COLLEGE POINT, Queens (WABC) — New York City’s waterways are littered with hundreds of rusting and decaying boats and other kinds of debris.
But that is beginning to change.
The city is launching a massive cleanup project with help from the federal government.
People who live near the water here in Queens tell me this has been a long time coming.
They hope the boats pulled out of the water on Wednesday are just the beginning of this transformation.
“I think most people are surprised at the waterfront property that we have in New York City,” said Bill Peponakis, who lives near College Point. “Nobody ever thinks that you can get around by boat.”
Peponakis and his buddies at the Williamsburg Yacht Club are not surprised at all.
They grew up near College Point in Queens, and they used to come down by the water as kids.
Things were different then.
“I remember my grandparents telling me, in Astoria Park they used to swim,” he said. “It was a beach. And then me, as a kid… this place, you couldn’t even, you wouldn’t even want to go in the water.”
Wednesday was a big step to reclaiming the natural environment as NYC Parks announced they received a $2.3 million federal grant.
It will help the remove one million pounds of derelict boats and debris from the waterways in Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn.
“Derelict vessels and other debris make our waterways dangerous for both humans and marine life,” said Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura. “Abandoned boats create public safety risks for boaters, and our water can become contaminated with microplastics and oil.”
Video from Flushing Bay just off Big Rock Beach showed the first batch of boats being pulled from the water using this federal funding.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez helped push to get the cleanup started.
“You look at this, and you say, ‘This has been this has been waiting and sitting there underwater this entire time. Imagine what it’s going to be like when the rest of it has been pulled out!'”
This project alone is expected to remove 20 derelict boats from the water.
Peponakis and the locals call this a good start.
“Well, let’s hope we have no litter on the beach, and we can use it,” he said.
The extra million pounds they’ll remove as part of this project will provide a big boost to what the parks department has already started.
Over the past two years, they’ve removed more than 500 tons of abandoned boats and debris from New York waterways.
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