I think they're overrated and not really that fun to drive. Waterskiing is much more enjoyable. Not to give anyone ideas.
1
This is not just a yearly event! I have been observing the mayhem of jetskis on the East river for some years now from my apartment overlooking the East River near 34th street, at one of the river's busiest parts. I am horrified by the apparent obliviousness of the riders of jetskis as our seaplanes attempt to land amongst the numerous NYC Ferries coming and going, the helicopters zooming in and out , from the East river terminals. Why are the jetskis allowed to ride down the middle of the river where large barges are being towed slowly, the seaplanes are attempting to take off and other large river vessels are sailing by.?? None of them can maneuver fast enough to avoid one of these thoughtless joyriders. And why should they? The East River is a commercial thoroughfare, I dread the day when the inevitable occurs.
4
Seaplanes? You can’t be serious. How many people are we worried about that have access to seaplanes
2
If only we can get the gang of illegal motor bikes and ATVs dangerously riding down 2nd Avenue and up 1st Avenue to abandon their vehicles for jet skis.
3
Last weekend I watched a Suffolk County PD boat pull over and ticket two jetskis on the water, jut like a cop pulling motorcycles over on the highway.
Jetskis are fun for 15 minutes, then it's boring. Anyone who is an enthusiast has a very short attention span.
4
Riding these things is like driving without a seatbelt on..... Maybe they will get weeded out of the gene pool?
4
Idiots
4
We are talking about once a year for two hours. Let them have their fun. The East River is not exactly the idillic experience many posters are referring to. Noisy speedboats barrel up and down the River. It’s a transportation artery with ferries and barges. We should be gracious and share both the pain and pleasure.
3
Seriously? Once a year for two hours and people get bent out of shape? Let them have their time. The East River is not exactly an idyllic waterway, and noisy speedboats zooming around all summer are much worse, and more numerous. Smacks of misplaced elitism to me.
6
The USCG classifies personal watercraft (jet skies, etc.) as "vessels." Thus, they are required to abide by the multitude of rules as other vessels. Most don't. I'd go with the "idiot" designation. --Ex NY Harbor commercial operator, presently CT waters-- where they are endemic and fondly referred to as "cockroaches of the sea".
10
This is another example of testosterone overriding safer behavior. So glad I’m a girl whom doesn’t have crazy impulses !
Get well soon guys. After therapy you might get a date. Not likely though.
4
This is having fun for some, but why not with rowing boats as in the Voga Longa in Venice : far more fun & real men & women http://www.rowing4fun.com/en/venezia_vogalonga_2019.html
Working class people having fun always annoy upper class people having fun.
5
@Andrew
no - bad driving annoys everyone. the first thing you learn when boating is wake and wash kill. and many of them don't know the first rules of seamanship and navigation.
often times I see good riders (and there are many) - but there is also far too many yobs who weave in and out of mooring and anchorage areas, tip over kayaks and canoes (another way for working class to have fun), force large working vessels (with folks who just want their pay cheques) off their course, disturb nesting water fowl (including separating mother from young)and are just plain too noisy to enjoy time on the water deserve all the aspersions upon them.
I only hope two things: that they don't move to a bigger boat with the way they drive; and they have signed up for organ donation for when they kill themselves because of the way they drove.
9
NYC in 2019 is full of narcissistic people who believe no one exists except them. The
LA attitude was successfully transplanted here. Whether it’s bicycles or jet skis or someone yesterday hailing a cab blocking the street as she nonchalantly discussed with her friends whether she should get in or not. My old NYC was a working class town, this version is full of people with more money than common sense.
26
I find it telling that no one , jet skier per say, is arguing in their favor. Take away the water, replace it with pavement, and you have the same idiots on motorcycles. And I don't mean law abiding bikers. Didn't this same group take over NYC a few years back on streets?
17
I don't think it's that complicated - on the date of this invasion, stay out of the water if you don't have jet ski! That's it, simple enough. It's only fair to give them a chance as well to enjoy the river, seems like you lot complaining are out there all of the time anyway.
15
As a kayaker, my issue with jet-skis on the waterways is some intentionally generate wake to "mess" with kayakers. Other watercraft do this, though not at the same speeds as jet skis. It's quite different experiencing wake from a ferry, yacht or cruise liner on it's route versus a high speed pwc which has much more flexibility to avoid others on the water. Jet-skis are thrilling - I've ridden them - ultimately you're intentionally or not a bully in the water.
