Boat Capsizes In East River, E. Elmhurst Family Rescued
BY LIZ GOFF

A holiday outing on the East River turned near-deadly for six members of an East Elmhurst family on May 26 after their vessel was sunk by a massive wave kicked up by a passing tugboat underneath the Triborough Bridge.

Romulo Valdez, 36, his wife, Carmen Cruz, an uncle, a cousin and two children ages 9 and 11 were out for a day of pleasure on a friend's motorboat, named "Bite Me," a Coast Guard spokesperson said.

Traveling with the boat's owner, the group sailed from Eastern Queens around the Statue of Liberty and was headed back after three hours on the water, when they crossed paths with the tugboat at about 3:10 p.m., Valdez said. "The waves just started coming out of nowhere," flipping the 17-foot motorboat. "All of a sudden we were in the water," he said.

Kevin Neville, 43, of Garden City, was piloting his 31-foot Sea Ray toward Navy vessels docked in Manhattan for Fleet Week, spotted the capsized boaters in the water according to a Coast Guard spokesperson. Neville said he thought he saw a group of canoers in the distance, until he spotted the top of a boat sticking out of the water and a bunch of people bobbing in and out of the water, hanging onto a plastic cooler. "I knew right then that something was terribly wrong," Neville told reporters.

Neville tossed his safety line and a life preserver to the victims, pulling them closer to his vessel. He called the Coast Guard and then one by one, pulled the family members to safety.

Family members later recalled how private boaters passed them in the water without trying to help. "If it wasn't for him [Neville], we would probably all be dead," Jasmine Valdez, 11, told reporters. The family members suffered no injuries, police and Coast Guard officials said.