Last-minute proposal emerges to save famed SS United States from being sunk

A Brooklyn businessman has different ideas on what to do with the S.S. United States, which currently remains docked in Philadelphia as it prepares for its journey down to Mobile to become the world’s largest artificial reef.
John Quadrozzi Jr., concrete magnate and owner of the Gowanus Bay Terminal in Brooklyn, recently told Gothamist that he would like to turn the vessel into a sustainable “floating ecosystem.”
“Coworking space, incubators. Preferably things that are more maritime and environmentally focused…The vessel is just filled with small spaces in it, which would be ideal for that type of use,” he said.
“It gets built up in increments. There are residences. There are commercial spaces. There are industrial spaces.”
Quadrozzi and his backer Dan McSweeney, co-founder of a conservancy dedicated to the S.S. United States, who recently pitched an idea to turn the ship into a floating affordable housing complex docked on the Hudson River, are rushing to stop the ship before it disembarks for Mobile.
It was previously scheduled to depart on Nov. 14 but was delayed due to weather concerns. Officials have not announced a new date for the ship to be moved.
Once the date is reset, it will take roughly two weeks for tugboats to tow the ship down to Mobile.
In Mobile, contractors will begin the process of ensuring it is safe for ocean life and poking holes in its hull to make it land upright at the bottom of the Gulf.
This process is predicted to take a year to complete after which the ship will take its final journey to a location about 20 miles south of the Florida Panhandle region in the Destin-Fort Walton Beach area, according to the Okaloosa County Commission.
But Quadrozzi said he is not confident the ship can make it down to the shore for its rework.
“Taking a vessel like that magnitude out into the deep sea and around the horn of Florida, the likelihood of it even making it there is questionable,” he told Gothamist.
Although Quadrozzi is still working to find a way to keep the ship up in the Northeast, Okaloosa County officials say he has not reached out to them. Currently, their plan for the S.S. United States remains unchanged.
“I’m not familiar with that gentleman and what he has going on in Brooklyn,” Nick Tomecek, a Okaloosa County spokesperson, told Gothamist.
“I do know Okaloosa County has purchased this vessel for the use of the world’s largest artificial reef.”
Originally designed as a top-secret, convertible troop carrier during the Cold War in 1951, the S.S. United States has transported presidents, famous actors, heads of state, tourists, members of the armed forces, and immigrants before it was retired in 1969.
Notable passengers included four U.S. Presidents (Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, and a young Bill Clinton), Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, and John Wayne.