A Staten Island marina battered by Hurricane Sandy is back on an even keel now that the feds ruled it can be rebuilt.
The National Parks Service wanted to permanently close the 37-year-old Nichols Marina in Great Kills Park, the home of 350 pleasure craft, after Sandy ravaged its floating docks.
The feds initially decided they couldn’t authorize an extension of its lease, which expired on Dec. 31, to a private operator, The Post reported earlier this month.
But after an outcry by boaters, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Michael Grimm, the feds not only ruled it can stay but agreed to help pay for the rebuilding.
“Thousands of boaters on Staten Island can finally breathe a sigh of relief because Nichols Marina will continue to be their home away from home,” said Schumer.
Marinas of the Future, the current marina operator, received $1.4 million from its private insurance company and will receive unspecified additional funds from the Sandy aid package to augment that, Schumer said.
It will cost an estimated $2 million to complete all the repairs.
“This was another Staten Island jewel that was going to eliminated,” said Fred DeLise, an auto repair-shop owner who has docked his boat there for 28 years and helped organize a coalition to save the marina.
Initially, the coalition said it would it pay for all the repairs privately.
“Our kids practically grew up there,” he said. “It’s all families here.”