NEW YORK – The US Coast Guard will extend the deadline to submit public comments on the Hudson River commercial anchorages proposal by three months. The initial deadline of September 7 was pushed back to December 6.
To date, the Coast Guard has received close to 2,400 comments on the subject.
The Riverkeeper organization, which is among the many groups opposed to the plan by shipping interests, is pleased with the extension, said spokesman Cliff Weathers.
“Just the fact that the Coast Guard has given the public a lot more time to weigh in on the anchorages is a very good sign,” Weathers said. “It shows that this whole topic has been controversial and being weighed by the public quite a bit.”
Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, who was among the public officials who lobbied for an extended comment period, said local residents have “a fundamental right to make their voices heard on large-scale projects such as proposed anchorage sites – especially when the sites in question would reduce our beautiful river to a parking lot for oil ships.”
Yonkers Mayor Michael Spano said the extension is “a small victory for our Hudson River Waterfront Alliance.” He said their voices are being heard “and they are making a difference.”
The 10 anchorage locations being proposed would run from Kingston to Yonkers and include many slips at each one.
