Musicians by Bethesda Fountain aren't the only ones decrying Central Park's new quiet zones, model boaters are mad too. Because one of the eight zones just happens to the park's famous model boat pond and in order to enforce the quiet cops have taken to a strict no motor boating policy. Even quiet motorboats. What would Stuart Little say?
"I survived a stroke and take nine pills a day for congestive heart failure," model boater Victor Cotte tells the News. "The pond and my boats are how I relax and unwind...My big pleasure is seeing those kids going crazy watching my boats."
But Cotte's favorite boats to play with are no longer allowed. Now that the quiet zone is being enforced, the Park has decided to heavily enforce a longstanding rule against powerboats, which it now thinks includes motorized boats. The ban is because "Some motorboats are used inappropriately and interfere with the wind-powered sailboats and waterfowl," according to an executive at the Central Park Conservancy.
But that excuse rings hollow for Cotte, who says the boat regulars all "know that there's been a ban on powerboats, because they travel too fast, use gas and make too much noise. "But my battleship and my destroyer are both battery-operated. They move slowly and they make no noise."
"Its doesn't appear Mr. Cotte's boats are causing an issue for anyone but the Central Park Conservancy," Geoffrey Croft of New York City Parks Advocates tells us. "This issue quite frankly sounds a bit elitist. That pond is certainly big enough for some diversity."
And yet, no matter how quiet Cotte's battleship is, he won't be using it in Central Park anymore unless he wants a summons (he's already been threatened with them). Instead he'll just have to use one of his two sailboats. Or rent one. After all, the Central Park Conservancy has them ready to go at the pond's concession stand.
