By Stephen Witt
May 19, 2008
[Source: Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Courier]
Ferry service might return to Red Hook, an area underserved by mass transportation.The waterfront neighborhood, which was a stop for the New York City Water Taxi from March of last year to February 1 of this year, is being studied as a possible stop in a citywide […]
A subsidized ferry route between southern Queens and Lower Manhattan, via Brooklyn, will begin next week to give commuters another option, the mayor and the City Council announced on Monday.
The two-year pilot Rockaway Service, which will be run by New York Water Taxi, will be financed using $1.1 million allocated by the City Council.
The new route, which begins on May 12, will run from Riis Landing in Breezy Point, Queens, to the Brooklyn Army Terminal to Pier 11 at Wall Street. It will run twice a day in each direction: 5:45 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. from Breezy Point, and 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. from Lower Manhattan. The trip will take about one hour each way. The cost will be $6 per trip.
Separately, New York Water Taxi will restart East River ferry service next month from Pier 11 and 34th Street to Long Island City, Queens, which it suspended in January because of lack of passengers and rising fuel costs. Service to South Williamsburg, Brooklyn, will be restored when a new $1.25 million city-financed launch center being built at Schaefer Landing is completed, Water Taxi officials said in a statement.
“Ferry service will make the very difficult commute between the Rockaways and Manhattan much easier and less expensive,” said Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker. The service leaves from Riis Landing, in Queens, and is being provided by New York Water Taxi. Also along for the maiden voyage were Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., a council member from Queens, and Anthony D. Weiner, a congressman serving Brooklyn and Queens.
[Source: Gotham Gazette]
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn endorsed the creation of a citywide ferry service and an expansion of a small business insurance program in her State of the City address last week. Now advocates and stakeholders are weighing in, and - for the most part - appear to be praising the proposals.
Last week, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced her support for a five-borough, year-round ferry system that Mayor Bloomberg and the city Department of Transportation are developing. Such a proposal may seem like a pipe dream to many New Yorkers, who have seen ferry service remain fairly stagnant, either from a shortage of funding or an apparent lack of demand.
[Source: Carter Craft, Director of Programs and Policy, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance]
The Draft Report of the Congestion Mitigation Commission is out and unfortunately it looks like they are missing the boat. Come this Wednesday to the final public hearing and tell them how you think ferries must be a bigger part of our transit mix […]
[Letter to DOT Congestion Mitigation Committee]
Dear Commission Members:
I was honored to speak at the Hunter College hearings on Congestion Pricing on October, 25th, 2007. I realize that you are meeting tomorrow to discuss your summary of comments from the public. I have attached two items for your review; my letter to Mayor Bloomberg on Oct. 1, 2007 that was mailed with a petition of 1,400 signatures in support of ferry service, and a ferry initiative outline from my non-profit Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance.
[Source: The Brooklyn Paper]
The prospects for a ferry from the 69th Street pier to the Financial District are in a holding pattern, but it was full-speed-ahead on Tuesday as proponents of the service invited passengers on board for a successful dry-run.
Organized by local activists Heather McCown, Adam Wasserman, and Peter Killen, the 20-minute ride from Bay Ridge to Lower Manhattan went off without a hitch.
[Source: The Brooklyn Paper]
One resident’s against-the-tide crusade to return ferry service to the 69th Street pier may finally be hitting smoother waters.
On Oct. 1, transportation activist Heather McCown sent Mayor Bloomberg a 1,400-signature petition that demanded a ferry from the 69th Street pier to Lower Manhattan — and last Wednesday, the mayor’s office responded with a message of its own: Give us eight weeks.
The Department of Transportation told McCown that a final decision would be made “by the end of December, 2007.”
