By Bill Bleyer Special to Newsday, Updated March 10, 2020 6:17 PM
A prominent Long Island development firm has agreed to renovate the mothballed ocean liner United States to convert it into a dockside hotel, museum and entertainment and cultural center.
Uniondale-based RXR Realty announced its plans Tuesday in conjunction with the SS United States Conservancy. That nonprofit organization since 2011 has owned “America’s Flagship,” which has been docked and deteriorating in Philadelphia since 1996 after being retired in 1969 because of competition from air travel.
RXR began studying the feasibility of renovating and converting the 990-foot ship with 600,000 square feet of developable space into a floating attraction in late 2018.