Sequester: NYC Fleet Week in Jeopardy

Fleet Week Funds Dry Up NEW YORK April 11, 2013, 8:55 p.m. ET The Navy normally docks at least five ships in Manhattan and Staten Island to celebrate New York's Fleet Week each May, lowering the gangway and letting the public come aboard. Coast Guard crews re-create search-and-rescue missions, while thousands of sailors—and the tourists drawn in their wake—pour into city bars and onto the streets.... [more]

Fleet Week Funds Dry Up NEW YORK April 11, 2013, 8:55 p.m. ET The Navy normally docks at least five ships in Manhattan and Staten Island to celebrate New York's Fleet Week each May, lowering the gangway and letting the public come aboard. Coast Guard crews re-create search-and-rescue missions, while thousands of sailors—and the tourists drawn in their wake—pour into city bars and onto the streets. This year, however, across-the-board federal spending cuts will keep most ships out of port, naval officials said Thursday. "We're following Department of Defense guidance that no branch of the Armed Forces can participate in community events that come at an additional cost," said Beth Baker, a Navy spokeswoman. "We have to follow that guidance." Blame it on what is known as the sequester, which forced spending cuts across the federal government starting on March 1. As a result, the Pentagon has scrapped most of its outreach activities. Foreign fleets also won't attend this year, said Ms. Baker. They had no plans to attend even before the sequester, she said. Fleet Week requires ships and helicopters to travel without need to dock facilities in New York—at a cost to the Navy of between $7 million and $10 million each year, according to Ms. Baker. That figure includes fuel and security expenses, as well as $2 million paid to the city for use of the docks. A Coast Guard spokesman couldn't provide a cost estimate. For the Coast Guard, the priority is on marshaling its reduced funds for what spokesman Carlos Diaz described as the "highest-priority mission activities," including rescues and investments in new equipment. Not every nautical event will fall to the budget ax. Parades or events at baseball stadiums that honor the military and "can be locally supported at no additional cost" will be considered, Mr. Diaz said. New York isn't alone in losing a beloved tradition to the sequester. Fleet Week events across the country will face the same limitations, Ms. Baker said. The Navy also canceled appearances by the Blue Angels, the famed flight-demonstration squadron. The planes won't fly over Jones Beach this year, an attraction that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors. A spokesman for the city's Economic Development Corp. said that while it couldn't provide a "sophisticated analysis" of Fleet Week's impact, the event contributed "tens of millions of dollars" to the local economy. At Montero's, a bar in Brooklyn that caters to Navy personnel, Fleet Week always brought some sailors—even if the Navy's boats don't dock in Brooklyn any more. "They knew we had good parties every Friday and Saturday night," said owner Joe Montero. "They'd come back for that." The news left the city scrambling to keep at least some related festivities going. "They have informed us there will be limitations this year, and we're going to have to work with the Navy to see how we can continue," said Evelyn Erskine, a spokeswoman in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office. Private groups also schedule events around Fleet Week, and the fate of those activities remained unclear Thursday. Luke Sacks, a spokesman for the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, said the schedule for Fleet Week would be announced soon and declined to offer specifics of the plans. Brian Whiting, president of the New York United Service Organization, acknowledged the event "won't be as large as it was in the past." Still, he expects a host of nonprofit organizations and community groups will stage parades around Memorial Day. "We're going to be here to support the military, whether it's thousands or 10 people," he said. "This is New York's opportunity to express its gratitude to the American people." Write to Josh Dawsey at josh.dawsey@dowjones.com A version of this article appeared April 12, 2013, on page A17 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Fleet Week Funds Dry Up. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324240804578417173679400896.html [less]