Tug o' My Heart : A towing dynasty

With Brian at the helm as owner and president of McAllister Towing, and five members of the fifth generation at work in the company, the family is keeping the business on track. Brian “Buckley” McAllister, 41, Brian’s oldest son, is vice president and general counsel. He is a graduate of the University of California’s Hastings College of Law. Eric, 39, graduated from New York University with a degree in economics and is the vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. Their combined knowledge and expertise in finance and law helped Brian hang onto the business. Anthony J. (A.J.) McAllister III, 52, the son of Brian’s brother Anthony, Jr., is vice president of sales. He, like Brian, graduated from SUNY Maritime at Fort Schuyler and is a licensed tug master and docking pilot. Andrew McAllister, 36, is the son of Brian’s younger brother Michael. He has an MBA from New York University and is vice president. He also leads the company’s information technology department. Jeffrey McAllister, 53, son of Brian’s cousin James, is the company’s senior docking pilot in New York Harbor.

Although he doesn’t play basketball anymore, Brian is a vigorous man who plays golf and tennis whenever he can. He also likes to walk to work from the Manhattan apartment he shares with his wife of 42 years, the former Rosemary Owens, who taught math at the United Nations International School in New York. They met at a birthday party for Brian’s father. Rosemary was his younger brother’s date!

Today, nearly 150 years after James arrived from Cushendall, McAllister is still not as big as Moran Towing Company, but unlike Moran, the company is still in the family. Will the sixth generation carry on the family trade? It’s too soon to tell, but if it’s any incentive, they all have had tug- boats named for them.

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Nster.com