Rockaway, Queens, business owners had to be rescued Wednesday from a Seastreak ferry that got stuck in the mud during a public-relations trip aimed at securing more service for the area, authorities said.
The 65-foot-long Ocean State ran aground in a shallow part of Jamaica Bay near Kennedy Airport at about 12:15 p.m., according to Seastreak spokesman Tom Wynne.
Business owners want more service and planned to talk during the trip about how more stops could help the area affected by Hurricane Sandy.
“I didn’t see the mud coming. Maybe 10 minutes in, and we realized we couldn’t move,” said Dara Bragg, a youth coordinator for state Sen. James Sanders. “I got a little apprehensive, but the captain reassured us and it relieved me.”
She said a nearby FDNY boat first attempted to push the ferry, and passengers had to move to different areas of the craft during the effort.
Still, “the boat wouldn’t move,” she said.
Firefighters then called rescue boats to take the passengers to a pier at Beach 116th Street in Rockaway Park.
“We put on our life jackets,” Bragg said. “It was about two hours, and it was cold. We all bundled up together.”
Fishermen and passers-by watched them come ashore.
“They were smiling and all looked happy,” said Sammy Vega, a Brooklyn resident fishing nearby. “One lady kept saying to a fireman, ‘Thank God you guys were here and got us so fast. Thank you.’ ”
The ferry crew stayed on board until the tide lifted the craft out of the mud.
Seastreak began service from the Rockaways to lower Manhattan in November 2012.
In 2013, a Seastreak ferry crashed into a lower Manhattan dock, injuring 80 people.