Party Boat Shooting: Could it Happen Here?

Over in Manhattan, near the South Street Seaport, a lethal incident has left us scratching our heads about Sheepshead Bay’s party boats. The Atlantica, a party boat docked at the lower Manhattan port and captained by a Sheepshead Bay resident, played host to a brawl that left one man dead. From Newsday:

A Brooklyn man was found fatally shot near the South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan early Saturday following a brawl that broke out during a massive party held on a 145-foot chartered boat.

Dennis Miano, the captain of the Atlantica, said that his staff saw one man running off the docked boat and toward the parking lot, with a second man, whom police later identified as Omar Trent, 31, of Kensington, giving chase.

The first man ran to his car, retrieved a gun and then fired at Trent, striking him in the head, according to a New York police source. Police found Trent’s body at Fulton and South streets at 4:24 a.m., officials said.

…

Miano said too many people boarded for the boat to cruise along the Hudson.

“They brought on 555 people. We shut off the engines and said, ‘We can’t leave. We have to stay on the dock,’ ” said Miano, 60, of Sheepshead Bay.

As the party continued early Saturday, Miano said a fight started between a man and woman on the dance floor.

“One guy wanted to dance with a girl. The girl didn’t want to dance with him,” Miano said. When the man persisted, Miano said the woman broke a bottle over the man’s head, causing the party to erupt into chaos.

“They were hitting each other with bottles and everything,” he said.

Over the years there has been a lot of grumbling from neighbors about the crowd attracted by Sheepshead Bay’s party boats. Noise, drunkeness, littering… but weapons? Violence? Killings?

Could this happen in Sheepshead Bay? If so, should the party boats be more heavily regulated and/or monitored by the local police and community board?