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New York magnate seeks to stop famous ocean liner from becoming world's largest artificial reef
New Yorkers seek to scuttle plans to sink historic ocean liner in Florida
By Liam Quigley
Published Nov 19, 2024
The S.S. United States has been docked on the Delaware River waterfront in Philadelphia for years.
Jewel Samad/AFP
{Source for picture: A Storied Luxury Liner May Soon Find New Life on the Florida Seafloor}
A Brooklyn concrete magnate is making a last minute effort to bring a crumbling, historic ocean liner from Philadelphia to the Red Hook waterfront. ... John Quadrozzi Jr., who runs a concrete empire and owns the Gowanus Bay Terminal, seeks to scuttle plans to haul the S.S. United States to Okaloosa County, Florida, where the carcass of the largest ocean liner ever built in the United States will be sunk and turned into an artificial reef.
Quadrozzi and his allies have a different vision for the rusty 990-foot vessel, which is larger than the Titanic and holds the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing set more than 70 years ago. He envisioned the ship as a “floating ecosystem” revolving around sustainability.
“Coworking space, incubators. Preferably things that are more maritime and environmentally focused…The vessel is just filled with small spaces in it, which would be ideal for that type of use,” Quadrozzi said. ... “It gets built up in increments. There are residences. There are commercial spaces. There are industrial spaces.”
Quadrozzi says he’s got a 1,300-foot parking space ready for the ship near the mouth of the Gowanus Canal. His backers include Dan McSweeney, co-founder of a conservancy dedicated to the S.S. United States, who last month pitched a West Harlem community board on turning the ship into a floating affordable housing complex docked on the Hudson River.
{snip}
By Liam Quigley
Published Nov 19, 2024
The S.S. United States has been docked on the Delaware River waterfront in Philadelphia for years.
Jewel Samad/AFP
{Source for picture: A Storied Luxury Liner May Soon Find New Life on the Florida Seafloor}
A Brooklyn concrete magnate is making a last minute effort to bring a crumbling, historic ocean liner from Philadelphia to the Red Hook waterfront. ... John Quadrozzi Jr., who runs a concrete empire and owns the Gowanus Bay Terminal, seeks to scuttle plans to haul the S.S. United States to Okaloosa County, Florida, where the carcass of the largest ocean liner ever built in the United States will be sunk and turned into an artificial reef.
Quadrozzi and his allies have a different vision for the rusty 990-foot vessel, which is larger than the Titanic and holds the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing set more than 70 years ago. He envisioned the ship as a “floating ecosystem” revolving around sustainability.
“Coworking space, incubators. Preferably things that are more maritime and environmentally focused…The vessel is just filled with small spaces in it, which would be ideal for that type of use,” Quadrozzi said. ... “It gets built up in increments. There are residences. There are commercial spaces. There are industrial spaces.”
Quadrozzi says he’s got a 1,300-foot parking space ready for the ship near the mouth of the Gowanus Canal. His backers include Dan McSweeney, co-founder of a conservancy dedicated to the S.S. United States, who last month pitched a West Harlem community board on turning the ship into a floating affordable housing complex docked on the Hudson River.
{snip}
New York magnate seeks to stop famous ocean liner from becoming world’s largest artificial reef
Published: Nov. 20, 2024, 10:21 a.m.
By Heather Gann | hgann@al.com
A Brooklyn businessman has different ideas on what to do with the S.S. United States, which currently remains docked in Philadelphia as it prepares for its journey down to Mobile to become the world’s largest artificial reef.
John Quadrozzi Jr., concrete magnate and owner of the Gowanus Bay Terminal in Brooklyn, recently told Gothamist that he would like to turn the vessel into a sustainable “floating ecosystem.”
“Coworking space, incubators. Preferably things that are more maritime and environmentally focused…The vessel is just filled with small spaces in it, which would be ideal for that type of use,” he said.
“It gets built up in increments. There are residences. There are commercial spaces. There are industrial spaces.”
{snip}
Published: Nov. 20, 2024, 10:21 a.m.
By Heather Gann | hgann@al.com
A Brooklyn businessman has different ideas on what to do with the S.S. United States, which currently remains docked in Philadelphia as it prepares for its journey down to Mobile to become the world’s largest artificial reef.
John Quadrozzi Jr., concrete magnate and owner of the Gowanus Bay Terminal in Brooklyn, recently told Gothamist that he would like to turn the vessel into a sustainable “floating ecosystem.”
“Coworking space, incubators. Preferably things that are more maritime and environmentally focused…The vessel is just filled with small spaces in it, which would be ideal for that type of use,” he said.
“It gets built up in increments. There are residences. There are commercial spaces. There are industrial spaces.”
{snip}
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
I've been mourning both the reefing demise of the SS US and the actual USA. It would be great if they could save SS US!! 
National
SS United States, record-setting ocean liner, makes its final voyage
November 20, 20245:00 AM ET
Steve Inskeep, photographed for NPR, 13 May 2019, in Washington DC.
Steve Inskeep
The SS United States' departure from Philadelphia has been delayed by the weather. A team from NPR climbed aboard before it takes its final voyage.
Stephen Mallon for NPR
In the coming days, the United States is expected to take its final voyage, on its way to be buried at sea.
It's not the country nearing its end, but a ship that bears its name. The SS United States is a mid-20th century ocean liner that set the speed record for crossing the Atlantic. Now tied up at a Philadelphia pier, its paint peeling and faded after decades of inactivity, it's bound for an ending that is, in reality, a new phase of its life: serving as an artificial reef that attracts divers and marine life in the waters off Florida.
It's an intricate job to tow a 990-foot ship that no longer has its own working engines. The ship's planned departure from Philadelphia last week was delayed by the weather, and a new date hasn't been set. But the United States must go. The pier operator wants its dock space back, and its sale has been completed.
Before departure, a team from NPR climbed aboard what is, in effect, a ghost ship — a relic from the era of great liners that connected North America with Europe. Some of the most famous of these ships are those that sank, like the Andrea Doria, the Lusitania and the Titanic. The builders of the United States learned from others' mistakes, and it will not go down until it's scuttled by design.
{snip}
SS United States, record-setting ocean liner, makes its final voyage
November 20, 20245:00 AM ET
Steve Inskeep, photographed for NPR, 13 May 2019, in Washington DC.
Steve Inskeep
The SS United States' departure from Philadelphia has been delayed by the weather. A team from NPR climbed aboard before it takes its final voyage.
Stephen Mallon for NPR
In the coming days, the United States is expected to take its final voyage, on its way to be buried at sea.
It's not the country nearing its end, but a ship that bears its name. The SS United States is a mid-20th century ocean liner that set the speed record for crossing the Atlantic. Now tied up at a Philadelphia pier, its paint peeling and faded after decades of inactivity, it's bound for an ending that is, in reality, a new phase of its life: serving as an artificial reef that attracts divers and marine life in the waters off Florida.
It's an intricate job to tow a 990-foot ship that no longer has its own working engines. The ship's planned departure from Philadelphia last week was delayed by the weather, and a new date hasn't been set. But the United States must go. The pier operator wants its dock space back, and its sale has been completed.
Before departure, a team from NPR climbed aboard what is, in effect, a ghost ship — a relic from the era of great liners that connected North America with Europe. Some of the most famous of these ships are those that sank, like the Andrea Doria, the Lusitania and the Titanic. The builders of the United States learned from others' mistakes, and it will not go down until it's scuttled by design.
{snip}