot Man goes like "...you don't have to be gay to ride a ferry, you don't have to be straight to go and marry..."
Ban ferries. Also ban fairies like Peirs Morgan and Obama.
I always thought that Barry was a little "light in the loafers".
Eight of the injuries were people being trampled in the parking lot by accident lawers rushing to the scene.
In New York, Minor Injury = Major Lawsuit.
"They will get my ferries when the claw them from my cold dead hands"
Spoken by Captain "Chuck" Heston.
You mean Barney Frank isn't allowed in Hawaii? Oh, sorry...wrong spelling.
naw you spelled Barney Franks just fine.
Gov. Cuomo, time to ban ferries. Get to work.
It doesn't matter how many times or how often you've performed a docking, every now and then you'll get it a bit wrong. I guess in this case he just got it really wrong!
Look out, New York will have all passengers seated and belted in, with nothing over a 16oz drink allowed on board. Oops the 16oz is already outlawed.
The belting in part might have the benefit of allowing really fast ferries. You trade the ability to wander around the ship for a much reduced travel time.
Look out, New York will have everyone seated and seatbelted in and no drinks over 16oz.
What's up with all the idiotic comments above? I bet you all like to hear yourselves talk too
really 1605430
then they can answer themselves and that's OK, however, if they argue with the answer that is a true sign that person is "nucking futs".
Have a Good Day, or I hope it gets better for you.
really (bunchanumbers)
How very true, why see humor in ANYTHING when you can be posting drivel and complaining about something.
@jack,
Ann Landers use 2 say:
"It's ok 2 talk 2 yourself,
It's even ok 2 answer yourself,
It's when U INTERRUPT yourself that U have a problem."
;-)
The same people making jokes about never having to give up their guns are laughing at a boat that crashed and injured people. Something is seriously wrong with these people.
Y'all people crack me up. Generally this is filled with political satire, or someone gets on a rant about one point or another.
Headline reads, "At Least 57 Injured". Article states "At least 17 injured...." Why do I bother reading the news anymore, NBC? Can you run an article on that?
Like a McDonalds sign: Over 1 million misinformed.
Good on ya, the article now matches the headline. But which number is the right one? We may never know.