A birthday celebration ended in chaos when a luxury New York city party Yacht packed with nearly 400 people slammed into a Hudson River pier Saturday afternoon, injuring dozens of passengers, according to officials and law enforcement sources.
The Timeless was attempting to dock around 4:18 p.m. when a line snapped, causing it to collide with the pier at West 125th Street and the Henry Hudson Parkways, officials and sources told The Post.
“The boat was supposed to let us off at 4, so everybody was in the area where you can depart from the boat,” said Zytin King, a lifelong New Yorker who was celebrating her 69th birthday on board the vessel with loved ones – a tradition they’ve honored for 20 years.
“Some people are coming down the stairs and the boat just ran into the dock. And so they fell, there was no support, nothing for them to grab onto. Some people fell inside of the boat. A lot of people were hurt really badly.”
About 35 people suffered minor injuries, with 23 transported to area hospitals for additional evaluation, fire officials said.
No one was thrown overboard, a source added.
“I fell onto my mother when the boat crashed,” one of King’s relatives said.
“It all happened so fast.”
The 352 passengers and crew aboard were escorted – some in wheelchairs – off the yacht following the collision.
“I heard people going to the ambulance saying, we are hurt, but we had a good time,” said Delores Mitchell, 69, who was overseeing the boat’s catering.
Despite the scare, King plans to keep the party going in Harlem, adding that she feels blessed no one was seriously hurt in the crash.
“The DJ is over there already,” King, a party promoter, told The Post.
“We were blessed because people were standing along the side of the boat so when it hit, they could have gone over, but they didn’t.”
The three-story vessel, the largest within the Empire Cruises’s charter fleet, is equipped with three bars, a climate controlled indoor seating area that holds up to 550 passengers for trips along the Hudson River, according to its website.
The Big Apple cruising company charges $120 per person for events, including weddings, proms and bachelor parties.
Empire Cruises could not immediately be reached for comment.
The cause of the crash remains unknown.
The Coast Guard will handle the investigation.
