By Rebecca Henely
Long Island City residents and tourists who once made their treks to Manhattan and Brooklyn by car or subway can now go by river.
Last week City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), Deputy Mayor Robert Steel, Councilmen Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and Stephen Levin (D-Brooklyn) and representatives from the city Economic Development Corp. and NY Waterway announced a new public ferry would provide yearlong service between Long Island City, Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Governors Island.
“The expanded ferry service could be very helpful in alleviating the overcrowding on the 7 train,” Van Bramer said.
Jen Friedberg, spokeswoman for the EDC, said in recent years privately operated ferries have traveled to Long Island City, but there has been no coordinated public service like this one.
“I am excited to see the new ferry service reconnecting New Yorkers and tourists alike to a new transportation option that invigorates and embraces a resource that truly makes our city great,” Quinn said in a statement.
The ferry service begins June 13. Throughout the year it will stop at East 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan; Hunter’s Point South in Long Island City; India Street in Greenpoint, North 6th Street in North Williamsburg, Schaefer Landing in South Williamsburg and Brooklyn Bridge Park/DUMBO in Brooklyn; and Wall Street/Pier 1. The ferry will also travel on a seasonal basis to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and Governors Island. The Hunters Point South/Long Island City stop is located at 50th Avenue and the Center Boulevard Pier.
The service will run from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on weekends. The boats will come every half hour in summer and hour in winter except during rush hour, when they will come every 20 minutes.
“I hope that people find it’s convenient and affordable and a real option,” Van Bramer said.
Julie Halpin, spokeswoman for NY Waterway, said the ferry will bring tourists to parts of the city that were once inaccessible.
“Brooklyn and Queens have become these hip, cool places, and when people come to New York it can get a little confusing,” Halpin said.
Ferry service costs $4 for a one-way ticket, $12 for a full-day pass, and $140 for an unlimited monthly pass, but for the first 12 days it will be free. Halpin said the ferry will use vessels that can hold 99 passengers and larger ones that can hold 149 passengers.
The expansion of the ferries is part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Quinn’s Waterfront Vision and Enhancement Strategy initiative aimed at making the city’s shorelines more sustainable.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
