A Depression-era tugboat is the only thing standing between thousands of Brooklyn and Queens residents and frozen pipes this week.

The Shoofly, a 64-foot tugboat built in 1941, spent Thursday carving through ice sheets on Newtown Creek to clear a path for barges carrying heating fuel. The 78-ton vessel has taken on its first icebreaking mission since Captain N.D. Austin took command in 2017.

“There aren’t that many boats in the harbor who can go out and break ice,” Austin said. “There aren’t a ton of icebreakers in New York.”

The tugboat chugged past the Kosciuszko Bridge at about 4 knots, ramming through frozen sections that could damage weaker vessels trying to deliver fuel to residential areas. Ice parted silently as the steel-hulled boat methodically cleared the waterway connecting Brooklyn and Queens industrial zones.

The Coast Guard’s three icebreaking tugs — Penobscot Bay, Sturgeon Bay and Hawser — are working 12-hour shifts on the Hudson River and New York Harbor. The Hudson freezes faster because it carries mostly fresh water, unlike the East River’s saltwater, and needs constant clearing for fuel deliveries upstate.

That left the Shoofly to handle Newtown Creek alone. The boat normally works on waterfront art projects as part of the Tideland Institute, a nonprofit focused on making city waterways more accessible. But any tugboat with a sturdy steel hull can break ice using the simple method of ramming through frozen sheets.

For two hours Thursday, the Shoofly broke apart large ice formations, reversing and pivoting when confronted with sheets too thick to penetrate directly. By sunset, the creek’s blackish waters already showed a thin layer of fresh ice forming in the boat’s wake.

New York has recorded seven consecutive days below freezing as of Friday, according to the National Weather Service. The city ferry system suspended operations indefinitely because its lightweight aluminum vessels can’t handle ice conditions.

Coast Guard icebreakers have rescued an NYPD vessel stuck on the Hudson River and are helping trash and scrap metal barges reach Red Hook, Petty Officer Logan Kaczmarek said.

The National Weather Service began tracking temperatures in 1871.

The Shoofly will likely continue its icebreaking runs as long as the freeze continues, ensuring fuel barges can reach the outer boroughs where residents depend on heating oil to stay warm.