NYC Ferry is a public network of

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

routes in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

operated by

Hornblower Cruises Hornblower Cruises & Events NOW City Experiences is a San Francisco-based charter yacht, dining cruise and ferry service company. History The company began in 1974 in Berkeley, California with two ships. In 1980 the original owner, Ward Proes ...

. , there are six routes, as well as one seasonal route, connecting 25 ferry piers across all five boroughs. NYC Ferry has the largest passenger fleet in the United States with a total of 38 vessels, providing between 20–90 minute service on each of the routes, depending on the season. One additional route and one new pier are planned as of December 2021. New York City had an extensive ferry network until the 1960s, when almost all ferry services were discontinued, but saw a revival in the 1980s and 1990s. The city government officially proposed its own ferry service in 2013, which was announced two years later under the tentative name of Citywide Ferry Service. The first of two phases launched in 2017 with service along the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...

and to the

Rockaways The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of ...

Bay Ridge Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base and ...

, and Astoria. A second phase launched to the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

and

Soundview Soundview is a neighborhood on the Clason Point peninsula, on the southern section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, White Plai ...

in 2018. A ferry to

St. George, Staten Island St. George is a neighborhood on the northeastern tip of Staten Island in New York City, along the waterfront where the Kill Van Kull enters Upper New York Bay. It is the most densely developed neighborhood on Staten Island, and the location of th ...

, and a stop in Throgs Neck/Ferry Point Park launched in 2021, while a route to

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

is planned. Single-ride trips on the system cost $4.00, with monthly and bike fares also available, but there is no free transfer to other modes of transport in the city. NYC Ferry also provides free shuttle buses, connecting to ferry stops in the Rockaways and

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

. The ferry service was originally expected to transport 4.5 to 4.6 million passengers annually, but the annual ridership estimates were revised in early 2018 to 9 million. Despite its crowding, the ferry has generally received positive reviews from passengers. However, there has been criticism over the highly-subsidized nature of the service, and NYC Ferry's low ridership compared to the city's other public transit modes.

Background

Early ferries

Until the 19th century, when the first fixed crossings were put in place across the city's waterways, there were many ferries traversing the area. New York's first ferries date to when the city was a Dutch colony named

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

, which comprised modern-day

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

. A ferry across the

, between New Amsterdam and modern-day

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, was created in 1642 by Cornelius Dircksen, who was reportedly "the earliest ferryman of whom the records speak." By 1654, New Amsterdam's government passed ordinances to regulate East River ferries. The first ferry to

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

was founded in 1661, traveling across the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

from

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Communipaw Communipaw is a neighborhood in Jersey City in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It is located west of Liberty State Park Liberty State Park (LSP) is a park in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Upper New York Bay in Jersey City ...

(now part of

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark. Ferries along the

Harlem River The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York, United States, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the New York mainland. The northern stretch, also called the Spuyte ...

, between uptown Manhattan and

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, started in 1667, and a

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

was started in 1712. The number of ferries would grow, and by 1904, there would be 147 ferry services operating in New York City waters. One of the first documented horse-powered "team" boats in commercial service in the United States was the

Fulton Ferry Company thumb , The Union Ferry Company's ferryboat ''Farragut'' on the Fulton Ferry route, ca. 1900 The Fulton Ferry was the first steam ferry route connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York City, United States, joining Fulton Street, Manhatta ...

, an East River ferry run that

Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat ...

implemented in 1814. The

South Ferry Company South Ferry is at the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City and is the embarkation point for ferries to Staten Island (Staten Island Ferry, through the Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal) and Governors Island. Battery Park, abutting ...

, founded in 1836, merged with the Fulton Ferry Company three years later, and the combined companies underwent a series of acquisitions, eventually owning many of the East River ferries. However, by 1918, the construction of bridges and

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

tunnels across the East River resulted in some companies, such as the

New York and East River Ferry Company New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

between Yorkville and Astoria, operating at a loss. Even with city ownership, many of the East River ferries were superseded by bridges, road tunnels, and subway tunnels by the mid-20th century. The Yorkville–Astoria ferry, for instance, stopped in 1936 after being replaced by the

Triborough Bridge The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (RFK Bridge; formerly known and still commonly referred to as the Triborough Bridge) is a complex of bridges and elevated expressway viaducts in New York City. The bridges link the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, a ...

. On the other side of Manhattan, there were a myriad of Hudson River ferries at one point, with boat routes running from New Jersey to twenty passenger docks in Manhattan. However, the construction of the

Holland Tunnel The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects the New York City neighborhood of Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan to the east with Jersey City in New Jersey to the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Author ...

Lincoln Tunnel The Lincoln Tunnel is an approximately tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey, to the west with Midtown Manhattan in New York City to the east. It carries New Jersey Route 495 on the New Jersey side and unsigned New Y ...

Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken, as well as Lower and Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is operated as a wholly owned subsid ...

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

and

George Washington Bridge The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Manhattan in New York City. The bridge is named after George Washington, the first president of the United St ...

between Manhattan and New Jersey, as well as the growth of car ownership in the United States, meant that these ferries were no longer needed by the mid-20th century. As a result, in 1967, the last cross-Hudson ferry (between

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...

and

Battery Park City Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...

) ceased operations. The Richmond Turnpike Company started a steamboat service from Manhattan to Staten Island in 1817.

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

bought the company in 1838, and it was sold to the Staten Island Railroad Company in 1864. The Staten Island Ferry was then sold to the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

in 1884, and the City of New York assumed control of the ferry in 1905. The ferry, which still operates, was at one point the only commuter ferry within the entire city, after the discontinuation of the Hoboken ferry in 1967. Despite the discontinuation of ferry service to New Jersey, people moved to locations along the Hudson River waterfront there. In 1986, waterfront settlements like

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

, Keyport,

Port Liberte A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

, and

Weehawken Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.

saw a reinstatement of their ferry service to Manhattan, under the operation of

NY Waterway NY Waterway (or New York Waterway) is a private transportation company running ferry and bus service in the Port of New York and New Jersey and in the Hudson Valley. The company utilizes public-private partnership with agencies such as the Port ...

. By 1989, around 3,000 of the settlements' combined 10,500 residents paid a $5.00 fare in each direction to board the NY Waterway ferries, despite competition from cheaper alternatives like the

PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...

train system. Around this time, there were plans to create ferry routes between Inwood and

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

;

South Amboy South Amboy is a suburban city in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 9,411.Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

; and from the city proper to New Jersey,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, and

Westchester Westchester most commonly refers to Westchester County, New York, immediately north of New York City. __NOTOC__ It may also refer to: Geography Canada *Westchester Station, Nova Scotia, Canada United States *Town of Westchester, the original seat ...

Revival of ferries

In early 2011, the

New York City Economic Development Corporation New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is a nonprofit corporation whose stated mission is to "leverage the city’s assets to create beneficial jobs that drive growth. This ensures equitable and sustainable development across al ...

(NYCEDC), and the

NYC & Company NYC & Company is New York City’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organization. The not-for-profit quasi-agency's mission is to maximize opportunities for travel and tourism in New York City Tourism is travel for pleasure or bus ...

water travel initiative NYHarborWay, worked with the

New York City Department of Transportation The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is the agency of the government of New York City responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation infrastructure. Ydanis Rodriguez is the Commissioner of the Departm ...

(NYCDOT) to release a Comprehensive Citywide Ferry Study, in which it examined over 40 potential locations for a ferry system in New York City. The study was commissioned in order to examine transport alternatives for neighborhoods along New York City's shores. It also discussed the

East River Ferry NYC Ferry is a public network of ferry routes in New York City operated by Hornblower Cruises. , there are six routes, as well as one seasonal route, connecting 25 ferry piers across all five boroughs. NYC Ferry has the largest passenger fleet ...

, which was set to enter service later that year. The study identified potential ferry routes to western Manhattan and Riverdale; eastern Manhattan, the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

, and

Co-op City Co-op City (short for Cooperative City) is a cooperative housing development located in the northeast section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by Interstate 95 to the southwest, west, and north and the Hutchinson River ...

; the northern Brooklyn and Queens shorelines; the South Shore of Staten Island; and southwestern Brooklyn, southern Brooklyn, and

the Rockaways The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of the ...

In June 2011, the NY Waterway-operated East River Ferry line started operations. The route was a 7-stop East River service that ran from Pier 11 to East 34th Street, making four intermediate stops in Brooklyn and one in Queens. The ferry, an alternative to the New York City Subway, cost $4 per one-way ticket (the subway at the time cost $2.25). It was instantly popular, with two to six times the number of passengers that the city predicted would ride the ferries. From June to November 2011, the ferry accommodated 2,862 riders on an average weekday, as opposed to a projection of 1,488 riders, and it had 4,500 riders on an average weekend, six times the city's projected ridership; in total, the ferry saw 350,000 riders in that period, over 250% of the initial ridership forecast of 134,000 riders. In the

aftermath Aftermath may refer to: Companies * Aftermath (comics), an imprint of Devil's Due Publishing * Aftermath Entertainment, an American record label founded by Dr. Dre * Aftermath Media, an American multimedia company * Aftermath Services, an Americ ...

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

on October 29, 2012, massive infrastructural damage to the

IND Rockaway Line The IND Rockaway Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway, operating in Queens. It branches from the IND Fulton Street Line at Rockaway Boulevard, extending over the Jamaica Bay, into the Rockaways. The trai ...

