Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
The crew aboard the New York Waterway ferry Empire State, members of the Seafarers (SIU), rescued a man from the Hudson River last Thursday morning, the third rescue in three years for Capt. David Dort and deckhands Gregorio Pages and Andrew Galarza. The crew was just leaving the Brookfield Place/Battery Park City Terminal en route to Hoboken, New Jersey, at 7:30 a.m., when they saw a man in the water near Pier 25. “We were just about to back out when I saw something in the water. The deckhands deployed as we moved up and they got him out,” Dort said. “This is why we do our drills.” In 33 years, New York Waterway crews have rescued nearly 300 people from the waters of New York Harbor, including 143 people rescued from U.S. Airways Flight 1549, the most successful marine rescue in aviation history.