Two dead, 12 injured after boat capsizes near Liberty Island

Just before 10:30 p.m. Saturday, NYPD divers and FDNY responders rushed to a capsized boat off Liberty Island in New York Harbor, near the Statue of Liberty. The 22-foot motorboat overturned with 14 people aboard, leaving two dead and 12 injured in a fast-moving rescue off one of New York’s most recognizable landmarks.

The response brought together NYPD Harbor, Scuba and Aviation units, along with FDNY personnel, as rescuers pulled more than a dozen people from the water. One account identified the dead as a woman and a 5-month-old baby girl. The injured were taken out after the boat went over in the harbor waters beside Liberty Island, where sightseeing traffic and recreational boating are constant features of the scene.

The accident immediately raises the accountability questions that follow any deadly harbor capsize. Who was on the boat, and how were 14 people packed onto a 22-foot motorboat? What safety rules applied to the vessel, and whether it was overloaded or otherwise improperly operated will sit at the center of any review of how the boat ended up overturned in open water.

New York Harbor is one of the city’s most visible waterways, and the stretch near the Statue of Liberty draws tourists, private boats and official patrols even after dark. In that setting, the failure of a small craft with so many passengers points to the practical limits of marine oversight, from passenger limits and loading practices to enforcement on the water. The recovery off Liberty Island left two people dead, 12 injured, and a familiar public-safety question hanging over the harbor: whether the basic rules meant to keep a boat upright were followed before it capsized.