Renovated Brooklyn Shed no good for QM2!

I found this tidbit from the most recent Travel Weekly rather interesting.
I posted it below. After reading it I'm not quite certain just where QM2's
East Coast home port will end up being... at least temporarily until NY gets
it's act together.

The options seem rather limited. Even if the West Side piers are renovated,
I haven't heard anything about them being lengthened which would be required
to accommodate QM2's length. As of now, I believe the US Coast Guard has
only given Cunard an 18 month exemption which allows QM2 to extend into the
Hudson some 100 feet. I'm not even sure if the West Side piers can be
lengthened or if they are at their maximum length?

Of course Carnival saw this coming and started plans for a very nice pier
complex in Brooklyn that could accommodate QM2. It appears that has now
been put on indefinite hold while NY figures out what to do. NY proposes a
temporary pier in Brooklyn while the West Side piers are renovated. It
seems this is not acceptable to Carnival as I'm sure they want a more
permanent solution and one that will not take 10 years as proposed by NY.
It's also obvious they don't want QM2 passengers embarking and disembarking
from a temporary shed in Brooklyn. I can't say I blame them.

Where QM2 will end up a year from now is anyone's guess, but I'm betting
Boston which is dying to welcome QM2 to their facilities which are more than
large enough to accommodate QM2 and then some.

Unless NY comes up with something quick, they chance losing the newest,
largest, and most famous liner to another city. No doubt any relocation of
QM2 would be temporary until a permanent solution is found in NY, but I
don't for one minute put it past Carnival to take QM2 out of NY all together
until they are satisfied. One only needs look at the CARNIVAL CONQUEST in
New Orleans and her move to Gulfport as an example. Carnival played
hardball and succeeded, meanwhile Gulfport did such a great job they got
their own, smaller Carnival ship home-ported there.

I find this political saga quite interesting as it continues to unfold!

Ernie


From Travel Weekly February 16th issue:
============================
Regardless of what happens in terms of renovating or rebuilding New York's
aging cruise-ship piers, Giora Israel, Carnival Corp.'s vice president of
strategic planning, has repeatedly said that he's willing to work with the
city.
Except on one point. A "temporary facility" in Brooklyn is "unacceptable"
for the glamorous QUEEN MARY 2, he told TC (Travel Confidential). "If they
want to do it, it's fine, but look," Israel said. "To operate from a ...
shed, even it it's a little bit renovated, will not work for the QUEEN
MARY."