Also - prison barge!!!
8
They say, ' “Jet skiing is one of the lowest price points to entry to get into boating generally, and certainly in New York,” he said. With an average cost between $5,000 and $15,000...'
LOWEST price point? You ever priced a kayak, man? Jetskis cause water pollution (very inefficient engines), air pollution, noise pollution. You can get a good recreational kayak plus paddle and PFD for under $1000. No noise, no emissions, and you even get some exercise. The kayak community is great too.
I'm all for sharing the waterways, everyone should have some access to them. But do let's be aware of all the harm jetskis cause that other watercraft don't.
43
A “prison barge”, really?
5
Thank You NYTimes, I actually googled this and wow. Prison barges exist and have done so since the 80s. Including housing juveniles. Not even slightly disturbing. DeBlasio needs to stop this.
5
@Rochelle Miller Are prison barges worse than other prisons? I noticed that comment in the article too. There's a prison near where I live, by a lake that's where the local crew clubs row. We row past the prison every day. The guys inside never get to look out and even see the water. I was impressed that the guys on the prison barge could actually watch this crazy event going on around them!
8
@Maylan Goes right back o the American Revolution, when the Brits used floating "prison hulks" to house rebel POWs...
7
I'll answer the headline's seemingly rhetorical question: idiots. Endangering other people out there enjoying the (already crowded) water (boaters, sailors, kayakers, etc.) is not cool.
21
I was on the East River in a kayak when that jet ski flotilla passed by, as a ‘safety boater’ with the free public kayaking program at Brooklyn Bridge Park, patrolling the outer edge of the protected kayaking embayment between two of the Park’s piers. What was most striking was not the speed or collective noise of the 200+ of them in close ranks on the river, but the billowing noxious plumes of exhaust above them that hung in the air long after the jet ski parade had passed us by. Why not electric jet skis as a silent nonpolluting alternative? Riders can still have their fun, and others on or near the water their peace & quiet & clean harbor & river & lakefront breezes.
21
@Canonchet Let's get rid of all motorized boats in NYC.
That ferry fleet is a big polluter.
1
Why must they show"boat" (no pun intended), though? I've ridden a jetski in those waters and they're choppy and crowded with boats. If they rode "normally" without all the water donuts and showing off look-at-me maneuvers people probably wouldn't have as much of an issue with this group activity. Honestly it's a safety issue.
13
@MF that's what jet skiers do. Just as motorbikers do wheelies. Not all of them, of course, but enough. Stupid show-off stuff that can get themselves or others killed. It's what makes the sport a thrill.
7
@Joy
Similar problems with snowmobiles and ATVs, these rip up the soil, noisy, smelly, and very often dangerous. Each of these types of machines have a use--and it should be limited to search and rescue. Never for "fun" on the roads, trails or public waterways! Common space is not for "wheelies" of any sort. Regulate, fine, prohibit!
15
@SmartenUp
I take it you feel the good one's should be punished by not allowing them to ride?
1
Electric personal watercraft are here and will be a growing share of the market. Those that don’t approve will continue to disapprove, however.
3
@Zamboanga If the PWC manufacturers produced a vehicle that didn't cause massive water, air, and noise pollution, the rest of the world might disapprove rather less. It still wouldn't solve the speed and danger issues, but at least the costs would be borne a bit more by the participants, and not by the rest of us.
20
Love it...come to FL. You ll have plenty of friends. I do think there should be some minimum level of professional training required.
Jet-Skis have become de rigueur in big wave surfing because they make it much easier to catch waves that might otherwise be too difficult to paddle into or even uncatchable. However, the use of Jet Skis for this or any other purpose, except perhaps rescuing someone from drowning, has understandably evoked the ire of surfing purists. They rightfully complain the noise from their engines disturbs the natural beauty and serenity that are at the core of surfing's appeal.
