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I watched at 9:15 this morning as the festivities got underway: The U.S.S. Intrepid was gonna move from its berth, the first time in 24 years. All the massive tugs from McAllister were in place. There were plenty of veterans and active-duty service members on hand, NYPD helicopters in the air, FDNY guys on the stern of the ship, Coast Guard vessels in the Hudson, several hundred onlookers, Steve Forbes' yacht The Highlander and did I leave anyone out? Oh yes, the NYPD brass band, which struck up some patriotic military tunes as well as local favorites like "On Broadway." After a while, there came an announcement: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Intrepid has moved five feet." Another eternity passed, and another announcement: "The Intrepid has now moved ten feet." People were getting restless. Some left. The party on Forbes' yacht looked like fun—cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. The cops looked bored. The band left. I took off on the bike path. The Intrepid was stuck. Everything had seemed in order: today is the highest tide of the year. The weather was picture-perfect sunny. 600 tons of water were sucked out of its ballast tanks. The river was dredged a bit. But then there was one hitch—a big hitch: the propellers had were stuck in the bottom of the Hudson. Looks like some more dredging is necessary.
Too bad about the Forbes yacht party; a lady from the Intrepid's Education Department told me the yacht had planned to follow the Intrepid downriver and have a nice celebration.
Tags:
broadway, fdny, forbes, highlander, intrepid, mcallister, nypd, tugboats
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Posted on 11/6/2006
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