BY JOSH ROGERS updated 1:30 pm, Dec. 4, 2014| North Cove Marina leader Michael Fortenbaugh has been running sailing programs there for the last 20 years but he and his most loyal core of 10 workers must wait through Christmas to see if they’ll be getting pink slips and an eviction notice early next year because the Battery Park City Authority put off a vote Thursday on whether to continue his 10-year contract to run the marina.
“They’re all anxious, everybody there, their whole livelihoods,” Fortenbaugh said after the meeting. “It’s been so stressful the last few months getting up to this point. To continue all the way through January is going to be the worst holiday present you can get….This keeps you up at night. All these people who work for me, they’ve got families to support.”
Fortenbaugh, whose Battery Park City building overlooks the marina, came to the meeting hoping for a vote or answers since an authority official told him Wednesday that there was some sort of problem.
Frank Branchini, acting chairperson of the Dec. 4 meeting, said the board did not have a quorum to vote because chairperson Dennis Mehiel was out of the country on unrelated business and board member Martha Gallo recused herself from voting.
Gallo, the only neighborhood resident on the board, told Downtown Express in an exclusive and brief interview that her decision was “clear cut” because she is a member of Forenbaugh’s sailing club, has a boat in the marina, and had contributed to his foundation. She said she made her decision a few days ago, which presumably was when the board received the recommendation for the next 10-year contract from staff.
There are currently two vacancies on the seven-member board, so if Mehiel had been present, there would have been the four votes needed to decide.
Fortenbaugh said, “The Battery Park City Authority gave us an incredible opportunity. We did really well and I love the authority. I respect their R.F.P. process,” he said in reference to the authority’s request for proposals. “They have to see if somebody else can do better than us. We think we’ll do the best job, but if somebody decides someone else could do better, I respect that, but we need to know, because right now we’re chained to the docks.”
He said the uncertainty means he has to delay hiring dozens of sailing instructors and he can’t invite international yacht clubs to visit.
Hundreds of neighbors packed a recent community board meeting in support of Fortenbaugh continuing, and many others, including local politicians, have also sent letters praising the youth and other programs he runs at North Cove.
His contract ends Dec. 31 and he said he has no idea how much time he would be given to move his ships or his floating clubhouse if he is asked to leave. Later in the day he said an authority official told him that they’d have more information next week.
