While nobody is blaming Mayor Bill de Blasio, Canarsie lawmakers City Council Member Alan Maisel, State Senator Roxanne Persaud, Assembly Member Jaime Williams and even Kings County Democratic Party Chair Frank Seddio (a former Canarsie assemblyman) are ramping up the pressure to bring a ferry to the Canarsie Pier.
Their efforts come just a few months after the city launched their very first, and highly successful, ferry service to Manhattan in such transit-starved neighborhoods as Rockaway and Bay Ridge, but literally bypassing the equally transit-starved highly residential and tourest destination of Coney Island.
Lost in this equation, however, was Canarsie, which Maisel, Persaud and others brought up to the de Blasio at a town hall meeting in September 2016. Since the first ferries launched a few months back, the lawmakers and Canarise residents have launched a petition drive that they hope to present to de Blasio, in coordination with Coney Island lawmakers City Council Memeber Mark Treyger and Assembly member Pam Harris early next month.
“One year ago we started the discussion with the Mayor’s office regarding improving transportation services in this district, this includes exploring the option of a ferry service from Canarsie Pier,” said Persaud in her weekly newsletter. “This is very timely considering the fact that MTA plans to shut down the L train between Manhattan and Brooklyn for 15 months beginning in April 2019 to make critical repairs.”
Persaud said the Canarsie Improvement Association collected over 2000 signatures to show the public support for a ferry service, which is a critical step for demonstrating strong community support. The ferry service will be beneficial to the businesses in the community as well, she said.
“Our constituents deserve sufficient options for safe commuting and I will continue to fight for these improvements,” said Persaud.
Maisel said when he suggested having a ferry at the Canarsie Pier to the mayor at the town hall, de Blasio said he would look into it, but now that the city has launched the service it is up to the local lawmakers and residents to show continued interest and make the case for the ferry.
One rub is that the Canarsie Pier is part of the Gateway National Park, meaning it is under federal jurisdiction so any ferry service would require an agreement between the federal government and the city, to both build a ferry dock on the pier and to have a city ferry use it.
Maisel and Seddio both said the local Congressman Hakeem Jeffries is on board for having a ferry dock at the pier, but it may take possibly an act of congress to do it.
The pier is currently heavily used for recreational purposes, especially during the weekend, but there is enough room to also build a dock, Maisel said.
Seddio said everybody is trying in a team effort to get a ferry and he believes it will happen, but not in the time frame everybody would like. As such, he credited de Blasio for getting the ferry service launched as a crucial component to public transportation.
Maisel agreed, saying ultimately he sees a ferry coming to Canarsie, but maybe later than sooner.
“The mayor deserves credit because he’s pushing ferries so it’s not like he’s a bad guy. It takes time. You can’t build Rome in a day, and we also have to do our part in pressing the issue,” said Maisel.
