New York Times picks up our story about Goldman Sachs ferry boats

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Update February 20, 2013

The NYT picked up our story and added more details.

Update February 19, 2012

The two Goldman Sachs ferry boats are seemingly in service now, or are being tested to go into service

November 2, 2011 By Steven Greer, MD

The New York Times first reported in March that Goldman Sachs had purchased two new luxurious state-of-the-art ferry boats to carry employees across the Hudson River and doc at the WFC Vesey Street slip. The boats were supposed to go into commission in April but never did. In fact, the boats seem to have mysteriously disappeared.

We previously reported that neither Goldman Sachs nor the CEO of the BillyBey Ferry Company would comment on the fate of the boats. Last night, all of the parties who would know were present at the CB1 meeting. We asked the Port Authority, DOT, and BillyBey CEO Paul Goodman what became of the Goldman Sachs ferry boats and they all refused to comment (see video). The Port Authority spokeswoman said nervously, “I do not have privy to that information.” The BillyBey CEO essentially filibustered and changes the topic.

We spoke with the New York Times reporter who first covered this story, Pat McGeehan. A credible rumor circulating to explain this hush-hush over the Goldman Sachs boats is that the vessels were purchased somehow using federal bank stimulus or bailout monies, then the Goldman executives realized that buying catamaran river yachts might give a bad appearance to the press so the boats were sold or returned.

We then spoke directly with the boat manufacturer. All American Marine, in Bellingham, Washington, to ask whether they knew the fate of the Goldman Sachs boats. The marketing account manager who “handled that deal from start to finish” and has “been to New York for this many time”, told us that he “…had no idea why Goldman Sachs is not using those boats. They are still tied up to the pier in the Hudson River. They are perfectly fine, accepted, and ready to use. They just tell us that “the timing is not right” to put them into commission.”

All American Marine explained that the state-of-the-art boats made for Goldman Sachs have the least polluting engines available now which fall into the EPA’s Tier-2 category. They use Caterpillar diesel engines with exhaust particulate filters. He said, “We in the marine industry are now being pressured to clean up our act (with regards to exhaust emissions). The particulate filters are an experiment on process. The downside to strong filters are that they can back up the exhaust and hurt the engines.” He said that each boat cost Goldman Sachs approximately $2.75 Million per boat.

The Goldman Sachs mystery ferries have now been located. Why they are out of commission is still a mystery.

New York Times