FDNY's Fireboat McKean, docked in Stony Point, awaits national historic designation

STONY POINT − FDNY Fireboat John McKean responded to some of New York City's most tragic and triumphant moments of this century.

On 9/11, it ferried the wounded and traumatized from ground zero to New Jersey, then helped supply water to fight the fires that burned for days after the Twin Towers collapsed.

On Jan. 15, 2009, the McKean raced to a plane that was forced to land in the Hudson River after a bird strike disabled its engines. Crew snatched passengers to safety as they stood on the sinking jet's wings. Not a soul was lost on what became known as "Miracle on the Hudson."

In 2010, the boat, officially Marine Company 1, was retired. It was replaced by the Three Forty Three, named for the FDNY members killed on 9/11.

Now docked at Panco Petroleum in Stony Point, the boat on June 17 was listed on the National Parks Service's "pending list" for acceptance on the National Register of Historic Places.

Fireboat McKean securing federal recognition has high-profile support

The federal designation has long been a hope of David Rocco, vice president of the Fireboat McKean Preservation Project. The Yorktown resident has been involved in other major preservation and restoration projects, including Walkway Over the Hudson. He knows the designation will boost fundraising abilities.

Funds are needed to keep the boat in operational shape and create a place for it to anchor and accommodate tours as a floating museum.

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Big on Rocco's list: Getting the fireboat ready to take a starring role in "Sail 250 New York," planned for July 4, 2026, as a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

The stars are aligning. The McKean was named to the New York State Registry in December 2022, considered a key step in the federal recognition process.

There's also plenty of high-profile support. New York's U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand back the historic designation. The nonprofit Fireboat McKean Preservation Project has also garnered more than 40 letters of support for national historic status.

In advocating for National Registry status, Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, called Fireboat McKean a "timeless symbol of the bravery and heroism of our first responders in the New York City Fire Department."

Since its decommissioning, the Fireboat McKean has has several re-starts. First purchased by investors to become a restaurant, it was ultimately turned over to the nonprofit Fireboat McKean Preservation Project.

The boat's been berthed in Brooklyn, Tarrytown and now Stony Point.

Daughter of FDNY lieutenant who served on McKean Fireboat serves as president of preservation project

Tracy Wanamaker Conte serves as president of the Fireboat McKean Preservation Project. The McKean's been a big part of the Briarcliff resident's life.

Her dad, Harry Wanamaker of Upper Nyack, an FDNY lieutenant, served on the McKean. Conte recalled how he took the whole family on a tour of the boat he loved in August of 2001.

On 9/11, Wanamaker was home. "I have to go down there," Conte recalled her dad saying. "I don't know when I am going to see you again."

The family didn't hear from him for three days.

Wanamaker spent time on "The Pile," the mountains of rubble left by the towers that fell. He stayed until the body of Welles Crowther, a fellow volunteer firefighter at Upper Nyack's Empire Hook & Ladder, could be recovered. Crowther became known as the Man in the Red Bandanna.

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Wanamaker died of 9/11-related cancer in 2010.

Conte said the boat still elicits happy memories for her family. And the view from Stony Point's nearby Riverside Park adds to that. Her dad and mom, Delynne, used to hang out at that very park when they were dating.

Things have also come full circle for Wanamaker's firefighter family. FDNY Lt. Ilya Zerakhto, also a volunteer at Empire Hook & Ladder, now serves on the Three Forty Three, Conte said. "My father would have been thrilled."

Nancy Cutler covers People & Policy for lohud.com and the USA Today Network New York. Reach her at ncutler@lohud.com; follow her on Twitter at @nancyrockland.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: FDNY fireboat awaits naming to National Register of Historic Places