Developing: Bridge Collapses Near Seattle…Unknown Injuries…See the Photos

Watch Today’s BlazeCast With Your Questions, Comments & Live Chat!

US

Dozens Injured When Ferry Crashes Into Dock in Lower Manhattan

Jan. 9, 2013 10:01am
Dozens Injured When Ferry Crashes Into Dock in Lower Manhattan

This aerial photo provided by WABC News Channel 7 shows emergency personnel at the scene of a ferry crash in Lower Manhattan, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, in New York. (AP)

NEW YORK (TheBlaze/AP) — A high-speed ferry loaded with hundreds of commuters from New Jersey crashed into a dock in lower Manhattan on Wednesday during the morning rush hour, injuring around 50 people, at least two critically.

Passengers aboard the Seastreak Wall Street said scores of people who had been standing, waiting to disembark, were hurled to the deck by the impact.

“We were pulling into the dock. The boat hit the dock. We just tumbled on top of each other. I got thrown into everybody else. … People were hysterical, crying,” said Ellen Foran, 57, of Neptune City, N.J.

The accident, which ripped open part the boat’s hull like an aluminum can, happened at 8:45 a.m. at a pier near the South Street Seaport, at Manhattan’s southern tip.

Firefighters were still carrying people away on flat-board stretchers an hour after the crash.

More than 340 passengers and five crew members were aboard the ferry, which had arrived from Atlantic Highlands, a part of the Jersey Shore still struggling to recover from Superstorm Sandy.

Passenger Frank McLaughlin, 46, whose home was filled with 5 feet of water in the storm, said he was thrown forward and wrenched his knee in the impact.

He said some other passengers were bloodied when they banged into walls and toppled to the floor.

Dozens Injured When Ferry Crashes Into Dock in Lower Manhattan

Image source: WNYW-TV

Dee Wertz, who was on shore waiting for the ferry, saw the impact. She said that just moments before it hit, she had been having a conversation with a ferry employee about how the boat’s captains had been complaining lately about its maneuverability.

“He was telling me that none of these guys like this boat,” she said. “It was coming in a little wobbly. It hit the right side of the boat on the dock hard, like a bomb.”

After the impact, the boat was able to dock normally. Wertz said passengers raced off once the ramp was down.

“I think people just wanted to get the heck off the boat as soon as they could,” she said.

Dozens Injured When Ferry Crashes Into Dock in Lower Manhattan

Image source: WNYW-TV

​People answering the phone at Seastreak’s offices in New Jersey referred questions to a lawyer, who did not immediately return phone messages.

WNYC-TV reported the crashed ferry has been involved in at least two prior docking accidents.

Ferry accidents happen every few years in New York. In 2003, 11 people were killed when a Staten Island Ferry crashed into a pier on Staten Island after its pilot passed out at the wheel. Three people were badly hurt and about 40 injured when the same ferry hit the same pier in 2010, because of a mechanical problem.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it had dispatched investigators to the scene.

Dozens Injured When Ferry Crashes Into Dock in Lower Manhattan

An injured passenger of a New Jersey ferry is loaded into an ambulance, in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. The Fire Department says at least 50 people were injured when the ferry struck a dock during rush hour. (AP)

Benghazi, IRS, AP...What's next? Only TheBlaze TV offers the truth from Glenn Beck, Andrew Wilkow, and Real News from TheBlaze. Get instant access and a free trial here.

Comments (56)

1 2
  • txs_sxs
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 1:08pm

    Hopefully, this accident knocked some common sense into those NYC libs.

    Report this comment

    txs_sxs  
  • RedSpotinaBlueState
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 12:43pm

    Holy Crap! Quick! Ban ferries!

    Report this comment

    RedSpotinaBlueState  
  • jessieH
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 12:34pm

    Drunk union workers?

    Report this comment

    jessieH  
  • Couyon64
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 12:23pm

    We must have sticter ferry control laws or ban them outright. It’s not the people, it’s the ferries.

    Report this comment

    Couyon64  
  • justa_thought
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 12:06pm

    Ill bet there was a traffic jam of lawyers trying to get to the site!

    Report this comment

    justa_thought  
  • justa_thought
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 12:05pm

    Dog gone it! why do they let George Bush drive a ferry? Ill never figure those conservatives out.
    Couldnt be an enlightened liberal… none of them work.

    Report this comment

    justa_thought  
  • CWPrequired
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:52am

    Wait til the video shows up of the people running to the scene of the accident after the fact to claim they were injured!!

    Report this comment

    CWPrequired  
  • tcpubelle
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:41am

    When New York City outlaws ferrey pilots, only outlaws will be able to pilot ferries. The Ferry Pilots Unions should be standing firm on this point, that you’d have to pull their cold dead fingers from the wheel before they’d give up their ferries.

    Report this comment

    tcpubelle  
  • jhrusky
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:28am

    OK … where is Cuomo? He should be out in the media proclaiming that we have to ban ferries …

    Report this comment

    jhrusky  
    • 13th Imam
      Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:45am

      Hundreds of DEMOCRAT lawyers were also hurt in the rush to file lawsuits against the ferry company, the ship captain and the soda stand operator who was selling 48 Oz. sodas.

      Report this comment

      13th Imam  
  • term limits for congress
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:00am

    The dock was made un-safe during Super Storm Sandy. So, blame the House GOP for not passing the $60 ka’trillion zillion relief package.

    Report this comment

    term limits for congress  
  • ResistSocialism
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:42am

    At least those 32oz sodas are banned although NY seems to have some sinking boats.

    Report this comment

    ResistSocialism  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:40am

    ,
    Oh did the Obama voter bump his little head?……..

