Man Living on Boat in Sheepshead Bay Gets Evicted

 

A man is living on these two boats in the middle of Sheepshead Bay

“Like painted kites, those days and nights – went flyin by

The world was new, beneath a blue – umbrella sky

Then softer than, a piper man – one day it called to you

And I lost you, to the summer wind”

By Edmund DeMarche

He came in with the Summer Wind, both figuratively and literally.

Three months ago, Louis Pascale navigated a battered, old lobster boat, the Summer Wind, into Sheepshead Bay.

He never left. 

Pascale makes trips on his rowboat back and forth to the piers where he buys food and other essentials, reported witnesses.

Sheepshead Bay is considered a mooring field. The U.S. Coast Guard designates these harbors as anchorage areas. A requirement for a moored vessel is that it comes with a permit. According to the Coast Guard, Pascale was denied a permit months ago. Now, after being served an eviction notice, he will be forced to sail off to another harbor.

Pascale must vacate the bay by Dec. 21, said Phil Abramson, a spokesman from the New York City Parks Department. If he does not comply, the city will remove the boat at the owner’s expense. Police and the National Parks Service are working together to assure a smooth departure.

“We have the situation under control, and we’re taking the steps needed to enforce the rules in place,” said Abramson.

Recently, the Summer Wind, a vessel most likely named after the Frank Sinatra ballad, began to lift, a nautical term indicating a boat tilting to its side. This forced Pascale to tie it to a second boat, Barbara Ann, assumingly named after the Beach Boy hit. Now two nondescript boats sit in the middle of the bay.

The U.S. Coast Guard dispatched investigators in September to examine the boats. Although they are not the fittest boats, they were deemed seaworthy. If the inspectors noticed faults on the boat, they would have forced Pascale to terminate his voyage and dock his boat. The only violation Pascale received was for illegal fishing gear, said a spokesman from the Coast Guard.

However, a separate investigation that included the National Parks Service and the NYPD Harbor Patrol, uncovered Pascale had no permit.

“It becomes dangerous at night,” said McGranachan. “When boats navigate harbors in the dark, they might not be able to see smaller crafts and that can obviously be a problem.”

Theresa Scavo, the president of Community Board 15, said she received several complaints about Pascale when he first pulled into the bay. She said it’s unfair that he’s moored illegally and is getting away without paying rent.

“It’s not right,” said Scavo. “The boats are ugly and he’s getting away with living in our bay.”

This paper tried to contact Pascale for a comment but he could not be reached.

Apparently, Pascale has been removed from marinas spanning from Connecticut to Sheepshead Bay, according to the Coast Guard. These individuals illegally moor their boats in marinas across the country, said Jim McGranachan, the public affairs officer for the U.S. Coast Guard of New York. He said the exact numbers are difficult to quantify.

“You can’t just have people mooring their boats anywhere they want,” said Lt. Edward Munoz, the Coast Guard’s chief of waterway management for New York. “You need to first apply for a permit.”

Unusual for Sheepshead Bay standards, these nautical nomads that find a safe harbor and drop anchor are quite common, said a spokesman from the U.S. Coast Guard.