Monday, July 20, 2009

Sailboater docks in Newtown Creek

From the Daily News:

It's one of the most polluted waterways in New York - a fetid stew of oil, sewage and sludge.

But Newtown Creek is paradise for Max Mulhern.

The 47-year-old London-based sculptor is spending part of his U.S. vacation docked at the notorious waterway separating Brooklyn and Queens as part of a quirky family boat trip.

"I like to stay off the beaten path," Mulhern said on Thursday aboard his 40-foot sailboat. "It leads to much more interesting encounters."

Keeping his boat tethered to a crumbling cement wall in an industrial section of Long Island City has another key perk: he's staying in the city rent-free.

Reports of pollution don't faze Mulhern. Neither does the fact that Newtown Creek is best known as the site of one of the nation's worst oil spills.

"You wouldn't want to raise small children nearby, but it's certainly not too dangerous to go down, have an ice cream and watch the water go by," Mulhern said.

"I wouldn't use that water for anything other than to have my boat float. But there are signs of life, so that's a positive thing."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who in the hell put him up to this?

If a guy got netting, and camped in the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge, would it be ok, too?

Anonymous said...

God forbid he falls into the water. It is so polluted that the water could catch fire while he was docked. Not to mention the free cancer from breathing in the vapors wafting off that canal.

Anonymous said...

"Keeping his boat tethered to a crumbling cement wall in an industrial section of Long Island City has another key perk: he's staying in the city rent-free."

Not after this he isn't they'll find some way to charge him for docking...

Anonymous said...

there are no achorages in newton creek someone get this hooligan out of there