“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.
The First Annual Greening the Ridge festival was held on June 22, 2008 on the 69th Street Veteran’s Memorial Pier in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. This festival brought the community together to celebrate our waterfront and learn about programs and initiatives to make our communities more eco-friendly.
Photo (left to right): Assembly Member Janele Hyer-Spencer, SRWA Board […]
[Source: Columbia Daily Spectator]
A maritime evacuation plan for Manhattan announced last month, in which a fleet of small boats will be used to ferry people across the Hudson River to New Jersey in the event of a serious blackout or terrorist attack, has been dubbed a Dunkirk-esque plan by bloggers and social commentators.
Gothamist, a well-known New York City blog, noted shortly after the Trans-Hudson Emergency Transportation Plan was announced in early January that the officials who designed this plan seem to have emulated aspects of the Dunkirk evacuation with their proposal to utilize “small craft to move millions of people in the event of an emergency.” Similar claims have also been made by other bloggers.
The reference alludes to the 1940 evacuation of Dunkirk, France during which hundreds of thousands of trapped allied soldiers were ferried to safety across the English Channel by a hastily assembled fleet of 860 small fishing vessels and privately owned pleasure boats, pressed into service for the operation.
The Trans-Hudson plan, which was drawn up jointly by the Office of Emergency Management in New York City and Office of Emergency Management in New Jersey, will rely on over 100 private water taxis and dinner-cruise vessels, along with the larger Staten Island ferries, in order to quickly evacuate millions of New York workers across the Hudson River to a staging area in New Jersey’s Liberty State Park. The plan forms part of New York’s general area evacuation plan and was drawn up in response to the 2003 blackout in which the subway system closed down and thousands were stranded throughout the city.
[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: Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
Increase in Real Estate Development Leads to More Demand for Ferries
NEW YORK — In her State of the City Address yesterday, City Council President Christine Quinn called for cleaner and more accessible mass transit for NYC residents and visitors.
“With some neighborhoods more than three quarters of a mile from a subway station we need to examine other modes of transportation. It’s only natural to look at our natural highways…our water ways…to move New Yorkers efficiently and sustainably.” “ … this is an idea that came straight from listening to New Yorkers … ” “In the near future we’ll outline our strategy for developing what will be one of the most significant transit initiatives in recent New York City history.”
[Source: Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance]
New York, NY — In her State of the City Address today, City Council President Christine Quinn called for cleaner and more accessible mass transit for NYC residents and visitors. “With some neighborhoods more than three quarters of a mile from a subway station we need to examine other modes of transportation. It’s only natural to look at our natural highways…our water ways…to move New Yorkers efficiently and sustainably.” “…this is an idea that came straight from listening to New Yorkers…” “In the near future we’ll outline our strategy for developing what will be one of the most significant transit initiatives in recent New York City history.”
[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.
[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.
Our opinion deserves a voice. There is strength in numbers.
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.
[Source: Times Ledger]
Although politicians may not always be able to walk on water, two city councilmen are trying to increase funding so you can commute on it.
Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) and Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn) called on the city to increase funding for and awareness of the New York City Water Taxi service that runs between Manhattan and Brooklyn and Queens at a news conference Saturday in Williamsburg.
[…]
The Sunset Ridge Waterfront Alliance, a Brooklyn-based advocate group, praised Gioia and Yassky for taking the initiative. The group said government subsidies would not only lower the $5 one-way fare for the water taxis, it would save the city millions in eased congestion.
“The taxis are greener for the city, because they get people off the roads and on the water. This initiative has bipartisan support,” said Heather McGown, the founder of the alliance.
