Mayor de Blasio came to Coney Island yesterday to provide futher details and take a bow before lauding lawmakers for his announcement that both Coney Island and Staten Island will soon get NYC Ferry system stops.
The Coney Island route will launch in 2021, with a stop in Bay Ridge, before ending at Wall St. /Pier 11, an anticipated total run time of ~35 minutes from start to finish.
“It’s official. The NYC Ferry will now serve all five boroughs!” said de Blasio at P.S. 188 in Coney Island. “We’re delivering new routes to Staten Island, Coney Island, and new stops in the Bronx and Brooklyn. As New Yorkers take to the water to get around our city more than ever before, we will look forward to improving the NYC Ferry system to make it better than ever.”
The NYC Ferry expansion also includes:
- Modification of the South Brooklyn Route in 2021: The South Brooklyn Route will be reconfigured to start from Sunset Park/Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT) instead of Bay Ridge, which will be added to the new Coney Island Route and will no longer stop at DUMBO/BBP1.
- Modification of the Astoria Route in 2019 to include the Brooklyn Navy Yard: This May, a stop will be added at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on the Astoria Route. The Navy Yard, which currently serves as NYC Ferry’s homeport, is undergoing a historic expansion of the campus and is expected to more than double its workforce by 2020.
Brooklyn lawmakers thanked the mayor for his work in extending the NYC ferry lines to include south Brooklyn.
“For years, south Brooklyn residents have suffered with limited and congested transportation options,” said Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy, Brownsville, East New York, Canarsie, Mill Basin, Coney Island, parts of Queens). “Ferry service on the Coney Island peninsula will help address this important quality of life issue and make it easier for commuters to get to work and for others to experience iconic Coney Island locations.”
“As borough president, I’ve been proud to oversee the growth of ferry service from Bay Ridge to Greenpoint, and I thank Mayor de Blasio for hearing our call to establish a new route to Coney Island in 2021,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.
“I am thrilled to see that NYC Ferry service will be expanded to serve the Brooklyn Navy Yard starting this summer. The system will offer a great new transportation option for residents of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill to access major job hubs throughout the five boroughs, and I look forward to the launch,” said Council Majority Leader Laurie A. Cumbo (D-Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights).
“The ferry system is quickly becoming a viable transportation option for residents in South Brooklyn, particularly Red Hook and Sunset Park. I am pleased to see that access will expand to more parts of the City and to more people in the coming years,” said Council Member Carlos Menchaca (D-Sunset Park, Red Hook).
The extension is a part of the mayors efforts to “make NYC the fairest city,” a theme he played on during his state of the city address. The mayor’s office conducted a study to determine where they could feasibly add new ferry stops.
In total 35 waterfront neighborhoods were studied. Brooklyn neighborhoods included Coney Island Creek, Bath Beach, Canarsie Pier, Bush Terminal, Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island Beach, and Gowanus- though only Coney Island Creek and Bath Beach made it to stage three of the study.
In May 2018, the de Blasio administration announced it was investing $300 million in capital for the service over the next five years. The long-term plan announced May 2018 will invest in infrastructure improvements and upgrades to existing infrastructure. The city will invest an additional $100 million in capital to add fleet capacity, build new landings, and invest in existing landings to support the system’s expansion. Mayor de Blasio said he wants the ferry fare to match that of the MTA’s $2.75- though it currently rings up at $7 per ride. According to a NYT article, “Hornblower, the company that operates the ferries, will charter as many as eight boats that can carry up to 500 passengers each.”
With 21 landings across the city, the NYC Ferry has served nearly eight million riders to date. With the additional routes and landings, revised annual ridership forecasts 11 million annual riders by 2023.