    Report this comment

    SpankDaMonkey  
  • whatthecrazy
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:37am

    Were we talking about Guns?Oh and thanks for the kind wishes,makes me proud i don’t wake up next to you every morning.

    Report this comment

    whatthecrazy  
    • whatthecrazy
      Posted on January 9, 2013 at 12:42pm

      So that i don’t sound crazy i responded to a post that has been removed,go figure.

      Report this comment

      whatthecrazy  
  • copatriots
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:34am

    We surely have some worth. After all, who would pay taxes?

    Oh how I long for the Rapture to give Libs their dream-come-true.

    Report this comment

     
  • DTR
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:32am

    Oh my God!!!!!!!! Ban ferries NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Report this comment

    DTR  
    • booger71
      Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:18am

      No, this is an Ambulance Chasers dream, and will save or create many thousands of jobs

      Report this comment

      booger71  
    • patriotteapress
      Posted on January 9, 2013 at 12:47pm

      I think it is time to ban high capacity ferries. There’s just too much chance of mass casualties with these high capacity ferries. It should be limited to no more than say, 10. That way our ferries would be safe. They can’t reload fast enough to cause mass carnage if the capacity is limited. Brittian is so far ahead on this issue. They have a much lower incident crossing the English channel through the tunnel! Why don’t we have more tunnels? Someone, Mayor Bloomberg, better do something! Where is Obama? This is a national out of control crisis. Better act while it’s fresh in the public’s mind. Never let a crisis go to waste. It’s just not acceptable that we have to live with the fear that one of these dangerous machines might do this again. Ignorant people clinging to their God and boats is the culprit. I tell you we got to register the ferries. Track them with drones. If they get out of line, whack’em.

      Report this comment

      patriotteapress  
  • Ironeagle
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:32am

    Another dope smoking, union, boat driver = weapon of mass destruction = ban them!

    Report this comment

    Ironeagle  
  • RaydocX
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:28am

    so new laws must be implemented for passenger safety…
    you will have to remain seated, and strapped in until the ferry is docked at its mooring and the ferry attendant turns off the fasten seatbelt sign.

    and to assure that you pay attention to the attendant directives at the start of each trip… er, for safety purposes, out of concern that your cell phone or iPod might interfere with the helm, you will not be able to use any electronic devices until the ferry is 5 minutes clear of its mooring and within 10 minutes of docking.

    TSA screeners will be on hand for traveler safety… You will need to remove all metal objects, including belts, as well as shoes for pre boarding screening. No fluids will be allowed beyond 1 ounce quantities in clear plastic bags. Beverages will be on sale on the ferry but are subject to TSA screening as well…

    the insidious spread of bureaucratic insanity continues…

    Report this comment

    RaydocX  
  • usafpatriot
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:22am

    I’m going to call my liberal congressman and ask for a ban on Ferrie’s….I mean boats.

    Report this comment

    usafpatriot  
  • IndyGuy
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:22am

    This isn’t news…Ferries run into things all the time in Frisco…

    Report this comment

    IndyGuy  
    • IndyGuy
      Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:02am

      Spell check missed that one…

      Report this comment

      IndyGuy  
    • SpankDaMonkey
      Posted on January 9, 2013 at 12:34pm

      .
      I guess you can’t say Fairy IndyGuy………….

      Do you people who work for Glenn ever hear him say “Speak without Fear”?……..

      Report this comment

      SpankDaMonkey  
  • DTR
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:18am

    Oh my god!!! Ban ferries!!!!!!!!! Now!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Report this comment

    DTR  
  • yiska8
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:15am

    Is the person at the helm of the ferry a “sober” union member?
    Ahhh… New York where people still take boats to work. Well at least they still have a job to go to.

    Report this comment

    yiska8  
    • turkey13
      Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:24am

      This is another photo opp moment for Chris Christie & Obama + Biden. They kiss & hug like they did when some idiot killed 26 kids. The president should find out which Ammendmendt covers ferrys and have that one abolished. With the media behind them they can stop this from happening again.If the ferry had been going faster hundreds could be killed.

      Report this comment

      turkey13  
    • yiska8
      Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:35am

      @turkey
      Oh yeah and like Pelosi said about using the 14th Amendment, “He should just do it.”
      Abolish dangerous ferry travel, limit travel times, or provide everyone with a fuel efficent Volt to drive to work instead of ancient boat travel!! Volts are probably more dangerous than swimming across the river to work, which Moochie will be tauting as “good exercise” and good for the environment.
      “Swim to work New Jersians!!”
      Why use a ferry or boat or even a fuel efficient car to go to work when you can SWIM!!

      Report this comment

      yiska8  
  • TheGrtDcptn
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:15am

    M u s t…B A N…F e r r i e s…

    Report this comment

    TheGrtDcptn  
  • am123
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:13am

    Perhaps Governor Cuomo will now want to limit ferries to 10 people or less.

    Report this comment

    am123  
  • Mapache
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:06am

    Mayor Bloomberg!! Mayor Bloomberg!! It is time to outlaw ferries!!!! How long can we let the carnage go on?

    Report this comment

    Mapache  
    • Cavallo
      Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:20am

      What a horrid bigot you are! Why just when the enlightened Episcos are holding ceremonies at the Obama Cathedral .. oh wait.. wrong kind of Fairy. Neeeeevermind.

      Report this comment

      Cavallo  
  • Hoax And Chains
    Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:03am

    I will immediately be calling my Congressman to implement bans on all ferries. This nightmare has to be stopped!

    Report this comment

    Hoax And Chains  
1 2

Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

Glenn Beck Radio

Listen to Glenn Beck 24/7 Listen Now
Restoring Love