Peconic Star Fleet poised to come back after license saga

The Peconic Star Fleet is poised to hit the open seas again off the North Fork — just four months after the longtime Greenport charter boat company first announced it was going out of business.

The fleet’s website — which posted “Out of business, lost our lease” in September — now reads “Peconic Star Open, Boat Starting May 1, 2026.”

Owner Arnold Hubert, known as Captain Speedy, sold one of his two boats, but has since purchased a new 80-foot vessel and has been in negotiations with the village and the East End Seaport Museum to bring the operation back to the Railroad Dock.

The Village Board is expected to sign off on the authorization of new license agreements at its Thursday, Jan. 22, regular session.

“When it’s done, I’ll be very happy,” Mr. Hubert told The Suffolk Times on Friday, Jan. 9. “They gave me everything I wanted. Thank God for the support from the people.”

The fleet will return to the Railroad Dock under a five-year deal that would cover both the Peconic Star IV and the new Peconic Star V, with each boat carrying its own license at $5,600 annually — up from roughly $5,000 under the previous terms. 

Each license comes with 5% annual increases and the option of a five-year extension.

Both current licenses for the popular party boat operation, a village mainstay since 1982, expire in May. The licenses would be transferable, subject to board approval, allowing the 89-year-old captain to pass them on to his employee, Captain Matt Gilbert, if he retires before the terms end.

The new deal will bring excitement, gratitude — and relief — “once we have it in hand,” Mr. Gilbert told The Suffolk Times on Thursday, Jan. 8.

Mayor Kevin Stuessi confirmed that the board will be voting on the new leases at the Jan. 22 meeting.

“I’m thrilled to share the village is finalizing new agreements with Speedy … including a larger new boat he just purchased, which will also serve the East End Seaport Museum and Bug Light Tours,” Mr. Stuessi told The Suffolk Times on Friday, Jan. 9.

The Peconic Star V is substantially larger than the fleet’s existing 65-foot boat and can accommodate up to 150 passengers. The company has always had two licenses at the Railroad Dock, which the village took control of from Suffolk County in 2014.

The negotiations followed months of uncertainty after the fleet’s September announcement. In November, Mr. Stuessi told the board that Mr. Hubert was pursuing the new party boat after selling off one of his two vessels. The village and the East End Seaport Museum had been in discussions with Mr. Hubert to keep the operation alive.

The board had initially planned to vote on the resolution at its regular session Dec. 23, but tabled it after Trustee Mary Bess Phillips raised an objection over the contract.

“Why are we voting on something that we haven’t seen the total legal language on yet?” Ms. Phillips asked at the December meeting.

Village attorney Brian Stolar, who works for Harris Beach Murtha, said the resolution does not authorize the agreement but merely authorizes Mr. Stuessi to execute the agreement between the fleet and the village.

“We want to get the party operation back, and we want to work with the applicant, who is interested,” Deputy Mayor Patrick Brennan said at the December meeting. “We don’t make it any more difficult.”