Constance Hockaday’s Boggsville Boatel and Boat-In Theater
July 7 – September 4
Marina 59, 5914 Beach Channel Drive, Far Rockaway
This just in! The Boggsville Boatel, set in Marina 59 in Jamaica Bay, Far Rockaway, has been SOLD OUT all summer long. Friends of Flux, Swimming Cities, is auctioning rooms for a weekend bash September 9-10. All proceeds go toward the Swimming Cities India raft project, which leaves on September 20! Follow the auction here and send an email to swimmingcitiesoceanofblood@gmail.com to bid on your favorite boat and extend your summer one more night!
Boggsville Boatel is a floating hotel and theater fashioned out of abandoned and re-claimed boats, all of which sleep 2-5 people. Five of the vessels are leisure fishing crafts from the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s, ranging from 28 to 40 feet long. Another is a 70’s drifter houseboat remodeled into a rustic penthouse. Rooms include dinner and access to the Swimming Cities GOING AWAY PARTY on Sept 10, from 8pm-late. Kick it on your poop deck four blocks from the beach with cold beer, all of your friends and swim trunks—plus Cocktail Cruises in Jamaica Bay, Jerk Burgers & Pineapple Hot Dogs by Carnival Queen Lamar Iposa and Sea Shanty Karaoke.
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Artist and boat-builder Constance Hockaday has constructed a series of floating hotel rooms and a theater at Marina 59 at Far Rockaway in New York City. Boggsville is a floating hotel and theater built in the Neutrino tradition, that is, fashioned out of abandoned and re-claimed boats from the marina. Five of the vessels are leisure fishing crafts from the 70’s and early 80’s, ranging from 28 to 35 feet long. Another is a 70’s drifter houseboat remodeled into a rustic penthouse. The boats are all moored around a floating platform in the middle of a small bay.
Named for Ms. Nancy Boggs, who would move her floating brothel to either side of the Willamette River of Portland to evade the law – depending on where the authorities were bringing trouble to her business – the Boatel explores the boundaries of the hospitality experience.
Artist TJ Hospodar will man an “office of local tourism” for your perusal at the marina.
Major special thanks go to Alita Edgar, Arthur Poisson, and Chess Venis.
The boatel opens on July 7; Tickets for the night range from a donation of $50 to $100 dollars. Your donation will go towards supporting this not for profit project that brings more people access to the water.
We’ve recently expanded the schedule to Wednesday through Sunday nights. Tickets will be available here at 5 pm on July 18.
For press inquiries, contact georgia(at)fluxfactory.org.
-The Theater-
Each night there will be a movie or lecture themed on the water screened on the floating platform. Hotel-goers and boaters from the area are welcome to pull up alongside the platform and view the entertainment.
You can download a pdf of the schedule here!
If you would like to attend the theater but you don’t want a boat for the night, rsvp to constancehockaday(at)gmail.com. Please bring a chair (and snacks). Donations are welcome.
-The Boats-
Americano is a Guido vessel with a long sloping bow. This boat is very private and sleeps 3-4. The windows are tinted and the inside is very Slick Rick. $50 a night.
CRUMB is a quaint and comfortable boat and was probably previously owned by an elderly couple. There is a private sleeping area; it’s spacious and perfect for rolling around in. She sleeps 4 people. This boat also has a shaded top deck with reclining furniture. $50 a night.
New York, NY is Euro. This boat has been remodeled to be more open than she was originally designed to be. She sleeps 3-4 people, and she has a breakfast nook, a great space for preparing lunches, and a desk for the writer-ly types. $50 a night.
Queen Zenobia is a classy little 30-foot yacht. She can sleep 3-4 people, if they are willing to snuggle up. On this boat there is a comfortable little breakfast nook and plenty of deck space for lounging around. $50 a night.
Ms. Nancy Boggs is a rustic floating cabin. This 1967 Drift-R houseboat has been remodeled into down-home love nest. This boat can sleep 4 or 5 people. There are two beds, one of which can fit 3.5 people and the other just one. It is the perfect place to roll around with more than one or two. It has a spacious breakfast nook and several decks for sun bathing, fishing, or picnicking. $100 a night.
(click on any image for a full picture!)