NYC Ferry

New York City is trying to bring back ferries as a mass transit option with a system called NYC Ferry. It debuted on May 1 with two routes, one in the East River and another that goes all the way out to Rockaway. 

The Rockaway option is a brand new route that stops in Sunset Park before its other end at Pier 11/Wall Street. 

The East River route already existed and was run by a ferry company before being taken over by the city for this service. I rode this route to get a first experience of NYC Ferry and overall it was very pleasant. 

I bought my ticket ahead of time on the NYC Ferry app, which went smoothly and allowed me to just show my phone to board. Tickets can also be bought in person at the stations. At Pier 11 there was a teller and a ticket machine. 

A ticket costs $2.75, the same as a Metrocard fare. Unfortunately there are no free transfers with the MTA subways and buses but there are transfers to other ferries within 90 minutes of activating your ticket as you board. This excludes going back in the other direction, however, so you can't go round-trip on one fare. 

It wasn't too crowded when I arrived at Pier 11, though it was midweek during a non-rush hour time. 

I was looking forward to riding one of the new boats that were made for this system. Each has a concession stand, free Wi-Fi and many power outlets. They're also made largely of aluminum which makes them lighter, and they are fuel efficient. They have 149 seats, including 28 on the outer deck.

Unfortunately when I boarded the ferry the concession area was empty and there was no Wi-Fi, and I later realized that this must be an older boat being used for this new service. It was still a good boat though: it reached good speeds out on the river and was very nimble entering and leaving each stop.  

I saw one of the new ferries at the first stop, which was DUMBO at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The name of the boat, Lunch Box, was written on the side, which I had read was one of the new ferry names. 

The names of all new new ferries were chosen by second graders in the city, and so far the other names are Urban Journey, Sunset Crossing, Waves of Wonder, Friendship Express and, best of all, McShiny. 

We boarded and left Pier 11 on time according to the posted schedule, which was really nice. We bolted straight across to the first stop at DUMBO and already the views were spectacular. It also felt great to be traveling in the open air and not underground in a crowded subway.

The next stop after DUMBO was South Williamsburg. Each stop was about a five minute ride, and during this leg of the journey we passed under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges before stopping just short of the Williamsburg Bridge as the great views continued. It was fun feeling like a tourist and marveling at the sites while taking a $2.75 transit ride in the city.

Along with the famous sites, there was also plenty of industrial landscape along the Brooklyn waterfront, much of it looking run-down, rusted and perhaps abandoned from previous decades and generations. 

There was also a lot of new building development to see on the Brooklyn side. There was a stark contrast between new and old right at South Williamsburg. 

The mix of new building developments and old industrial remnants would continue along the Brooklyn waterfront journey, with an especially high concentration of new buildings at the next stop, North Williamsburg.

The next stop was Greenpoint, which featured a new building under construction near the water. 

At this point in the journey, the view across to Manhattan showed a glaring exception to its otherwise dazzling skyline: the bland uniformity of the buildings near 14th Street known as Stuyvesant Town. They were built in the 1940's during the long reign of Robert Moses and bear certain trademarks of the Moses style: while they provide plenty of housing, they are rather ugly and don't blend well into the surrounding city both aesthetically and in terms of livability. Fortunately city designing has moved on from that era, thanks largely to Jane Jacobs, whose battles with Moses have been back in the spotlight recently. Moses also built and planned around cars and not mass transit, but NYC Ferry is hopefully an indication that investments in various mass transit will be seen as essential going forward.

The next ferry stop, Hunters Point South, was the last before returning to Manhattan. It is actually in Queens, at Long Island City, and has a very nice park at the water. The views in this area started to include the 59th Street Bridge, now called the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, and the big buildings in midtown Manhattan including the Chrysler Building. 

The ferry bolted straight across the East River from Hunters Point South to the final stop at 34th Street near the FDR Drive. We had to wait for a New York Water Taxi to leave the station before we could dock, but this only took a moment and we arrived basically on time, with the total trip taking a brisk half hour. As passengers left the ferry, new ones immediately boarded to start the journey down to Pier 11/Wall Street.

During the summer, this route will include a stop at Governor's Island between DUMBO and Pier 11/Wall Street. There are four more routes coming soon, two of them this summer and two more next summer in 2018. I have read that a Coney Island route is being considered, and the mayor has said that if people ride NYC Ferry and it's a success then it could keep expanding more and more. 

I'm definitely rooting for its success and hoping for more expansion in the future. We should be taking advantage of all the water around us to alleviate the packed subways and provide a more enjoyable open-air travel experience. 

I rode the ferry again later in the week from 34th Street to North Williamsburg during rush hour and was glad to see lots of people using it. On NYC Ferry's first Saturday of service there was a message on its website saying that ferries going in both directions of the East River route "are reaching capacity due to large rider counts. Please plan on delays." Okay so perhaps delays and overcrowding can't be avoided in New York City. In this case, however, I think it beats having empty ferries because hopefully higher demand will lead to more boats and routes, and I would consider that a win for New Yorkers.