Princess S6567'7"
View Specs & ReviewOne marina left in Manhattan — and a harbour that berths you everywhere else
Yachting in New York Harbor
A Minted Location · New York Harbor, New York
Getting a yacht to New York was never the hard part. The Narrows clears 215 ft over a 2,000 ft midchannel width, the water is deep, and anything afloat can run up past the Statue of Liberty to the Battery without a second thought. Where you tie up when you get there is the problem, and right now Manhattan has one answer instead of four.
Three of Manhattan's four marinas are closed at the same time. North Cove Marina at Brookfield Place — the Lower Manhattan superyacht address — carries "Closed for Redevelopment" on its operator's own page, with no reopening date. The West 79th Street Boat Basin and Dyckman Street Marina are both closed by NYC Parks, with reopening anticipated in 2028. Berth lists elsewhere may still show North Cove as bookable; it is not.
That leaves Chelsea Piers Marina at Pier 59, which publishes a 350 ft maximum length across 65 slips, 25 of them megayacht berths. It is a good marina. It is also the only one.
Two more things to plan around. There is no fuel dock in Manhattan — the nearest pumps are across the Hudson in Jersey City. And you cannot anchor a yacht off Manhattan: under 33 CFR 110.155 the Hudson anchorages alongside the island are authorised for tugs and barges only and require the Captain of the Port's permission.
So read this as a guide to the whole harbour, because that is how the harbour works. The capacity that actually exists is in Jersey City, Brooklyn and up the Hudson — and if you want to keep size near New York rather than visit with it, the honest answer is 33 nautical miles up the river. Access is never the constraint in New York. Staying is.
Where to keep a yacht in New York Harbor
Manhattan, in full. Chelsea Piers Marina is the operating list: its own page states "65-slip Marina holds 25 Mega Yacht Berths with max length of 350 feet," on floating docks with 30, 50 and 100-amp three-phase shore power and 24-hour guest services. Transient enquiries route to Dockwa, and rates come on enquiry. Fuel is across the Hudson.
The other three are closed. North Cove Marina at Brookfield Place in Battery Park City — the berth that made Manhattan a superyacht destination — shows "Closed for Redevelopment" on its operator's own page under the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency works, with no reopening date. The West 79th Street Boat Basin is unambiguous on the NYC Parks page: "currently closed. No vessel dockage, moorage, anchorage or launch services are available," with reopening anticipated in 2028. Dyckman Street Marina at Inwood is "closed for reconstruction with anticipated reopening in 2028"; its last published transient rate was $4.50 per linear foot per day.
The Jersey side is where the harbour's working capacity sits. Liberty Landing Marina at Liberty State Park publishes 520 slips to 160 ft, ValvTect gas and diesel, VHF Ch. 72, and everything from a day visit to an extended stay booked online. It is the only fuel dock on this stretch of water, which makes it the single most useful address on this page. Liberty Harbor Marina in the Morris Canal basin takes 200 ft across 100 slips with roughly 16 ft average basin depth and calls itself "well-protected from heavy harbor traffic," with published summer and winter season dates. The Shipyard Marina on the Hoboken north waterfront is a smaller proposition — 41 slips plus four side ties, largest slip 25 × 28 ft, longest side tie 50 ft, 8 ft at low tide, open May 1 to October 31 — and it is the one harbour venue that publishes a dock-and-dine product. Lincoln Harbor Yacht Club, Newport Marina in Jersey City and Port Imperial Marina hold the rest of that waterfront; terms there come from a phone call rather than a published page.
Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens. Brooklyn Bridge Marina at Pier 5 in Brooklyn Bridge Park — formerly ONE°15 Brooklyn — publishes "over 100 floating docks," vessels "up to 300+ feet," shore power at 30, 50, 100, 200 and 400 amp, and a "state-of-the-art swell attenuator," booked through Dockwa. Mansion Marina in Great Kills Harbor is the Staten Island answer: 217 slips with 5 transient, 70 ft maximum on 20 ft beam, gasoline and diesel, 10 ft MLW at the entry and 12 ft at the fuel dock, $2.00 per foot per day with reservations preferred, and a 30-ton Travelift. World's Fair Marina in Flushing Bay is honest about its limits — "no dockage available for larger vessels," limited transient dockage for smaller recreational boats, and Pier 1 closed for reconstruction.
