Friday, June 26, 2026 – TIME TO WATCH THE PARADE ON JULY 3rd

By admin

SHIPS PASS BY ISLAND ON JULY 3RD

SPEND THE AFTERNOON

ON OUR WATERFRONT

WATCHING THE CLASS B SHIPS

PASS BY
THE BROADSHEET

FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2026


ISSUE # 1704

Get Ready For Sail4th 250

For Semiquincentennial Armada, Lower Manhattan is the Berthplace of Liberty

As America marks its quarter-millennium, the waters and skies surrounding Lower Manhattan next week will be the epicenter of naval and aeronautic spectacles that may not be equaled until the nation’s 500th birthday. Starting on Friday, July 3, the largest international group of tall ships and military vessels ever assembled in New York Harbor will gather on the East and Hudson Rivers. Herewith, the Broadsheet’s Baedeker for the Sail4th 250 flotilla.

Please note that the best free viewing locations for events on the East River will be at the South Street Seaport and the Battery. Prime spectator spots for Hudson River events will be the Battery, Battery Park City (in Wagner and Rockefeller Parks, the Pier A deck, and Belvedere Plaza, which has been temporarily reopened), and the Hudson River Park. Large crowds are expected at all free venues. Ticketed viewing opportunities are available on Governors Island (prices start at $200) and aboard tour boats.

FRIDAY, JULY 3

Class B Tall Ships Parade on the East River

1pm-3pm

Class A Tall Ship Gather in New York Harbor

Throughout the day

The festivities begin with the arrival of an international fleet of two dozen Class B tall ships. Owned by foundations and individuals, rather than governments, these traditionally rigged vessels measure under 40 meters (131 feet). The boats will sail down the East River from Long Island Sound, pausing at the South Street Seaport before proceeding to an anchorage at Gravesend Bay, Brooklyn, on the other side of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Participating Class B vessels include the Belle Poule (a 1930s vessel used as a training ship by the French naval academy in World War Two), INS Sudarshini (India), and Picton Castle (a Canadian vessel that in May 1945 accidentally liberated Norway from Nazi occupation by sailing into the port of Bergen hours after the Germans had retreated), among others. Meanwhile, more than 30 Class A tall ships (defined as square-rigged vessels, such as barques or brigantines, longer than 40 meters) from 20-plus nations will gather in preparation for Saturday’s Parade of Sail.

SATURDAY, JULY 4

International Naval Review

7:30am-12pm

The day begins with a rare International Naval Review, as the U.S. Navy hosts and leads a parade of dozens of military ships from around the world. At the front of the pack will be the flagship vessel USS Farragut—a 509-foot Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, named for Civil War admiral David Farragut, who is remembered for his immortal words at the Battle of Mobile Bay: “Damn the torpedoes … full speed ahead!” The ships will proceed north on the Hudson to the George Washington Bridge. The event, which showcases maritime cooperation and naval tradition, marks only the seventh international naval review hosted in U.S. history and the fourth held in New York Harbor (following smaller reviews in 1976, 1986, and 2000).

International Aerial Review

10:15am-11:30am

More than 150 U.S. and allied military aircraft led by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels (piloting their signature F-18 Super Hornets in “tight diamond” formation) will fly up the Hudson River over the parading ships.

Parade of Sail

9:30am-2:30pm

More than 30 majestic Class A Tall Ships (most ranging in size from 340 to 371 feet in length) that are used as naval training vessels and goodwill ambassadors by the nations they represent will participate. Joined by the Class Bs (see above), they will enter New York Harbor under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, sail past the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge, before turning to navigate back to their respective berthing locations.

SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY, JULY 5-8

Public Ship Tours

Following the Parade of Sail and the International Naval Review, ships will dock around New York City. Lower Manhattan will host three tall ships, all at East River docks. Pier 17, at South Street Seaport, will accommodate two: the U.S. Coast Guard’s 295-foot barque Eagle (captured from the German Navy at the close of World War Two, and one of only two active commissioned sailing vessels in the United States military today) and the Oosterschelde (a 160-foot, three-masted topsail schooner from the Netherlands, built in 1918). For more information, click here. Nearby, at Pier 15, visitors can board the Pride of Baltimore II, a 1988 topsail schooner built in the style of 19th-century Baltimore Clippers. For tickets, click here.

Elsewhere around the city, the tall ships will be docked at the Intrepid (access at West 46th Street and 12th Avenue), Brooklyn Bridge Park, and the USS Sullivans Pier at Stapleton Waterfront Park on Staten Island.

Brooklyn Bridge Park (learn more and make reservations here)

Pier 1

Sagres (Portugal)

Sundarshini (India)

Pier 3

Gorch Fock (Germany) – open July 6-7 only

Pier 5

Mircea (Romania)

Intrepid Museum (tours of ships at the Intrepid piers may be reserved here)

Pier 86

Amerigo Vespucci (Italy)

Capitan Miranda (Uruguay)

Gladan (Sweden) – open July 6-7 only

Pier 90

Juan-Sebastian de Elcano (Spain) 

Pier 91

Belle Poule (France) – open July 5-6 only

Bowdoin (Maine)

Dar Mlodziezy (Poland) 

Guayas (Ecuador) 

Juan Bautista Cambiaso (Dominican Republic) 

Lady Maryland (Maryland)

Libertad (Argentina) 

Lynx (Massachusetts) 

Tabor Boy (Massachusetts) 

When & If (Maryland)

Stapleton Waterfront Park (1.5 miles south of the St. George Staten Island Ferry terminal) 

USS the Sullivans Pier

Arc Gloria (Colombia) 

BAP Union (Peru) 

Esmeralda (Chile) – open July 6-7 only

Tours are free, but making reservations in advance is strongly recommended. General information on Sail4th 250 can be found here and on ship tours here.

RIOC..
PLEASE PUT MAPS ON THE BUSES 
SO VISITORS CAN FIND THEIR 
WAY AROUND ROOSEVELT ISLAND

CREDITS

THE BROADSHEET

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THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.

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