By Ben Muessig
May 17, 2008
[Source: The Brooklyn Paper]
The new ferry service between Bay Ridge and the Lower Manhattan is a long way from being able to stay afloat without help from the city.
For the just-rechristened boat route to survive after its two-year, $1.1-million city subsidy runs out, 700 commuters will need to be riding it […]
SRWA pleads for ferry service back to Bay Ridge and Sunset Park
At her State of the City address, Speaker Christine Quinn stated her intentions for a five-borough, year round NYC ferry system (that the mayor has agreed to begin developing). This effort is well received as the first formal statement by City Hall to […]
[Source: The Brooklyn Paper]
By Joe Jordan
for The Brooklyn Paper
Regular passengers on the Sunset Park to Lower Manhattan ferry slammed New York Water Taxi for hastily announcing that it will suspend winter service on Jan. 31.
“I’m devastated — this is my way of travel,” said Mary Ann Lento, who has taken the ferry to her Manhattan job every day for nearly 20 years.
She said she doesn’t mind paying $54 for her weekly 10-trip ticket.
“I’m not a young person. This is a stress-free way of travel. You know it’s going to be there and it just works.”
[Source: Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
Supporters Hope to Restore Service, Say ‘Ferries Are the Wave of the Future’
By Harold Egeln
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
SUNSET PARK — Wave goodbye for awhile to the ferry service between the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park and Wall Street. And say hello to more cars congesting the roads and more riders on cramped subways and express buses.
That’s what faced water taxi commuters on Friday, the first ferry-less day of N.Y. Water Taxi-TFWM Ferry’s service from the 58th Street Public Pier. The service, the owners said regretfully, can no longer be funded.
As the sun set on Thursday over New York Harbor, the last commuter ferry service in Southwest Brooklyn came to a halt, ferry operators said — until further notice, or maybe at least until later this spring. Commuters of what they called “the ferry family” lamented the loss, as ferry travel advocates and owners expressed both outrage for now and hope for the future at a morning rally and on the last Manhattan-Brooklyn run.
Brooklyn — Leading up to today’s vote on Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan, one City official has some harsh words for the Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission. Council Member Vincent J. Gentile (D-Brooklyn), along with elected officials, community board members and water taxi riders rallied today at the Brooklyn Army Terminal to denounce the City’s continued failure to prioritizing ferry service as a major transportation option throughout the city.
On Thursday, January 31, 2008, Council Member Vincent J. Gentile (D-Brooklyn), along with community members, elected officials and water taxi riders, will rally at the Brooklyn Army Terminal to denounce the City’s continued silence on prioritizing ferry service as a major transportation option throughout the city.
Given the latest developments, the Councilman has renewed his appeal to the city to expand subsidies to private operators, stating that rising fuel costs, inadequate infrastructure, and inaccessibility have contributed to the demise of the Sunset Park ferry service.
The Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance (SRWA) is a grass roots, community-driven, organization that is dedicated to bringing ferry service to Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, and beyond.
What began in July 2007 as a petition drive to reinstate ferry service at the 69th St. Veteran’s Memorial Pier in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, has now grown to a non-profit organization that is fighting to keep ferry service at the 58th St. Pier in Sunset Park.
With over 1,500 signatures to date, and a growing number of committed citizens and activists interested in re-invigorating our waterfront areas in Brooklyn, SRWA is urging our elected officials to do their part in the fight for our much needed waterborne transportation via ferries.
With the East River Water Taxi service suspended until May 2008, and now the suspension of the ferry service to 58th St. Pier, it is clear that the ferry operators are badly in need of the city subsidies that all other forms of transportation are readily given. The ridership is there, but we need subsidies to help keep the fares affordable to ALL citizens.
[Source: Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
BROOKLYN — The date when New York Water Taxi will suspend its commuter service from the Brooklyn Army Terminal at 58th Street in Sunset Park to Lower Manhattan’s Pier 11 — Feb. 1 — is approaching fast, and experts agree that something must be done to increase New Yorkers’ ferry ridership.
The Water Taxi company announced the suspension of the service — which will likely be reinstated in May, according to a company spokeswoman — earlier this month. This came on the heels of New York Water Taxi’s suspension of its East River route starting from Fulton Ferry Landing.
*** FERRY SERVICE HAS BEEN RESTORED TO SUNSET PARK! ***
Current Ferry Service in Sunset Park, Brooklyn:
There is currently weekday ferry service from Breezy Point to Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park in Brooklyn, to Pier 11 (Wall Street) in Manhattan. This service is funded by the first subsidy for passenger ferry service in Manhattan as of May, 2008.
Click […]
[Source: News 12]
(11/14/07) BROOKLYN - Residents and local officials hopped on board a ferry out of Bay Ridge Wednesday to test out a Manhattan-bound route that could return to the neighborhood.
The passengers got on for service at the 58th Street Pier and took the 15-minute ride to lower Manhattan. Neighbors and elected officials are hoping the service will come back to the 69th Street Pier, where it took off from 10 years ago.
