Hudson River tugboat crash victims include Westbury man

Searchers on Sunday recovered the body of a Westbury man who family and friends said was living his dream as a crew member on a tugboat when it crashed and sank in the Hudson River Saturday afternoon.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo identified Timothy Conklin, 29, of Westbury as one of the victims.

The tugboat hit a stationary barge near the Tappan Zee Bridge and quickly sank, officials said. The boat captain’s body was found not long afterward, but a third crew member has not been found.

Conklin’s uncle, Jeffrey Conklin, 64, of Glen Cove, said his nephew was stationed out of Staten Island and working to become a tugboat pilot.

“That was his dream, to work on a tugboat,” Jeffrey Conklin said.

Timothy Conklin was a graduate of St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington and had worked at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City through high school. He was the second-oldest of five children and “very close” to his siblings, Jeffrey Conklin said.

On the Westbury block where he grew up, longtime neighbors remembered Conklin as helpful in the yard and passionate about his work.

“I remember his dad telling me a couple years ago he was on the tugboat and he really loved the job,” said neighbor Henry Razzano, 61.

Those on the block described Conklin as generous with his time, helping his father with gardening and restoring furniture or assisting neighbors with their tasks.

“Timmy was a great guy, all around ever since he was a little kid,” said Henry’s son, Michael Razzano, 30. “Character-wise very low-key, down to earth. If you asked him for anything he would always be there.”

Cuomo on Sunday said he spent time with the Conklin family, which he said is “still in shock.”

The tugboat, named The Specialist and owned by a Montauk company of the same name, was working with two other tugs pushing a crane barge down the river from Albany to a terminal in New Jersey.

At 5:18 a.m., The Specialist hit the barge, which also was carrying a crane as part of the construction equipment building a new Tappan Zee Bridge. The tug sank in about 40 feet of water within minutes, Cuomo said.

The body of The Specialist’s captain, Paul Amon, 52, of Bayville, New Jersey, was found Saturday, according to Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino. He identified the third crew member as Harry Hernandez of Staten Island. Work continues to contain and clean up the 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled when the boat crashed.

Astorino said Sunday night that search and salvage efforts would be turned over to The Specialist.

“Divers will no longer go back in the water,” Astorino said in a news conference. “At this point the company that owns the vessel has contracted out with a team that will salvage the boat. . . . The police dive team stopped their operations at 2:44 this afternoon. Tomorrow afternoon the commercial divers will be on site to assess the situation.”

Conklin was a mate on the boat, said James Mercante, attorney for the owners of the tugboat Specialist.

“The owners are obviously very distraught about this,” Mercante said. “When the marine community loses one of its own, it’s sad news and travels near and far. It’s similar to firefighters or police — it’s a very tight-knit community.”

With Valerie Bauman and Ted Phillips

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com,david.schwartz@newsday.com@ScottEidler,

Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.