The Great Boatlift
The Great Boatlift
In honor of 9/11 and in commemoration of the Great Boat Lift, a Flotilla and Blessing of the Fleet is being organized on Friday September 10. Passage aboard the Classic
Harbor Line Fleet is being offered to participate in this grand event. 100% of all ticket sales are donated to various waterfront organizations.
- The “Boatlift” of 9/11 was the largest water evacuation in history. After road, tunnel, and railway closures out of New York City, over half a million people were stranded in lower Manhattan following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
- American Maritime transported over 500,000 survivors from lower Manhattan across the harbor to safety and the rescue was larger than the evacuation of 340,000 American-allied troops at Dunkirk.
- The rescue effort involved over 150 American Maritime vessels, including passenger ferries, tugboats, merchant ships, private vessels, and New York City Fire Department and Police Department boats.
- More than 800 American mariners participated in the Boatlift evacuation of September 11th.
ROUTE
The route will include a gathering south of Governor’s Island, a pass by the Statue of Liberty and then a procession and a pass in front of the World Trade Center site.
Donations
100% of ticket sales will go to support waterfront related non-profits who are working to develop future mariners, support waterfront development or protect and preserve maritime history.
These entities include:
- Rocking the Boat
- Brooklyn Boat Works
- Billion Oyster Project benefitting NY Harbor School Programs
- The John J Harvey, Save Our Ships
- Portside NY
- Lilac Preservation Project
- Working Harbor Committee
- National Maritime Historical Society, Sea History
- Hudson River Maritime Museum
Carolina Salguero is the Founder and Executive Director of PortSide NewYork, a local nonprofit connecting New Yorkers to the potential of their waterfront, with a special focus on reaching the underserved. Carolina will be speaking aboard the Yacht Manhattan during the Flotilla and Blessing of the Fleet grand event on 9/10 on her first-hand experience during the Great Boatlift of 9/11. Visit the PortSide NewYork webpage here to learn more about Mariner’s response to 9/11 and view their exhibit.
