A top aide to Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday chewed out the president of the company running the new city-subsidized ferry service for keeping officials in the dark about its foundering fleet, The Post has learned.
Economic Development Corp. President James Patchett sat down with Hornblower CEO Terry MacRae at 7:45 a.m. in Midtown Manhattan amid the widening scandal, exposed by The Post, over holes in the hulls of NYC Ferry boats, a City Hall source said.
The meeting lasted about 45 minutes, during which Patchett repeatedly pressed MacRae over de Blasio’s anger at Hornblower’s “unacceptable” lack of communication with his administration, the source said.
Patchett also made clear that the city — which is pouring $325 million into the NYC Ferry service — was extremely concerned about ensuring the safety of passengers on its boats, the source said.
On Tuesday, City Hall announced that de Blasio had ordered an independent investigation “to get to the bottom of this.”
The official action came after The Post exclusively revealed Sunday night that three catamaran-style vessels had been put in dry dock, starting Oct. 16, to fix holes in their aluminum hulls, and that sources said at least two boats had already undergone similar repairs.
Three more ferries were yanked from service on Monday after two sprang leaks, with the third pulled as a “precautionary measure.”
Later that day, another Hornblower boat — pressed into service for NYC Ferry — crashed into an underwater piling moments after leaving the dock at Lower Manhattan’s Pier 11.
A Hornblower rep didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.