Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance

[Source: NY Water Taxi]

New York Water Taxi (NYWT), and our partner TWFM Ferry (TWFM), regretfully announces the suspension of commuter service from the Brooklyn Army Terminal to lower Manhattan effective February 1, 2008.

NYWT took over the service in 2003, on short notice, when it was abandoned by another operator. We have worked tirelessly to make the run economically viable, but the service continues to be an economic drain on the Company.

[…]

We will continue to work with the city agencies, elected officials such as Councilmember Gentile and the Sunset Ridge Ferry Coalition [sic.] in the hope that we will be able to restore the service by the spring. Proposals for public operating subsidies and new docks that could add riders to this commuter service would help tremendously and we will keep BAT riders informed about the possible resumption of the service via email.

[Source: Brooklyn Resident Mary Ann Lento, 1/23/08]

I protest the suspension of ferry service between Brooklyn Army Terminal and Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan.

Together we are a powerful constituent base, a powerful tax base and a loyal downtown workforce.

The riders of the Brooklyn Army Terminal Ferry are reaching out to our elected officials to help us in our crusade to save the ferry service to Lower Manhattan.

For the hundreds of Brooklyn and Queens Residents who take the ferry, we implore you to take up the cause of this important service impacts our ability to live, work and pay taxes in New York City.

East River Service will Shut Down for Winter Without Intervention

In a blow for Brooklyn and Queens waterfront residents, New York Water Taxi’s East River service will be suspended for the winter months due to insufficient revenue. Councilmembers David Yassky (D-Brooklyn) and Eric Gioia (D-Queens) are calling for the city to step in to provide ferry service as an alternate to other mass transit.

[Source: Brooklyn Daily Eagle]

BAY RIDGE — It took 15 minutes for a ferry at a 25 mph clip to travel from off the 69th Street Pier in Bay Ridge to the Wall Street Pier 11 on Tuesday afternoon.

The “let’s root and toot for the ferry” test run with a waterborne lunch pep talk served as a preview of what many ferry advocates hope will be the wave of the near-future for Bay Ridge commuters, perhaps as early as this coming spring.

[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.”

The history of ferry service in Brooklyn, NY dates back to 1643. In the article from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Monday July 18, 1870, the first ferry service and ferryman are discussed. Prior to the roadway and bridge infrastructure being built to connect Brooklyn and Manhattan, the waterways were the primary source of […]

[SRWA Press Release]

Next Tuesday, November 13, 2007, the Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance is hosting a lunch-cruise for local elected officials from Bay Ridge and Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The lunch is from 1:00-2:00pm. The boat will leave promptly at 1:15pm from the dock.

A brief presentation on ferry service as a viable transportation alternative will ensue, followed by an open discussion over lunch and refreshments.