Mayor de Blasio yesterday pledged to meet the growing demands of ferry ridership at the Atlantic Basin Pier in Red Hook –– but still said there are no ferry plans for Coney Island residents.
De Blasio demurred on the question as he announced the opening of the South Brooklyn NYC Ferry route with City Council Members Carlos Menchaca (D-Red Hook, Sunset Park) and Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights) at his side.
The South Brooklyn NYC Ferry route starts in Bay Ridge with stops in Sunset Park, Red Hook and two stops at Brooklyn Bridge Park before ending in Lower Manhattan. A second South Brooklyn Ferry route, which opened last m0nth, starts in Rockaway and literally ferries right past Coney Island to a second stop in Sunset Park.
The glaring bypass of Coney Island in both routes has lawmakers representing the neighborhood, including City Councilmember Mark Treyger and Assembly Member Pam Harris livid, especially as Coney Island not only has thousands of residents in need of better mass transit, but like Brooklyn Bridge Park, is a major tourist destination spot.
When the mayor was asked if there were plans to incorporate Coney Island into the fold of water commuting, de Blasio said, “we need to see how this first set of lines go to decide what kind of expansion we should do.”
The mayor said some of the criteria used to determine route allocation was based on demand, development and insufficient access to other mass transportation.
“To some extent it was where we knew there was existing high levels of demand. We knew then they were historically underserved areas – Red Hook, the Rockaways, Soundview in the Bronx, unquestionably, places that did not have enough mass transit options, were right there on the waterfront,” said de Blasio.
While the mayor did acknowledge the requests for ferry service from his Coney Island, South Shore and Staten Island constituents, he still has work to do on the existing routes, which initially struggled to service its unprecedented 240,000 riders.
The Rockaway Ferry routes experienced a bumpy opening causing hour-long delays during the initial launch and then again during this past Memorial Day weekend.
“We experienced a lot of ridership over the Memorial Day weekend,” said the Mayor. “But the bottom line is we’re going to keep adding what we need to make it work.”
The Mayor also suggested the city would consider larger vessels if that’s what it takes to provide efficient ferry service.
New York City Economic Development Corporation’s (NYCEDC) president and CEO James Patchett said they were considering schedule adjustments to address any ferry delays.