As someone who began to surf in the age of a horribly heavy, 11-foot balsa board, and who thought his first styrofoam board, a 9'6" Yount, was the ne plus ultra in surfing's evolution, I am admittedly a dinosaur and therefore prone to purism in surfing. Moreover, one would have to be deaf, dumb and blind, or at least willfully blind, not to acknowledge the pernicious effects of Jet Skis when they're in use in lovely locales. The benefits they provide to those wealthy or connected enough to be able to use those machines at certain breaks are clearly outweighed by their deleterious impact on the the natural setting. They also give an unfair advantage to wealthier or better connected surfers.
Some waves are simply uncatchable by human paddling alone.I submit that is Mama Nature's way of telling us "Enough already!"
9
Frankly, I would be terrified at the thought of getting wet from the water in the East River. Maybe the water is cleaner than it used to be...?
I hope all the participants have gotten their vaccinations. Short that, a Clorox shower after the event is indicated.
6
Just like the article on cycling, this boils down to respecting others right to exist - on both sides!
5
Does anyone remember when a Jet Ski had no seat and required the person to stand and balance? While I wish there were no jet skis out there, if we were to have the old type it certainly would cut down on the amount of unskilled participants.
6
These are instruments of torture to kayakers, rowers, sail boaters, even some power boaters, and people who have waterfront homes. They are emission and noise polluters, yes, but more so, they are extremely dangerous to their operators, many (most?) of whom seem to believe they are invincible. I have witnessed several very bad jet ski accidents, one so gruesome that I won’t go into detail. I think glorifying “personal watercraft” in this way is a mistake on the part of NYC.
27
@AT - Totally agree, many riders are "daredevils" with little thought for their own safety or others. Many are drunk, some actually drinking while they drive. I've watched them do "donuts" in the middle of a the river channel here for hours on end. Equally bad they race through shallow backwaters at high speed. Police are hesitant to launch a boat to respond. Two Jetski caused deaths in the river here last year, thankfully they killed their own. I've stopped kayaking on weekends during summer, I can't possibly relax enough to enjoy it. Last summer a father was showing his teen daughter how to drive a jetski and she practically ran me down. River was a half mile wide and almost unoccupied, but they chose to practice 100' from me. Bad judgment seems to go hand-in-hand with Jetski ownership.
25
@Tim These stupid machines should be BANNED, period!
10
What an amazing photo! Made my day.
1
Idiots.
The riders (in general) tend to show disregard to safe watercraft practices and often come across as menacing. The watercraft themselves are loud and their size/maneuverability enable them to get closer to shore at faster speeds, which is dangerous to both wildlife and other people.
Among my group of friends who are boaters, swimmers, spear fisherman, divers, open water swimmers and just normal folks who want to enjoy the water, this class of watercraft is a nuisance.
Admittedly, I have recently seen some very responsible use of this watercraft, the first in my life (a group came to the lake and were very respectful when approaching the shore, did most of their chaotic use in the middle of the lake).
Perhaps with some aggressive self-policing, the perception could be changed.
9
@Ian not to mention designing - and REQUIRING - PWCs that do not create water, air, or noise pollution. And strictly regulating their use near sensitive ecosystems.
9
Oh wait, here's the bicycle tally for this year: 17 people killed so far. And what do we do? Instead of decrying these obviously lethal contrivances, the Mayor is going to spend $58 million to increase bicycle safety. That adds up to $3 million per fatality, assuming the safety measures actually reduce the fatalities to zero, which it won't. The Morality Police have evidently decided that a bicycle accident is due to the cruel environment of the streets, but a Personal Watercraft (as they are called in the industry, not just by police) accident is the fault of a crazed, drunken yahoo. Which it sometime is. But the difference in coverage and tone of the two activities reeks of smug snobbery and condescension.
4
@Dexter Ford Bikes don't cause air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution. Bikes are an environmentally friendly alternative to more polluting forms of transportation, and reduce traffic congestion for everyone else. Cyclists don't ride at excessive speeds injuring wildlife and others around them. (Okay, probably some messengers or delivery folks do - but they are a small minority and their behavior is rightly censured by many people, usually pedestrians.) If all PWCs had to be non-polluting in all ways, and speeds were strictly restricted so as not to endanger wildlife or others using the water ways, they wouldn't be as bad - though they still would not be an alternative to more harmful forms of transportation since they are a toy, not a mode of transport.
There's reasons why public policy encourages bicycles but not PWCs.
