New York magnate seeks to stop famous ocean liner from becoming world's largest artificial reef

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New Yorkers seek to scuttle plans to sink historic ocean liner in Florida

By Liam Quigley
Published Nov 19, 2024


The S.S. United States has been docked on the Delaware River waterfront in Philadelphia for years.
Jewel Samad/AFP

{Source for picture: A Storied Luxury Liner May Soon Find New Life on the Florida Seafloor}

A Brooklyn concrete magnate is making a last minute effort to bring a crumbling, historic ocean liner from Philadelphia to the Red Hook waterfront. ... John Quadrozzi Jr., who runs a concrete empire and owns the Gowanus Bay Terminal, seeks to scuttle plans to haul the S.S. United States to Okaloosa County, Florida, where the carcass of the largest ocean liner ever built in the United States will be sunk and turned into an artificial reef.

Quadrozzi and his allies have a different vision for the rusty 990-foot vessel, which is larger than the Titanic and holds the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing set more than 70 years ago. He envisioned the ship as a “floating ecosystem” revolving around sustainability.

“Coworking space, incubators. Preferably things that are more maritime and environmentally focused…The vessel is just filled with small spaces in it, which would be ideal for that type of use,” Quadrozzi said. ... “It gets built up in increments. There are residences. There are commercial spaces. There are industrial spaces.”

Quadrozzi says he’s got a 1,300-foot parking space ready for the ship near the mouth of the Gowanus Canal. His backers include Dan McSweeney, co-founder of a conservancy dedicated to the S.S. United States, who last month pitched a West Harlem community board on turning the ship into a floating affordable housing complex docked on the Hudson River.

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New York magnate seeks to stop famous ocean liner from becoming world’s largest artificial reef
Published: Nov. 20, 2024, 10:21 a.m.
By Heather Gann | [e-mail]

A Brooklyn businessman has different ideas on what to do with the S.S. United States, which currently remains docked in Philadelphia as it prepares for its journey down to Mobile to become the world’s largest artificial reef.

John Quadrozzi Jr., concrete magnate and owner of the Gowanus Bay Terminal in Brooklyn, recently told Gothamist that he would like to turn the vessel into a sustainable “floating ecosystem.”

“Coworking space, incubators. Preferably things that are more maritime and environmentally focused…The vessel is just filled with small spaces in it, which would be ideal for that type of use,” he said.

“It gets built up in increments. There are residences. There are commercial spaces. There are industrial spaces.”

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