Park Slope Brooklyn Council Member Brad Lander, alongside representatives from New York City Economic Development Corporation and The Trust for Governors Island, announced last Sunday that half-hourly ferry service will be available between Brooklyn’s Pier 6 and Governors Island.
Effective immediately, on peak summer weekend days, ferries will run every half hour, cutting down the long wait to board the boats. Starting next summer, the ferry service will be available during Memorial Day Weekend, the Jazz Age Lawn Party, FIGMENT weekend, and other high traffic festival days.
The increase in service is the result of a $62,000 increase in funding, secured by Lander from the de Blasio administration. Currently, the Trust for Governors Island has a ferry that only goes to and from Manhattan. The Trust has funding set aside to purchase a second ferry. The addition of a second boat will expand service to Governors Island.
While daily service is now only available from Lower Manhattan, Lander is pushing for daily service from Pier 6 in Brooklyn. Demand is growing for access to Governors Island attractions, such as new baseball fields, artists’ studios, and the upcoming opening of a Day Spa, the island’s first commercial establishment. Brooklyn students would need daily access to attend the Harbor School, a New York City public school located on Governors Island. Lander organized a petition for daily service last spring that garnered 1,200 signatures.
“Governors Island has become a fantastic place in New York Harbor that Brooklynites, myself included, love to visit,” said Lander. “In recent years more and more people, excited about the new opportunities happening on the island, have been lining up at Pier 6 to make the trip. And as Governor’s Island becomes a destination not just for summer weekends, but for school, commercial activity, little league practice, artist space and more, we’ve got to keep pushing for expanded service. I’m very thankful for the steps the administration has already taken to expand service, and I’m excited to see even more Brooklynites on Governors Island next summer.”