15
@Dexter Ford Gimme a break, "PWCs" have no practical utility, whereas bikes do. How many people commute to work or make speedy deliveries in crowded urban streets using PWCs?
8
Bike riders in NYC have to be hands down the most narcissistic types ever. They truly believe no one exists except them.
9
Two years ago two American tourists where tragically killed after jet skis hit the small bout they were on in Copenhagen harbor. After that, the (already existing) ban on jet skis have been strictly upheld, allowing kayakers, swimmers and small-boat cruisers a safe haven. Jet skis are generally viewed as a menace, (regardless of the political standpoint of their drivers). https://www.thelocal.dk/20180628/jetskis-fined-for-sailing-in-copenhagen-harbour-after-fatal-tragedy
19
If this is an annual, organized them then I'm all for it. It looks like a ton of fun and it's clearly in good spirits.
Just as long as it's not like the uptown dirtbike crews, who tear up and down avenues and side streets with reckless abandon and seem to delight in causing as much botheration as possible.
5
Classic case of when your horsepower exceeds your IQ things aren't going to go well.
32
The best is when the jet skiers get stuck in the mud flats in Inwood...because they're cowboys, and cowboy's gotta ride, then get rescued by the coast guard. Jeez!
10
Add those of us who sail to the list of avid haters. A huge part of the issue is that these people have no idea that there are right of way rules, much less what they are. have a friend who had one of these clowns hit his J-22. The jerk couldn't understand why the sailboat (under sail) didn't just get out of his way. Oh, and as for price point - you can get a decent dingy for between $5000 and $15,000 - but then you'd have to actually have to do some mental and physical work to learn how to use it.
21
@ROK and you can get a decent kayak for under $1000 - a top-of-the-line kayak setup for under $5000.
9
Running one of these engines for 15 minutes is the emissions equivalent of driving the average modern car 500 Kms. Add to that the noise that disturbs both humans and wildlife, and clearly it is well past time to ban these beasts from the planet.
30
@Edwin Ochmanek Along with snowmobiles and ATVs & dirt bikes please. I'm sick of finding wilderness invaded by their relentless noise, sickening exhaust, and wake of litter. Finding a lake to canoe on or a trail to ski or hike on that you don't have to be airlifted to in order to avoid all of that is getting really hard.
22
@Edwin Ochmanek
so true - it falls under the category bullfighting and dwarf throwing. once considered 'entertainment'
5
As a regular kayaker in open seas Massachusetts, I wish there were some regulations for these monster polluters (as well as for motor boats)
With all the planet problems, is it not it time to let the wind and our own muscles be the only rulers of the sea and waterways?
19
Could this piece be any more condescending? They are working class! They are having fun! Some of them may even be black! I'm an avid kayaker and a sailor, and I have absolutely no problem with people who enjoy riding personal watercraft in a completely legal manner, as these people were. Like many things that are fun, water-crafting can be annoying when others are doing it, and a real hoot when you are at the controls. I have been a witness to two serious boat accidents, and both involved common ski boats or fishing boats. If you want to talk about sheer carnage, let's tally up the number of bicycle fatalities in NYC in a given year.
11
@Dexter Ford
My objections have nothing to do with class- they are noisy, obnoxious, and a peril to those with small children in lakes, not to mention that as a lifelong swimmer, they are my natural enemy
15
Dexter Ford:
As I recall there were Hells Angels who rode their bikes along the beach road; they reduced their speed and noise. They made friends with an elderly lady who rode an ancient motorized thing; she waved at them and they waved back. The beach was a reprieve from the daily hassle.
@Sara Fasy
Your objections have everything to do with class and race because this is America. Kayaks are annoying and obnoxious.
Also, who is swimming in the east river?!
2
Nice article, really great pictures. I jetski on lakes north of Phoenix. We share the space with fishers, other power boats, canoes, kayaks, and swimmers. The custom in our part of the country is to ride sober and be respectful of other's space. It's safer than riding a motorcycle, and provides some relief from the heat.
I'm sorry if I disturb others, there are lakes around that don't allow any power boats. If one lake is too crowded or noisy, there's always some other.
I really did enjoy the pictures, did I mention that?
4
Jet ski's owners? Why not expand your article to include how many collect guns? It would also be interesting to know how many are Republicans being as these are selfish ego-driven people, indifferent to how their choices impact others.