Haul-out and refit is the harbour's quiet strength, and almost none of it is for yachts. Liberty Landing Marine Services runs a 60-ton travel lift and a 10-ton negative lift — the largest yacht haul-out in the immediate harbour outside the commercial yards. Above that you are into ship territory: Caddell Dry Dock & Repair on the Kill Van Kull works over 300 vessels a year across seven floating dry docks and eight piers, the largest 420 ft × 100 ft at 7,500 tons; GMD Shipyard in the Brooklyn Navy Yard runs two graving docks at 1,092 ft × 150 ft with cranes to 200 tons and calls itself the largest dry dock facility in New York City. Both are commercial yards — confirm dock dimensions and availability with the yard before you plan around either.
And if you want to keep a large boat near New York rather than visit in one, the answer is up the river. Safe Harbor Haverstraw, 33 nautical miles above the Battery, publishes wet slips 12–150 ft and transient 20–150 ft, ValvTect diesel and gas, and a 35-ton travel lift. That is where size actually lives around here.
Marinas
| Name | Where | Max yacht | Slips | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea Piers MarinaThe only operating marina in Manhattan. Its own page states the shape of it precisely: a "65-slip Marina holds 25 Mega Yacht Berths with max length of 350 feet." Floating docks, 30, 50 and 100-amp three-phase shore power and 24-hour guest services. Plan fuel elsewhere — there is no fuel dock in Manhattan, and the nearest pumps are across the Hudson in Jersey City. | Pier 59, Chelsea — Hudson River, Manhattan | 350 ft | 65 | None in Manhattan — nearest pumps at Liberty Landing, Jersey City |
| North Cove Marina at Brookfield Place — closed for redevelopmentClosed. The operator's own page reads "Closed for Redevelopment" under the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency works, and states no reopening date. This was the Manhattan superyacht address, and berth lists elsewhere may still show it as bookable — it is not. | Battery Park City — Hudson River, Manhattan | — | — | — |
| West 79th Street Boat Basin — closed until 2028Closed. NYC Parks states it plainly: "currently closed. No vessel dockage, moorage, anchorage or launch services are available," with the facility "anticipated to reopen in 2028." The closure takes an anchorage with it: the 79th Street Boat Basin North and South special anchorages are the only recreational anchorages near Manhattan. | Upper West Side — Hudson River, Manhattan | — | — | — |
| Dyckman Street Marina — closed until 2028Closed. NYC Parks: "closed for reconstruction with anticipated reopening in 2028." Its last published transient rate was $4.50 per linear foot per day. | Inwood — Hudson River, Manhattan | — | — | — |
| Liberty Landing MarinaThe most useful address in the harbour for a visiting boat: 520 slips to 160 ft, and the only fuel dock on this stretch of water. VHF Ch. 72. Fuel hours come two ways on the marina's own site — a "24-hour fueling dock" in one place, assisted fuelling 07:30–17:00 with self-serve off-hours in another — so call before you plan a night arrival around it. | Liberty State Park, Jersey City — west side of the Hudson | 160 ft | 520 | Gas and diesel — ValvTect, with QTPod self-serve for off-hours, seven days; call ahead for hours |
| Liberty Harbor MarinaThe largest published LOA on the Jersey side at 200 ft, in a basin with roughly 16 ft average depth that the marina describes as "well-protected from heavy harbor traffic." Also the home of Manhattan Yacht Club since 2015. | Morris Canal basin, Jersey City | 200 ft | 100 | Fuel at Liberty Landing, a short run away in Jersey City |
| The Shipyard MarinaSmall-boat water, stated precisely: 41 slips plus four side ties, largest slip 25 × 28 ft, longest side tie 50 ft, and 8 ft at low tide. The slip dimensions are the limit rather than a stated maximum LOA. This is also the one harbour venue publishing a dock-and-dine product — $25 per hour, two-hour minimum, by availability. | Hoboken north waterfront — west side of the Hudson | — | 41 | Fuel at Liberty Landing, down the Hudson in Jersey City |
