New Jersey

NEW JERSEY

A BAYONNE MAN IS REFUSING TO APOLOGIZE AFTER A TUGBOAT HE WAS OPERATING ON THE KILL VAN KULL BROKE FREE OF ITS BARGE SUNDAY MORNING AND DRIFTED, UNATTENDED, PAST THREE MUNICIPALITIES BEFORE WEDGING ITSELF AGAINST A WORKING COMMERCIAL DOCK IN STATEN ISLAND.

DOMINIC FERRUCCI, 58, TOLD COAST GUARD INVESTIGATORS HE HAD BRIEFLY STEPPED OFF THE TUG TO RETRIEVE A BREAKFAST SANDWICH FROM A PIER-SIDE FOOD TRUCK, ESTIMATING HE WOULD BE GONE, QUOTE, “FOUR MINUTES, TOPS.”

HE WAS GONE FORTY-SEVEN MINUTES.

WHEN ASKED WHAT TOOK SO LONG, FERRUCCI SAID THE LINE WAS LONGER THAN EXPECTED, AND THAT HE HAD ALSO ORDERED A COFFEE, AND THAT THE COFFEE WAS, QUOTE, “NOT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.”

THE BARGE, CARRYING APPROXIMATELY 200 TONS OF NEW JERSEY’S FINEST EXPORT, GARBAGE, DRIFTED NEARLY TWO MILES BEFORE COMING TO REST AGAINST A BULK CARGO TERMINAL, WHERE IT INTERRUPTED THE UNLOADING OF A BULK CARRIER — WHICH LONGSHOREMEN DESCRIBED AS, QUOTE, “CONFUSING, BUT NOT SURPRISING. IT’S FROM NEW JERSEY, AFTER ALL,”

DOCK SUPERVISORS BRIEFLY CONSIDERED JUST THROWING THEIR OWN GARBAGE ON IT.

NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED. THE COAST GUARD IS INVESTIGATING. FERRUCCI FACES POTENTIAL FINES AND A SUSPENSION OF HIS MASTER’S LICENSE.

HIS ATTORNEY SAYS DOMINIC DEEPLY REGRETS THE INCIDENT AND ACCEPTS FULL RESPONSIBILITY.

THANKS TO THE PUBLICITY, THE FOOD TRUCK HAS RECEIVED FORTY-SEVEN FIVE-STAR REVIEWS SINCE