10
@Z I wonder how many Red States allow jet skiers to carry guns while they zoom around on their wonderful machines. Throw in some Jack Daniels into the mix, and see where things end up...
3
I sail on the Columbia in Oregon.
At one point, I was in a marina that required a 15 minute motor out to sailable water through a narrow outlet. This little area between the main shore and an island was "infested" with jet skis turning what should be a tranquil egress into an annoying transit. This is admittedly just my personal bias for quiet, but the problem here is that the noise these things put out is not contained, but affects everything in the vicinity (similarly, and equally as obnoxious is the high-powered speedboats). I don't understand the allure of noise.
Second, if I ever got put on one, I would probably find myself bored within 5 minutes. Where's the skill in cranking a throttle, and doing circle after circle? (ho-hum).
Third, I see these guys heading for the largest boat wake they can find. From cruisers to tugs, they will cross the wakes as close as they can (I believe there is a legal limit to the proximity). Once, when sailing, I saw one jet skier jump a wake sending both he and the rig vertical. He lost his footing and while holding onto his "handlebars", both he and his rig hit the water where his head/face slammed into the back of the jet ski. He was evidently hurt, as he was not moving much in the water, but I don't know how badly, and I was too far away for any assistance. Fortunately he was with another skier. Just another case where "boys" get themselves hurt by being yahoos with motorized toys.
9
Whenever I go to Coney Island or other nearby beaches, I'm surprised at how close the jet skiers come to the bathers, seems a recipe for disaster.
7
Mr. Reichelt ("White boy") seems like a pretty intelligent and determined person with the energy to get things done.
Would it be that he used these qualities to help save the planet instead of speeding up it's destruction...
9
I live in a area where children ride four wheelers on the easement and often in the street. When complaining to a mother her response was that there was nowhere else for her kids to ride them. I asked her why she purchased these vehicles for her kids in the first place and was met with “ you don’t belong in this neighborhood”.
Nothing like living in the south with a bunch of stupid people. I’m waiting for the hand ringing and wails of grief when Darwin visits this family after a dump truck squashes one of her kids.
21
Based on my own interactions with Personal watercraft I have over the last 40 years lost all respect for the operators of these machines.
Only in the USA can you go down to the local power sports dealership put down $50.00 and drive off with a personal watercraft capable of reaching speeds of 85 MPH-No Coastguard training required! This would never be allowed in Europe. It would benefit the owners as a whole to require a license to operate these watercraft. Learn the rules of the waterway. 1. How to maintain safe operating distance. 2.What to do in an Emergency situation. 3. What happens when you crash at 85MPH into a dock?
Over the last 30 years I have had these "jet ski's" cut me off multiple times while captaining my small sailboat and ski boat. The older 1980's style smaller "standup jet ski's" required a certain amount of skill and agility to operate them. Fast forward 20 years to the late 90's and now any fool can climb onto a 600 lb 100+ H.P supercharged personal Watercraft, push the hand throttle forward.
If you talk to any FWC water cop in Florida, they will tell you just how serious the fatality problem is. Why not require a basic operators license It will only bring more respect to the riders and make EVERYONE in or on the water safer.
21
@J Summers you ask Why not require a basic operators license? because for these goofy americans, that would be an intrusion on their rights, rights to be reckless, to disturb marine wildlife, to pollute the water with fuel runoff, right to disturb anyone else's sense of peace we find at being at the water front. It's all about them, screw everyone else, and yes, they're true blue americans.
16
@J Summers Maybe you are just a little mis-informed, many if not most states now require a boating license for Jet Ski operators, as opposed to some states that don't require a license for "normal" boat owners when they do for skiers. And for your information Florida requires anyone under 30 to have passed a course. I agree that rental of the skis may not be the safest, as people don't realize the difference between boat and jetski steering characteristics. Also skis are limited to the low 60s per coast guard requirements. I can name numerous times when boaters performed dangerous maneuvers that endangered other boaters and jetskiers. Does running a cigarette boat into a jetty at speed in Miami ring a bell? And what does Europe have to do with this, unless you feel it is a better place to live?
3
@J Summers
“What happens when you crash at 85MPH into a dock?” Darwin gets proven right.
