Fireboat still at Greenport pier…for now
Ever since the cold and sunny February day when retired New York Fire Department fireboat “Fire Fighter,” now a floating museum, docked in Greenport, she’s been a major village attraction.
But the boat’s short-term lease to rent a prime section of village dock space expires June 15, and Greenport still has no word from Suffolk County on whether the 134-foot “Fire Fighter” can move to the county-owned and village-managed railroad dock just south of the North Ferry Terminal.
Greenport’s easternmost pier, where “Fire Fighter” is currently docked, has become prime summer dock space for megayachts that have been crowded out of the village’s South Fork sister deepwater port of Sag Harbor in recent years.
The fireboat was built in 1938, and served the New York Fire Department until 2010. She was on duty on Sept. 11, 2001, where she helped pump water from the Hudson River onto the wreckage of the World Trade Center.
Since February, volunteer preservationists have been grinding away at the rust and polishing the brass on the ship, while welcoming visitors aboard to learn about its history.
They’re still welcoming weekend visitors, and signing up volunteers and accepting donations here as they await news of new berthing arrangements.
