CB1 gives Heisman to NYC Ferry service

This is old news, and it was also covered by the Broadsheet, but I still wanted to register it here since 1) I went to the meeting and 2) ferry service should be on all of our minds as Westsiders. The Battery Park City committee of CB1 pushed back against the city’s plan to add a BPC route to its NYC Ferry system. The route would go from Staten Island to the ferry terminal at Vesey to Midtown, starting in 2020 (see the magenta line). It would run seven days a week, starting at 6a.

Some BPC residents have suffered from the increased ferries coming in and out of the terminal while the PATH train is renovated and suspended on the weekends. This would add 60 more boat trips into the terminal each day, and the community board complained that it would add more foot traffic to and from the terminal, getting in the way of residents.

I have to applaud any increased ferry service for an island city, especially downtown, but some locals don’t see it that way at all. “There are issues with exhaust fumes and noise pollution from the boats,” said KC. “There is a larger question of expenditures for routes that seem not to be in demand. I would think it would be better or more thoughtful if there were ever a ferry linking the west side to the east.”

The new ferry would go from St. George to BPC to Pier 79 at 39th Street. The fare structure will remain pegged to the price of a MetroCard at $2.75 per ride with free transfers up to 90 minutes between ferry routes. The city projects that ridership will reach 11 million by 2023.

 
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10 Comments

  1. What I would selfishly be more interested in are the Wall St. / Pier 11 lines adding a stop in Battery Park. It’s certainly not the end of the world to walk over there but it does take some time.

  2. With respect, the Miami on the Rise ad campaign kind of rubs me the wrong way for a locally-oriented newspaper – is the idea that everyone in Tribeca should move to Miami for tax savings? If so, who will be left to read about (or care about) Tribeca? Maybe not the most well advised sponsor, IMHO. Thanks for all the great work you’re doing on the site.

    • Yes, Scott, EVERYONE should move to Miami. You no longer have the ability to read a sponsored ad and think for yourself. Start packing!

      • I guess you missed my point – for a paper whose existence is to support the local community, it feels tonally off to include advertisements pushing readers to leave that local community and move elsewhere.

        • You’re so right! What was I thinking? Obviously, I wasn’t! Oh my! And what about that Sotheby’s Harald Grant Hamptons ad?!! What now, should everyone move to the Hamptons?!! I hope this sponsored damage is reversible! Sadly, from the looks of the traffic at the Midtown Tunnel….its too late!!! Poor Tribeca, we hardly knew ye.

  3. With all due respect, I think that you’re missing the main point here. Yes, BPC residents are justifiably upset at (the federally required) ferry horns waking them up every time a boat arrives.

    But almost no one would actually need a $2.75 limited service ferry from Staten Island to BPC instead of a free Staten Island ferry that docks about a mile away, with much more frequent service.

    What’s actually going on here is that this is yet another subsidy for Hudson Yards – low cost transportation for workers who live in Staten Island to Hudson Yards, with a huge city subsidy, thinly disguised as a BPC ferry, with a BPC stop that isn’t needed.

    • You’re totally right that it is for SI to get to Midtown, and not for SI to get to BPC — the city is clear on that — and you may be right again about Hudson Yards. I just thought it *could* have some utility for us as well to get to Midtown, especially if you live that far west, but perhaps not…

  4. Looks like a nice excursion along the waterfront.

  5. The neighbors also complained about gunning of engines which rattles windows and sends plumes of exaust into the parks all day starting at 6am. EDC is pushing through a service without real planning or consideration; why not buy Hybrid boats which are better for the environment and neighbors? Answer given: we need to have it done before deblasio leaves office. Thats ridiculous. Why not charge express rates like an express bus vs a regular fare considering how highly subsidized the ferry system already is? No answers…The city doesn’t have money to fix the MTA but has millions to add to subsidize more ferries?

  6. I am all for a ferry to battery park city and to Hudson yards. They should send the Coney Island ferry to wall st then to battery park then uptown along the hudson River. They should put all those overpriced ferries to new Jersey out of business. More foot traffic is good for business.

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