8
Looking at the East River I marvel at the fact that we don't have more accidents: kayakers share this limited space with a multitude of ferries, private yachts, tourist cruises - often blasting music - merchant vessels, hydroplanes and jetskis.
Oh, and imagine the noise level at the waterfront. Is this crazy traffic even regulated?
4
The whole point of personal watercraft is to go fast and make lots of noise, just like riding motorcycles. It’s about feeling free from rules, especially for people who have rule-constrained lives, like construction workers.
A few weeks ago hundreds of people on flashy motorbikes rode through staid Brooklyn Heights, down onto the pedestrian-only Promenade, and over to the other end. Lots of revving of motors and whooping.
Of course, some toddler could have been hurt, some dog run over, some elderly person who can’t move away quickly could have died.
But it was probably fun for the people on the bikes, and it’s the same for the Skiddoos. Expensive man made thrills for people mostly denied, at the expensive of those around. Class warfare in a format that doesn’t involve weapons.
17
@Michael c
And they should have been arrested.
1
One aspect that he article did not mention was the noise created by these craft. Like NYC needs more noise pollution!
34
We all deplored the wolf packs of motorcyclists rampaging through the city some years ago, culminating with a family being attacked in their car.
This is nothing less than the same behavior on water. They appear to disregard nautical rules of the road and reasonable safety precautions.
We are supposed to tolerate this, why? Put aside race, class, etc. and look at this for what it is, an assemblage of unsafe hedonistic people showing off while endangering others lives and livelihoods with a pack mentality.
If they were doing this in your neighborhood would you be OK with it?
39
@SteveRR
Wolfpacks of louts on large and noisy motorbikes still show off in downtown Brooklyn on Saturday evenings, usually around 6pm. Revving their engines and getting the front wheels in the air. Not until a pedestrian gets killed will anything be done about them.
Empty vessels still make the most noise.
13
The East River is no contemplative idyl, so the occasional jetski (and annual flotilla) are not nearly as disturbing as those infernal gas-powered grass trimmers that can wreck a hoped-for peaceful morning coffee break like few other technologies, except maybe the construction equipment back-up beeper.
18
@MWR
I think the gas powered blowers are the real nemesis. Besides the noise (often the amplitude driven harmonics of several in unison), they have the added effect of blowing ones dirt, pollen, and dust onto others (often public) property and air.
15
@MWR If you would pay for the establishment and maintenance of a meadow on my two acres of grass, I would gladly stop disturbing you with my lawn mower and string trimmer.
@Charles Nothing more stupid than a gas powered blower blowing leaves into the street on a windy day. Then watch the wind blow the leaves right back on the sidewalk. Sheer idiocy.
3
This should not be encouraged. These things are gas guzzling, carbon emitting, water polluting disasters on seas and lakes. Marine life is killed, especially the endangered manatees, when they are struck by these water-borne weapons. Jet Skis are a violent approach to nature, manifest destiny on the high-seas, an expression of marauding male energy that has no respect for the natural environment. New York City, Pirates are NOT our friends.
42
Jet skis are the snowmobiles of the water, noisy, obnoxious, harmful to human beings and other living creatures.
If you believe the regulations governing jet skis and their owners are enforced, I have a bridge to sell you.
44
My strolls in the salt marsh at Marine Park are regularly disturbed by jet skiers who break the law and race through.
Worse, the birds who feed and nest in the reeds are also disturbed. The wake from the jet skis roils the shore. The noise doesn't do much for their habitat either.
I've called any number of agencies to tell them about this situation but there's nothing to be done.
Police and park rangers can't be everywhere at once; and as long as the number of jerks is greater than the number of people who can control them, we will have degradations of marine habitats (not to mention city streets), accidents, and injuries.
43
Easy question. Idiots.
12
I don't think referring to these "free spirits" as "idiots" is a stretch of the imagination by any means. I might even be inclined to add "borderline reckless" to the overall impression.
21
@Marge Keller
From you descriptor “borderline reckless” would delete “borderline.”
5
@Mon Ray
Good point!!!
2
As with snow machines and off-road motorcycles, PWCs belong only in cordoned off areas, far away from rational, intelligent people.
These three categories of dangerous, oil-spewing, cacophonous, machines rank right up there with NASCAR in terms of sportsmanship, environmental concern, and common sense... i.e., none.