| Brooklyn Bridge MarinaFormerly ONE°15 Brooklyn. The marina publishes "over 100 floating docks" and vessels "up to 300+ feet," shore power at 30, 50, 100, 200 and 400 amp, and a "state-of-the-art swell attenuator" — which matters on this stretch of the East River. Confirm your length when you book: "300+" is where the published figure stops. | Pier 5, Brooklyn Bridge Park — East River | — | — | Call ahead — the nearest published pumps are at Liberty Landing across the harbour |
| Mansion MarinaThe Staten Island answer, and the harbour's other fuel stop: 217 slips of which 5 are transient, 70 ft maximum on 20 ft beam, 10 ft MLW at the entry and 12 ft at the fuel dock, plus a 30-ton Travelift on site. | Great Kills Harbor, Staten Island | 70 ft | 217 | Gasoline and diesel |
| Safe Harbor HaverstrawWet slips published at 12–150 ft with a 35-ton travel lift. This is where size actually gets kept near New York: 33 nautical miles above The Battery, under the 139 ft cap of the Cuomo Bridge, and out of a harbour that has no room for a resident large-yacht fleet. | Haverstraw — 33 nm up the Hudson from The Battery | 150 ft | — | Gas and diesel — ValvTect |
| World's Fair MarinaThe Parks page is direct about the limit: "no dockage available for larger vessels," and Pier 1 is closed for reconstruction. Confirm slip length and depth before you commit to the run up Flushing Bay. | Flushing Bay, Queens | — | — | Call ahead |
Yacht clubs
| Name | Where | Max yacht | Slips | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yacht ClubThe name misleads, so take it plainly: the club has no dockage in New York Harbor. The 44th Street Club House is a landside clubhouse, and the club's waterfront station, Harbour Court, is in Newport, Rhode Island. | 44th Street Club House, Manhattan — landside only | — | — | — |
| Manhattan Yacht ClubMoved out of Manhattan in 2015 and now based at Liberty Harbor on the Jersey side. The fleet is J/24s and the floating clubhouse Honorable William Wall anchors off Ellis Island seasonally. Not a large-yacht facility, despite the name. | 140 Dudley Street, Jersey City — Liberty Harbor | — | — | — |
| Miramar Yacht ClubThe one club in this market that publishes a welcome to visiting boats. VHF 68. Mooring size and depth come from the club — ask when you book. | Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn | — | — | — |
Fuel docks
| Name | Where | Max yacht | Slips | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty Landing Marina fuel dockThe nearest fuel to Manhattan, and it is in New Jersey — there is no fuel dock in Manhattan at all. Hours come two ways on the operator's own site: a "24-hour fueling dock" in one place, assisted fuelling 07:30–17:00 with self-serve off-hours in another. Ring ahead rather than arriving on the strength of either. | Liberty State Park, Jersey City — across the Hudson from Lower Manhattan | — | — | ValvTect gasoline and diesel, with QTPod self-serve for off-hours, seven days |
| Mansion Marina fuel dockThe harbour's other fuel, at the Staten Island end: 12 ft at the fuel dock with 10 ft MLW at the harbour entry. Call ahead for hours. | Great Kills Harbor, Staten Island | — | — | Gasoline and diesel |
Figures are as each facility publishes them on its own site; blank cells mean the facility doesn't state a number. Confirm slip availability and current rates directly — or ask us to make the calls.
Cruising from New York Harbor
Air draft decides your season, not your draft. The clearances below are NOAA Coast Pilot 2, 09 AUG 2026 edition.
Coming in from sea, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge clears 215 ft over a 2,000 ft midchannel width — reduced by 15 ft when its traveling maintenance platform is in operation. Nothing you are likely to own is stopped by that, which is why access is never the constraint in New York.
Leaving is where it bites. The East River route to Long Island Sound is capped at 127 ft by the Brooklyn Bridge — 110 ft under its maintenance platform. Behind it the East River runs Manhattan Bridge 134 ft (115 ft under the west-edge platform), Williamsburg 133 ft, Triborough/RFK 138 ft, the Hell Gate rail bridge 134 ft, Bronx-Whitestone 130 ft (platform reduces by 14 ft) and Throgs Neck 138 ft at the Sound gateway. A tall-rigged sailing yacht does not go this way at all: it runs outside via Sandy Hook and Montauk.
