NYC’s push to save historic ship sinking fast — because owner wants it sleeping with the fishes

The New York City officials are in a standoff over an iconic 1950s ocean liner that’s now a potential reef in Florida. While the city’s leaders are pushing to bring the legendary SS United States back home for a museum, the vessel’s new owners in Okaloosa County are aiming to sink it in the Gulf of Mexico next year.

Last year the county bought the ship for about $1 million, and since then they’ve announced plans to turn the liner into the world’s largest artificial reef.

The idea is to have the wreck settle at roughly 180 feet of water, giving divers a chance to explore it just like the dozen other shipwrecks already in the area.

Councilwoman Gale Brewer has campaigned for a resolution that would require Congress and the president to declare the vessel a historic landmark, reclaim it from Florida, and fund its restoration in New York.

Though the bill would be mostly symbolic, Brewer admits it would still be tough to sway the county’s decision.

“In short, I’m not going to sugar‑coat it,” she told the Post. “I’d love to see that ship not become a coral reef,” she added, noting that a dive site doesn’t do justice to the liner’s grandeur.

The city’s last chance to vote on the resolution this session is December 18, according to a Brewer spokesperson. “Losing this iconic vessel would mean missing a huge opportunity to create a public space and maritime museum that could inspire generations,” the councilwoman said, hinting that the ship could even house a waterfront restaurant.

A petition from the New York Coalition to Save the SS United States has already gathered more than 15,000 signatures. The group has earmarked a potential site through a board member who owns the Gowanus GBX terminal, according to Minnesota State Senator Andrew Lang.

The county’s plans follow a long dispute between the S.S. United States Conservancy and the owner of the Philadelphia dock where the ship had been held since the 1990s. Built in the 1950s and retired in 1969, the SS United States still holds the trans‑Atlantic speed record for an ocean liner at 44 mph. It’s now docked in Mobile, Alabama, where it’s being stripped and prepped for sinking.

When the city council heard testimony on November 20, historians from across the country spoke in favor of relocation.

Retired education administrator David Di Gregorio highlighted the ship’s potential as a cultural and economic asset, pointing to its sleek exterior that once rivaled the Chrysler Building in height.

And Gilma Fields of the SS United States Ocean Liner Preservation Foundation lamented that “our beloved country, which normally treasures maritime history, could watch the purposeful destruction of our historic ship.” She added that her father worked on the ship as a new immigrant, deepening the emotional stakes.

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