Relatively low-cost and low-brow but highly damaging, disrespectful, and annoying. Very much in line with the negative Trump culture that is proliferating in this country, like a filthy virus.
"Pirates", indeed.
21
@John Wilson, did the photos lead you to believe they were "Trump supporters"?
@Tony
Their clothing appeared to be branded with various logos. For some reason that fits Mr. Product Branding rather than Joe Biden.
3
What a nightmare! A perfect symbol of America's hatred of wild nature and love of oil-powered toys! We like to think we're "Free Spirits" when, in fact, who could be more helplessly dependent? Enslaved to mammoth corporations like ExxonMobil and the slick marketers who sell us silly gew-gaws like water scooters, Americans don't think or grieve for a second about the natural beauty and vital ecosystems their lifestyles destroy. Future generations will remember us as idiots.
30
You can call them personal water crafts if you want to, I call them jet skis. They are incredibly dangerous things. A woman in Lake Lanier, the largest of the Corps of Engineers lakes in the US, was killed a week or so riding on one. They think that they rule the waters and pay little regard to smaller crafts or larger crafts. The "rules of the road" (that is a term used in both the open waters of he ocean or in fresh water sailing) mean little to them. The right of way for water craft goes to the vessel with the least power, so a canoe, kayak, and even a sailboat have the right of way. Doctors must love them because of Lake Lanier, many are hurt on them annually. I live only 8 miles from the lake and used it for canoeing for some time before these things became over prevalent. They will circle around the canoe just to watch it almost tip over, even in small coves, just for fun. I would not go on Lake Lanier now in anything that is not grey and has big guns on it.
21
Were I to look to buy lakefront property, it would be a lake that does not allow motorized boats on it. Canoes and sunfish are the thinking, thoughtful person's watercraft.
7
The only knowledge, or skill, required to get one of these things going to 50mph is pushing a button to start the engine and pulling a throttle....
Personal watercraft account for 13 percent of all registered vessels in Florida, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's 2017 Boating Accident Statistical Report. There were 151 boating accidents last year involving a personal watercraft, or 20 percent of all accidents. Rented personal watercraft accounted for 47 percent, or 96, accidents.
14
Jet skis on the East River? I remember when the East River was synonymous with death and contamination.
9
The sheer classism and tacit racism in these comments is unreal. Did anyone read the parts about these being the lowest cost introductory watercraft? I don't see anyone complaining about the far more numerous and space consuming sailboats. And people acting as though NYC isn't already incredibly noisy. Let people of all classes enjoy themselves.
15
I complained. Many recreational boaters are grossly ill prepared to navigate the waters of NY Harbor. This very much includes sailboaters, who mistakenly believe they have the right of way at all times, which they don’t. Cost of entry does not matter - it is simply reckless and irresponsible, with a lack of seamanship.
Recreational boaters should have to take mandatory seamanship classes and get licensed. I see poor seamanship that puts lives in danger every single day.
66
@Mariner many countries have somewhat regulated this with establishing a nautical permit that has various levels based on hp, distance tpo shore, size of crafts etc...
4
@Clark
Actually, a canoe or rowboat would be even lower cost introductory watercraft but it’s hard to be obnoxious and annoy people with those.
67
As a professional mariner who spends my career on these waters I can tell you they are operated incredibly unsafe without regard to others or themselves, but they are no worse than many other boaters, kayakers and sailboaters included. They put my license and livelihood on the line every time they operate one of these machines. A hint for all recreational boaters - I can not stop or move my large commercial vessel out of the way for you as quickly as you think I can.
84
"Water World" or "Mad Max". I don't know which is the worse movie, tho I would verve towards the one with Kevin Costner in it.
3
Jet ski's are deplorable. And the typical behavior of the operators that I have observed is worse than that. A textbook illustration of the tragedy of the commons.
48
Yes but restricting access to some (jet ski bandits) and not others (sailing competitions) would not play in progressive nyc. And user fees would be ‘regressive’ taxes. The water belongs to whoever claims it for himself unfortunately.
I expected some rules after the three kayakers were seriously injured by the ferry in 2016 - I suppose we need dead bodies first.