Northbound on the Hudson the cap is 139 ft, the centre span of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, dropping to 123 ft at the east and west spans. Below it the George Washington Bridge gives 193 ft east, 205 ft centre and 206 ft west above mean high water, reduced to 180 ft with the traveler platform in use — and Coast Pilot's Chapter 12 prose gives a "least clearance of 195 feet" against the 193 ft in its own table, so plan against 193 ft. The rebuilt Bayonne Bridge gives 154 ft minimum over the channel and 215 ft on the centreline.
The Harlem River is effectively shut. Controlling fixed midchannel clearance runs about 102 ft at High Bridge, with numerous swing bridges at 24–30 ft under 33 CFR 117.789.
Hell Gate is a tide-gate transit, not a casual one. Coast Pilot puts 4 knots through Hell Gate, 3 knots at the Brooklyn Bridge and 1.5 knots north of Governors Island; off Mill Rock it gives 3.4 knots eastward and 4.6 knots westward with "heavy swirls." NOAA's own 2026 predictions for station NYH1924 show ebb peaks to 5.55 knots. One more thing that catches visitors: the East River flood sets eastward and the ebb westward — the opposite of Long Island Sound. Plan the slack, do not plan the hour.
Distances from The Battery, per Coast Pilot Chapter 9 and the Chapter 12 Hudson mileage table: the Long Island Sound entrance at Throgs Neck and Willets Point is 14 nm; Dobbs Ferry 20.5; Nyack 25; Haverstraw 33; Cold Spring 47.3; Kingston 79. City Island at roughly 16–17 nm, Atlantic Highlands at 17–20 nm and the Hamptons run at roughly 100–110 nm via the Sound are approximations for orientation rather than published distances.
Season and rules. Roughly mid-April to late October, and the marinas cluster their own seasons mid-April to mid-October. Coast Pilot Chapter 12 is blunt about the other end: "The ice season usually starts in early January and ends in mid-March." Spring freshets in March through May have run 18 ft above normal high water with ebb "from 1.5 to nearly 5 knots." And the Hudson from the Battery to Troy is a No-Discharge Zone — plan your pump-outs before you go north.
- New York Harbor federal anchorages — plan a berth, not a hook — Hudson River alongside Manhattan and the Upper BayThe thing most visitors get wrong. Anchorages No. 19 East and No. 19 West, the Hudson grounds alongside Manhattan, state that "These anchorage grounds are only authorized for use by tugs and/or barges" and that "No vessel may anchor in Anchorage No. 19 East or No. 19 West without permission from the Captain of the Port." Anchorage No. 18 is "reserved for use by ships only." The only special — that is, recreational — anchorages anywhere near Manhattan are the 79th Street Boat Basin North and South, attached to a marina closed until 2028, plus Fort Washington Point.
Service, refit & supplies
Shipyards & refit
| Name | Where | Max yacht | Dockage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caddell Dry Dock & RepairA commercial ship repair yard rather than a yacht facility, working over 300 vessels annually across seven floating dry docks and eight piers; the largest dry dock is stated at 420 ft × 100 ft and 7,500 tons. Dock dimensions and availability are worth confirming with the yard before you plan around them. | Kill Van Kull, Staten Island | 420 ft | — |
| GMD Shipyard Corp.Self-described "largest dry dock facility in New York City": two graving docks at 1,092 ft × 150 ft and cranes to 200 tons. Again a ship yard, not a yacht yard. The wet berth is published as both 1,080 ft and 1,100 ft, × 116 ft either way — plan against 1,080 ft and confirm with the yard. | Brooklyn Navy Yard — East River | — | — |
Chandleries & specialty suppliers
- Liberty Landing Marine Services — Liberty State Park, Jersey CityA 60-ton travel lift and a 10-ton negative lift — the largest yacht haul-out in the immediate harbour outside the commercial ship yards. If you need a boat out of the water within sight of Manhattan, this is the lift.
- Atlantis Marina — Great Kills, Staten IslandMarine supply, repairs, storage and hauling, and pump-out, with docks for 140 boats from 18 to 100 ft. Maximum LOA, fuel and transient terms come from a call.
