Houseboats in New York City

Several houseboats are docked on the Newtown Creek.{{Cite news |last1=Dugan |first1=Kevin T. |last2=Lombard |first2=Amy |date=2021-08-19 |title=Is the Party Over for New York's Outlaw Houseboats? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/nyregion/newtown-creek-houseboats-superfund-schamonchi.html |access-date=2023-04-22 |issn=0362-4331}} These include the MV Schamonchi, a former Martha's Vineyard Ferry that ended up in Brooklyn when it was decommissioned and sold in 2005. The Schamonchi served as a squat and a party space, and owners paid to dock it at 190 Morgan.{{Cite web |date=2013-10-14 |title=Hipsters forced off floating crash pad |url=https://nypost.com/2013/10/14/hipsters-forced-off-floating-crash-pad/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |language=en-US}} Other boats are rented out to tenants.{{Cite web |last=Member |first=Community |date=2021-10-12 |title=Meet the Greenpoint Artist Who Lived in a Boat on Newtown Creek |url=https://greenpointers.com/2021/10/12/meet-the-greenpoint-artist-who-lived-in-a-boat-on-newtown-creek/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Greenpointers |language=en-US}} Most boats are docked on city land, without a marina, so owners do not pay to park their boat.{{Cite web |title=For Some New York Liveaboards, the Party's Over |date=23 August 2021 |url=https://cruisingodyssey.com/2021/08/23/for-some-new-york-liveaboards-the-partys-over/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |language=en-US}} Boat dwellers have faced eviction several times from the city's Small Business Services Department and the Transportation Department.

The 79th Street Boat Basin is a marina on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. People have lived there since the 1960s, when the Parks Department leased the marina to third-party management companies, who allowed for live-aboards.{{Cite web |last=Bice |first=Emily |date=2023-01-25 |title=How To Live on a Boat in NYC |url=https://www.citysignal.com/how-to-live-on-a-boat-in-nyc/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=CitySignal |language=en-US}} In the 1970s, rents were about $200 per month. The 1990s brought disputes between boat dwellers and the city, which resumed management in 1989.{{Cite web |title=Home with waterfront view means houseboat from some in NYC |url=https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/2008/07/14/home-with-waterfront-view-means-houseboat-from-some-in-nyc/48190755/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=The Herald-Times |language=en-US}} It was home to roughly 60 people when the marina closed in 2021 for renovation.

In the 1990s, the Floating Neutrinos junk raft Town Hall was anchored off Pier 25.{{Cite news |last=Stamler |first=Bernard |date=1999-10-03 |title=NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: TRIBECA; Lift Anchor, Hudson Park Orders Houseboat |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/03/nyregion/neighborhood-report-tribeca-lift-anchor-hudson-park-orders-houseboat.html |access-date=2023-07-23 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |title=Town Hall, an American Raft |url=https://www.floatingneutrinos.com/Other%20Rafts/TownHall.htm |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=www.floatingneutrinos.com}}

Houseboats are also located at the Newport Marina in Jersey City.

Rockaway, Queens, is also a popular place for docking houseboats.{{Cite web |date=2020-12-21 |title=Modern Bohemian Meets Coastal Cool In This NYC Houseboat |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/kairu-housebout-tour-rockaway |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Architectural Digest |language=en-US}}{{Citation |title=Houseboat Living in New York City {{!}} HGTV | date=15 July 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGlLiZnBFf4 |access-date=2023-07-02 |language=en}} Chef Ben Sargent had a houseboat there which was sunk by renters.{{Cite web |last1=Jul 19 |first1=Nathan TempeyPublished |last2=Jul 19 |first2=2016Modified |last3=2016Share |date=2016-07-19 |title='Dishonest Party Folk' Sink Celebrity Chef's Far Rockaway Airbnb Houseboat |url=https://gothamist.com/news/dishonest-party-folk-sink-celebrity-chefs-far-rockaway-airbnb-houseboat |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Gothamist |language=en}} Marina 59 allows overnight stays but not full-time habitation. This marina was the site of the Boatel, a popular boat hotel that ran for several years before closing after Hurricane Sandy.{{Cite news |last=Mulkerrins |first=Jane |date=2012-01-27 |title=Boat hotel at Rockaway Beach, New York |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/jan/27/new-york-boat-hotel-rockaway |access-date=2023-04-22 |issn=0261-3077}}

City Island in the Bronx is also a location for houseboat dwellers. Great Kills Harbor in Staten Island is another marina where people live on boats. Inwood was home to two sites of houseboats: on the Harlem River near 207th St, and along the Spuyten Duyvil Creek near Inwood Hill.{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2012-03-07 |title=Inwood's Forgotten Houseboat Colonies |url=http://myinwood.net/inwoods-forgotten-houseboat-colonies/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website={{!}} My Inwood |language=en-US}}

Prisoners have lived on ships throughout New York City's history, including American prisoners of war held by British ships during the Revolutionary War,{{Cite web |date=1935-03-01 |title=The New York Prison Ships in the American Revolution |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1935/march/new-york-prison-ships-american-revolution |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=U.S. Naval Institute |language=en}} commemorated by the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument in Fort Greene Park. Currently the Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center, a floating jail barge, is docked near Rikers Island.{{Cite web |title=Department of Correction |url=https://www.nyc.gov/site/doc/about/facilities.page |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=www.nyc.gov}}

• [https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/a-cold-war-atlantis-a-boyhood-uptown A Cold War Atlantis—A Boyhood Uptown, Benjamin Feldman]

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Category:Houseboats

Category:Housing in New York City

Category:Water transportation in New York City