Billionaires are parking their yachts in front of the Statue of Liberty – and a senator wants them gone
A New Jersey state senator calls on US Coast Guard to ban the long-term anchorage of boats near Liberty Island
Wealthy enough to own a megayacht but too cheap to pay for parking?
Just drop anchor next to the Statue of Liberty and soak up the million-dollar views for free.
That was the tack of Russian-American oil tycoon Eugene Shvidler, who reportedly anchored his 112-metre vessel “Le Grand Bleu” next to Lady Liberty for weeks at a time between April and June.
No sooner did he leave Liberty Bay than Swiss-Italian scion Ernesto Bertarelli parked his 96-metre “Vava II” in the same waters, followed by German billionaire Reinhold Würth in his relatively modest, 85-metre “Vibrant Curiosity” this month, according to reports.
But the rich-guy antics have obstructed views of the iconic monument and left tourists fuming. Now, a New Jersey state senator wants to clear the bay of parked megayachts for good.
“When Emma Lazarus wrote about America welcoming ‘your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,’ it was not an invitation to billionaire oil tycoons to use the waters surrounding the Statue of Liberty as a car park for their yachts,” Democratic state Senator Richard Codey of Essex said.
