2 Die After Boat Overturns in New York Harbor, Police Say

A man was arrested and charged on Sunday with reckless endangerment after a 27-year-old woman and a 5-month-old girl died when a boat he was operating overturned in New York Harbor, the Police Department said.

Emergency responders received a 911 call at approximately 10:25 p.m. on Saturday reporting an overturned vessel near Liberty Island, in Upper New York Bay, according to a police statement. Manuel Hernandez, 46, who was the captain of the boat, was arrested and charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment, the police said.

After deploying an air-and-sea helicopter rescue unit to the scene, police divers found a woman and baby in the water in critical condition, the statement said. The police transported the victims to NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn, where they were later pronounced dead. Their identities were being withheld until family members were notified.

Officials said 12 other people were rescued from the bay before the police arrived at the scene and were transported to hospitals in the area with minor injuries. They remain in stable condition. Adam Schwartz, the owner of Sea the City, a tour and jet ski rental company, said that one of his boat’s was the first on the scene and rescued 11 people.

The U.S. Coast Guard, which also responded to the incident, is working with the Police Department to determine whether the incident involved an illegal charter operation.

“We are committed to holding illegal operators accountable to highest extent of the law to ensure the safety of everyone on our waterways,” said Captain Doreen McCarthy, head of the New York sector for the Coast Guard.

An illegal charter is any recreational or for hire vessel that lacks Coast Guard credentials, safety equipment, or certificate of inspection.

No other boats were believed to be involved in the incident, the police said.

According to the National Data Buoy Center, there was a moderate breeze in the area at the time, with wind speeds of 14 knots (around 16 miles per hour) recorded at 10:24 p.m.

The deadly incident echoed a similar summertime boating accident in July 2022, when a 27-foot boat capsized in the Hudson River near Midtown Manhattan, leaving two people dead including a 7-year-old boy.