Southampton authorities have reversed a controversial decision to halt a ferry running in memory of freed slave and local businessman Pyrrhus Concer because Vice President Joe Biden is vacationing in the area.
On Tuesday, Page Six reported that the ferry was to run on Lake Agawam next week to commemorate the 200th birthday of Concer, an African-American who was freed from slavery at 18, worked on whaling ships and returned to Southampton where he started and ran the Agawam Ferry between Southampton Village and the beach in the mid-1800s until his death in 1897.
But Biden, who’s rented a home on the lake for a week, was due to arrive Tuesday night, and ferry organizers were told that a boat on the lake in view of Biden’s house “would be a matter of national security.”
Ferry trippers might also get to see more than they bargained for, given the recent revelation in Ronald Kessler’s book “The First Family Detail” that Biden is a big fan of skinny-dipping.
But our story seemed to cause a dramatic sea change. Organizer Nicholas Palumbo told us, “This morning we got a message from the village administrator saying we could launch the ferry whenever we are ready.”
He said he hoped the service would start on Saturday, and, “We hope Vice President Biden will join us.”