On the New York Harbor calendar
New York's boating calendar is thin, and it is worth planning around that rather than around a long list of dates.
One event to put in the diary: the New York Boat Show, January 20–24, 2027, at the Javits Center. That is a show you fly to, not one you bring a boat to.
The one recurring item that actually affects a passage is regulatory. The Coast Guard's Sector New York recurring safety zones under 33 CFR 165.160 apply through the season — "no person may enter the safety zone… unless authorized by the Captain of the Port" — and include the Hudson River Nyack to Kingsland Point swim on the second weekend in September. Check the current notices before any date you have planned around.
Three fixtures people still plan around are not fixtures any more:
- The Great North River Tugboat Race is not currently scheduled. The last running was 2019, and the organiser's page still headlines "2022 Tugboat Race Postponed."
- OpSail is dormant. It has run in 1964, 1976, 1986, 1992, 2000 and 2012, with no next edition set.
- The Macy's 4th of July fireworks set their river and their boating restrictions close to the date. Take both from the Coast Guard's local notices rather than from the event page, and treat the 2027 date the same way.
Yachts we'd shortlist for New York Harbor
Reviewed the same way as everything on this site — specifications verified against the builder's own numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you anchor a yacht off Manhattan?
No. Under 33 CFR 110.155 the Hudson River anchorages alongside Manhattan — Anchorages No. 19 East and No. 19 West — state that these grounds "are only authorized for use by tugs and/or barges," and that no vessel may anchor there without permission from the Captain of the Port. Anchorage No. 18 is reserved for ships only. The only special, meaning recreational, anchorages near Manhattan are the 79th Street Boat Basin North and South, which are attached to a marina closed until 2028, plus Fort Washington Point. Plan a berth rather than a hook.
Can you dock a yacht in Manhattan?
At one marina. Chelsea Piers Marina at Pier 59 is the only operating marina in Manhattan, and its own page states a 65-slip marina holding 25 megayacht berths with a maximum length of 350 feet. The other three are closed simultaneously: North Cove Marina at Brookfield Place shows "Closed for Redevelopment" with no reopening date, and NYC Parks has both the West 79th Street Boat Basin and Dyckman Street Marina closed with anticipated reopening in 2028. Berth lists elsewhere may still show North Cove as bookable — it is not.
Where can you buy fuel in New York Harbor?
Not in Manhattan — there is no fuel dock on the island at all. The nearest pumps are across the Hudson at Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City, which publishes ValvTect gasoline and diesel with QTPod self-serve for off-hours, seven days, on VHF Ch. 72. Its hours come two ways on the operator's own site — a 24-hour fuelling dock in one place, assisted service 07:30 to 17:00 with self-serve off-hours in another — so call before planning a night arrival. Mansion Marina at Great Kills on Staten Island is the harbour's other fuel, with 12 ft at the fuel dock.
Where do you actually keep a large yacht near New York?
Outside Manhattan, and mostly in New Jersey or up the Hudson. Liberty Harbor Marina in Jersey City publishes 200 ft across 100 slips in a basin averaging about 16 ft, Liberty Landing publishes 520 slips to 160 ft with the only fuel on that stretch, and Brooklyn Bridge Marina at Pier 5 states vessels up to 300-plus feet across over 100 floating docks. For a boat that stays rather than visits, Safe Harbor Haverstraw is 33 nautical miles up the river with wet slips to 150 ft and a 35-ton travel lift. Manhattan is a destination here, not a home port.
What air draft do you need to get from New York to Long Island Sound?
127 feet, and that is the Brooklyn Bridge on the East River route — 110 feet under its maintenance platform, per NOAA Coast Pilot 2. Everything behind it is taller: Manhattan Bridge 134 ft, Williamsburg 133 ft, the Hell Gate rail bridge 134 ft, Bronx-Whitestone 130 ft, Throgs Neck 138 ft at the Sound gateway. A tall-rigged sailing yacht must go outside via Sandy Hook and Montauk instead. Hell Gate itself is a tide-gate transit, not a casual one: Coast Pilot gives 4 knots there, and NOAA's 2026 predictions for station NYH1924 show ebb peaks to 5.55 knots. Note too that the East River floods eastward and ebbs westward — the opposite of the Sound.