8
Hard for me to be bothered about this when so many motorcycles cause so much noise pollution in the city and our govt does literally nothing about it!
24
@WillD
The reason Motorcycles are loud is because too many bikers get injured or killed for people not paying attention.
Motorcycles do not stop like cars, often skidding out of control bikers have to brake suddenly for cars cutting into their path, pedestrians distracted, cyclists blowing through traffic signals or many other road hazardous created by humans.
2
@DB Motorcycles with factory exhaust pipes are not loud. Owners replace the factory standard pipes with loud pipes not for safety but to be bad boys. Most cars are very well insulated against outside sounds and the sound a motorcycle makes is towards the back of the bike, so the argument that loud machines are safer is baloney.
1
Please don't compare them to bikers, which implies bicycles. They are closer to motorcycles.
7
@Ron
No, motorcyclists have indeed been known as bikers for eons, whereas people who ride bicycles are called bicyclists (or simply cyclists).
28
@Ron Umm......We call bicyclist Cyclist's and motorcyclists, "Bikers", dig? Besides I ride my ski respectfully around other marine traffic, so there ;)
2
@Ron
All my life - 69 years and counting - the word "biker" has referred to people who ride motorcycles. I never think of bike riders as "bikers"
9
People with more money than sense waste fossil fuel like this because "this is my lifestyle" while we all are forced to endure dribbling shower heads in order to "save the planet". If only hypocrisy could be harnessed as a source for power.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
50
It's noisy at my lake house? Waaah! Listen to yourself.
9
@KC Why can't they all just use sailboats, right?
5
The thing about living in a city is that one has to accept that sometimes there will be lots of people around enjoying activities that you consider obnoxious. You can either shrug it off, or sneer and complain. (Or move to the sticks.) But it's probably only a matter of time before some drunk, stoned, or just plain clueless jet-skier kills a boater or kayaker in the harbor, or on one of the rivers. It will be interesting to see if the NYPD, the Coast Guard et al. take a hands-off approach after that.
31
@Brendan Flywater - I live in the "sticks" and even here, one needs a live and let live mindset. My neighbor has a shooting range on his property and enjoys spending Sunday afternoons target shooting. In turn, he gets to enjoy the smell of horse manure from our little farm. Life is good when there is respectful tolerance of your neighbors.
8
"From the top of a floating prison barge, inmates cheered as the riders did doughnuts below the fenced-off yard." Prison barges? I thought they went out with Dickens. No? What are prison barges doing in New York in the 21st century?
23
@mcs, Hudson Valley
Perhaps you'd prefer a brand new prison facility in your community? Let's watch deblasio's shut down of Rikers and construction of new prisons in our communities before we decry the dickensian state of things.
6
@mcs, Hudson Valley This was surely the most interesting part of the entire story, and the only photo I found myself zooming in on was that floating prison barge.
26
@mcs, Hudson Valley, where else would you put them?
2
Why pay the attention that they are looking for?
5
Moving into an apartment with view of the NY harbor, I first noticed the number of jet skis and how they 'share' the waterways with much larger craft. Some are operated safely; many are not. Surely someone will step in and establish and enforce rules.
Also - despite Mr. Reichelt's 'emphasis' on 'no drinking while driving' - let's be serious for a moment.
37
The rules are already established. They are called the COL REGs. All boaters should be thoroughly familiar with these. They are available free to download online, or in a print format for around ten dollars. This is what they should know at a minimum.
11
One Jet ski on an otherwise quiet lake, or beach, can disturb peaceful enjoyment for miles around. One person can disturb hundreds or others. When I looked at purchasing waterfront, the main criteria was for the water/river was the inability for power boats of any type to pass. To my surprise, two days a year, some yahoo makes their way on a jet ski on a limited section that passes by my home. How can so many people be taken in by waterfront property marketing and be so assaulted by noisy petrol powered watercraft. There is only one river I know of in the Adirondacks that bans all power boats along a section. We need more power boat free areas for enjoyment.
114
Snowmobiles are even worse, except to the snowmobiler
29
@Richard
Thank you for your post.
I live two blocks from Lake Michigan and I can hear a Jet Ski from my house! I cannot imagine the noise level of 200 of those machines!!! Good grief. My head hurts just thinking about that.
13
@Richard two days a year, this is a problem?
2