Just Politics

[BullNBear52]

They do tug but it depends on the ship, the channel, the harbor, the tides and if they are undocking. Moran is like the mafia when it comes to tugboats. They practically own the east coast.
https://www.morantug.com/fleet/

All harbors have Harbor masters and they also assign the pilots who run the pilots out to meet a ship then take over to enter the harbor Or put a pilot onboard when they are departing. The Hudson is especially challenging since there is only one main channel for large ships and the tide is especially strong.

Our boats were around 200 feet so no pilot was required. It was amazing to watch the captain parallel park our boat without hitting the other boats.

And of course in NYC you had to be a teamster to work. But the pay was excellent.