Tragic New York Harbor boat crash victims ID’d as mom and her 5-month-old infant — with baby’s stricken dad also on board
The two tragic passengers killed when a dangerously overcrowded motorboat flipped in New York Harbor have been ID’d as a mom and her infant daughter from Queens, police sources said Sunday.
Sara Sanchez, 27, and her 5-month-old, Antonella Garcia, of College Point, were among 14 people on the 2019 21-foot white Yamaha AR210 when it capsized close to Liberty Island just before 10:30 p.m. Saturday, sources said.
Sanchez’s boyfriend, who was Garcia’s father, was among those on board at the time, according to the police.
“I’m in shock right now,” neighbor Diego Naranjo, who said Sanchez and her baby had only moved into the neighborhood two months ago, told The Post. “She was a really nice person. My condolences to her family.”
The vessel typically has a capacity of about 10 people, according to online sites.
But it should not have been carrying more than five passengers, given the location where the fatal incident occurred, a well-placed source told The Post.
“Recreational boating in New York Harbor is the Wild West,’’ the source said. “Uncharted debris, rip rap, bridge abutments, anchorage chains, commercial shipping channels, marine plane traffic.”
The boat’s operator, Manuel Hernandez, 46, was hit with 13 charges of reckless endangerment, with further possible charges expected to involve the deaths of the mother and child, sources said.
His last known address was a swanky Midtown Manhattan building just south of Central Park. His exact relationship to the victims is unknown.
Follow the latest on the boat crash off Liberty Island in New York Harbor:
- Two dead, including an infant, after boat capsized off Liberty Island coast; 12 people rescued from water
- Grim photos show doomed boat pulled from New York Harbor hours after deadly crash killed 2, including tot
- Captain hit with slew of charges after boat capsizes near Liberty Island, killing mother and her baby
- Tragic New York Harbor boat crash victims ID’d as mom and her 5-month-old infant — with baby’s stricken dad also on board
A similar tragedy struck the Big Apple four years earlier.
In July 2022, an overloaded boat packed with revelers capsized near Pier 86 in Manhattan, leaving a 7-year-old boy and a 50-year-old woman dead after they were trapped underneath.
Youngster Julian Vasquez and Lindelia Vasquez, a relative, were visiting from Colombia when they went on the ill-fated excursion with family in the five boroughs.
Additional reporting by Fenix Suriel and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
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