NEW YORK — Asbestos and cockroaches could sink the plans of "Saturday Night Live" comedians Pete Davidson and Colin Jost to open a nightspot aboard a retired Staten Island Ferry boat, say former crew members of the ship.
Staten Island natives Davidson and Jost joined an investor group that bought the 310-foot ferry — the M.V. John F. Kennedy — from the city for $280,000 earlier this year with the idea of turning it into a bar, restaurant and entertainment venue.
“We’re going to dock it in the city and have a nice thing, or it could all go to s--- and I’ll be doing lots and lots of gigs next year,” Davidson told People magazine in February.
Davidson, who’s no longer with SNL, might need to call his agent to book those gigs — turning the 57-year-old ship into a nightspot is likely to cost millions, ferry workers said.
The John F. Kennedy entered service in 1965, a time when “asbestos was a common building material,” said Kevin Hennessey, who captained the ship before he retired last year.
“As time went by and pipes and wires rot, the asbestos paneling was busted open and patched,” said Hennessey. “It’s generally harmless until you grind it or drill into it.”
There’s also a big cockroach problem on the ship, which Staten Island Ferry workers said is the case with all of the service’s boats — but is especially bad on the John F. Kennedy.
Many roaches were attracted to compartments beneath the ship’s seats used to store life jackets. “People are lazy and like to dump their trash in those,” said a ferry worker who asked not to be named.
The ship’s engine room was also damaged last year from a fire that broke out shortly before the ship was taken out of service, Hennessey said. By the time Jost, Davidson and the other investors bought it, the engines were still smoking and sputtering, Hennessey said.
It’s unclear how much it will cost to bring the ship into a state of good repair. Paul Italia, a comedy club owner who was part of the group that bought the boat, said he received an estimate for work to be done to the ship, but declined to say how much.
“It’s garbage information,” Italia said when the Daily News asked about the asbestos and cockroaches that ex-ferry workers say fill his ship. He said he plans to announce plans for the decommissioned ferry by the end of the year.
Hennessey said he was skeptical Jost and Davidson could turn the ship into an entertainment venue.
“I wish these guys luck with the project, but they’re going to need some help,” said Hennessey. “They had good intentions, but this was an impulse buy by two guys with a lot of money who don’t know anything about maritime vessels.”
“I’ve seen people buy vessels like this in the past with daydreams of opening up a restaurant, but then you realize it’s not connected to a sewer line, it needs ADA compliance. All kinds of stuff.”
Cortney Koenig Worrall, president of the Waterfront Alliance, a group that advocates for improvement of the city’s waterfront, said turning the ship into a club could set the stage for more waterfront venues in New York.
“They’re definitely onto something,” said Worrall. “But there are very few spaces within New York City that can accommodate a permanently anchored ship or venue like that. There’s a premium on space on land, but there’s an even higher premium on waterfront property.”
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