FREE TO ‘BARGE’ IN AGAIN
‘Boat thief’ seen back at dock
Boat Boy is back at it — and they can’t even ship him home.
The homeless migrant who was busted joyriding on a historic FDNY fireboat and then swiping a sailboat for another leisurely ride was released without bail Friday — only to immediately try to climb aboard an even bigger ship in Manhattan, according to sources, who said immigration officials’ hands are tied.
“Welcome to New York,” said Eric Fischer, vice president of Friday’s ship, the Frying Pan.
Juan Hernandez, 22, of Ecuador was set free by Judge Marva Brown on Friday morning after allegedly taking the former FDNY vessel John J. Harvey on a wild journey down the Hudson River early
Thursday before swiping a sailboat in Chelsea for another jaunt. He faces two counts of grand larceny.
By noon Friday, the alleged boat bandit was trying to get onboard the Frying Pan — a 133-foot lightship that boasts a floating restaurant at Pier 66, workers and owners said.
A bar worker on the ship said he confronted Hernandez after spotting him trying to slip through a gate onto the barge.
“I was like, ‘What the f--k are you doing here?’ ” said the worker, identified only as Mario. “I told him to go away. He started talking s--t, and he ran away.”
Angela Krevey, co-owner of Pier 66 Maritime, said the first-mate wannabe had claimed he left his passport on the bright red vessel, which is permanently docked at the pier. Observers said he may have mistaken the Frying Pan for the fire boat because of its color.
‘Very belligerent’
“The seafaring thief was back,” Krevey said. “He was very belligerent . . . . He demanded to come onto the barge.
“We called the police. The police said they couldn’t do anything because he’s a free man,” she said.
It wasn’t clear if Hernandez would be charged in connection to the incident Friday.
“If he was charged with two counts of grand larceny, why was he released from jail?” Krevey said. “I don’t get this city.”
Fischer of the Frying Pan said workers recognized Hernandez from media reports about his nautical bust Thursday.
“We thought this would just be a one-day news story. [We] wouldn’t imagine he would get out on two grand larcenies, but here we are,” Fischer said, referencing a state bail-reform law that in this case mandated the judge release Hernandez without bail because his crimes were deemed nonviolent.
Hernandez is believed to have entered the US illegally through El Paso, Texas, in 2022. He allegedly skipped out on a hearing in immigration court in Boston.