Politics & Government
Dinner Boat Plan Proves Not What It Had Seemed
Vessel is in dry dock, owner says he's made no deal to lease it, and so Walter puts an end to the idea.
Supervisor Sean Walter, Councilman John Dunleavy, BID president Ray Pickersgill and former Chamber of Commerce president Bob Lanieri carpooled to Pier 81 at 4lst St. in Manhattan Friday morning to take a look at a 98-foot yacht that to offer moonlight dinner cruises in the Peconic Bay.
But when the four arrived at the pier, they were told that the boat, called “Cabana,” wasn’t there, having been pulled out of the water at 7:00 that morning and put into dry dock elsewhere for repairs.
And when they spoke to the owner of the vessel – a gentleman named Marco Polo – he told them, according to Walter, “I know nothing about your coming out here. I own the boat, and I’ve made no deal to lease it.”
Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
When they then tried to contact the two business partners whom they were scheduled to meet and who at a town board work session two weeks ago implied they owned the “Cabana,” there was no answer on either of their telephones.
At the pier, they also met up with a sea captain named Carlos, who said he had sailed the boat to New York in 1976. Familiar with the vessel, Carlos, according to Walter, warned, “There’s no way you could ever get that boat under the fixed bridge on Rt. 58.”
Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
At this point, Walter and his companions decided top chalk up their visit to experience, have lunch and head back to Riverhead, whereupon Walter issued a press release to announce that the proposal that Vito DeCandia and John Abbaticchio had presented at a town board work session two weeks ago was dead.
“It’s not a real proposal at all,” Walter wrote. “I am always willing to hear any idea that will help our town, but every proposal we consider needs to be well grounded.”
Dunleavy added, “We met with the owner of the vessel, and he has no business ties to the people that proposed bringing this boat to Riverhead.”
“This is what makes it difficult being a supervisor,” Walter said late Friday. “You just can’t sit in your office. You’ve got ferret out these things. Suffice it to say that we figured out rather quickly that these guys weren't for real.”
