Radio Newyork International

Radio Newyork International was the name of a pirate radio station which broadcast from a ship anchored in international waters off Long Beach, New York, United States in 1987 and 1988. The history of Radio Newyork International (RNI) is linked with the Falling Star Network and other New York City area pirate radio stations. The owner of RNI, Allan Weiner, is currently the licensee of WBCQ shortwave in Monticello, Maine.





== Brief history ==





=== John Ford and Allan Weiner ===

Allan Weiner of Monticello, Maine, United States, who had been a resident of Yonkers, New York, was a radio engineer who had operated both a licensed radio station and unlicensed transmitters. Eventually his radio license was revoked due to his unlicensed activities. Weiner was also familiar with the new Radio Caroline ship operation and he paid a visit to the ship in an attempt to install a shortwave service. During this visit he met John Hungerford, a US citizen who was a disc jockey on board the vessel under the name of John Ford. As a result of this meeting, Weiner, Ford and other associates decided to replicate Radio Caroline as Radio Newyork International from a ship to be anchored in international waters off Long Beach, Long Island, New York.





=== Lichfield I ===

In 1987 Weiner and his associates came into possession of a vessel still legally registered as Lichfield I and owned by the Lichfield Shipping and Trading Company of Panama. This Japanese-built oceangoing fishing ship had originally suffered engine failure off the US coast, and it had been seized by US Customs when illegal drugs were found on board.