() south of the Howard Beach–JFK Airport station severed all direct subway connections between the Rockaways,

Broad Channel Broad Channel is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It occupies the southern portion of Rulers Bar Hassock (known colloquially as "Broad Channel Island"), the only inhabited island in Jamaica Bay. The ...

, and the Queens mainland for seven months. Ferry operator SeaStreak began running a city-subsidized ferry service between a makeshift ferry slip at Beach 108th Street and

Beach Channel Drive Beach Channel Drive is the main thoroughfare of the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It extends from the Nassau County border at Inwood westward, to the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge at the end of Jacob ...

Rockaway Park, Queens Rockaway Park is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. The area is on the Rockaway Peninsula, nestled between Jamaica Bay to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The neighborhood of Rockaway Beach lies on its eastern bo ...

, and

Pier 11/Wall Street Pier 11/Wall Street is a pier providing slips to ferries and excursion boats on the East River in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located east of South Street and FDR Drive just south of Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City ...

, then continuing on to the East 34th Street Ferry Landing. A stop at

Brooklyn Army Terminal The Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT) is a large warehouse complex in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, New York City. The site occupies more than between 58th and 63rd Streets west of Second Avenue, on Brooklyn's western shore. The complex was originally u ...

was added in August 2013 because of the reconstruction of the

Montague Street Tunnel The Montague Street Tunnel is a rail tunnel of the New York City Subway under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, connecting the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line. The R uses the tunnel at all times, the N us ...

, which temporarily suspended R train service through the tunnel. The ferry proved to be popular and its license was extended several times, as city officials evaluated the ridership numbers to determine whether to establish the service on a permanent basis. Between its inception and December 2013, the service had carried close to 200,000 riders. The NYCEDC study was updated in 2013, following the introduction of the SeaStreak Rockaway ferry. The study, called "CFS2013", showed the effect of ferry services in New York City, citing the success of the East River ferry. Specifically, ferry service raised the values of real estate within of ferry landings by an average of 1.2%; spurred new construction near ferry stops; added more transport options to neighborhoods with few transit alternatives; and helped relieve crowding on other parts of New York City's transport network. The study also suggested extra routes that could be added to the ferry system, with proposed routes that would serve new development in all five

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

. The specific idea of a citywide ferry was also first proposed in the study. When the city government announced its budget in late June 2014 for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1, the ferry only received a $2 million further appropriation, enough to temporarily extend it again through October. The administration of Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

stated that there was not enough ridership to justify the cost of operation. Despite last-minute efforts by local transportation advocates, civic leaders, and elected officials, ferry service ended on October 31, 2014. They promised to continue efforts to have the service restored. This led to many negotiations between the mayor's office and the parties interested in reopening the ferry. The mayor's office eventually agreed to restart the Rockaway ferry when the NYC Ferry system opened.

Development

Proposal

NYC Ferry, first proposed by the NYCEDC as the "Citywide Ferry Service," was announced by de Blasio's administration in 2015 as part of a proposed citywide ferry system that would reach through the five boroughs, though a

terminal had not been finalized. The NYCEDC promised the project, along with the

Brooklyn–Queens Connector The Brooklyn–Queens Connector, abbreviated the BQX, is a proposed streetcar line in New York City. It is planned to operate 24/7 on a north–south corridor along the East River between the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. A previous plan be ...

proposal, as a way to reinvent the city's transit system. Routes were to go to Astoria,

, the

South Brooklyn South Brooklyn is a historic term for a section of the former City of Brooklyn – now the New York City borough of Brooklyn – encompassing what are now the Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Park Slope, Windsor Ter ...

, and

Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...

. NY Waterway's East River route was to be transferred to NYC Ferry system as part of the plan. Funding was being sought for a route to

and Stapleton, but it was not included in NYC Ferry's implementation timeline. Long Island City New York May 2015 panorama 3

A fare for one trip was set at $2.75, the same as on other modes of transportation in New York City. Free transfers would be offered only to other NYC Ferry lines, meaning that riders would pay another fare if they transferred to one of the city's other mass-transit systems. Transfers to other lines would be issued on request. Prior to the implementation of NYC Ferry, other ferry lines in the city had weekday and weekend fares of $4 and $6, respectively. The relatively low fare of NYC Ferry was made in contrast to some other major cities like

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where ferry fares are higher than the fares of other modes of mass transit in these cities. The city said that the low ferry fares were intended to make the ferries affordable, while de Blasio stated that it is intended to promote "transit equity". Assuming that the ferry system met the projection of 4.5 million annual riders, the city would pay a subsidy of $6.60 per rider, making the ferry the third-most subsidized form of transportation in the city. NYC Ferry was to cost $325 million with the city contributing an additional operating subsidy of $10 million to $20 million per year. The privately operated ferries were offered under a 6-year contract to

, which would receive at least $30 million annually during the course of the contract. After having accepted the contract, Hornblower Cruises was selected as the ferry's operator on March 16, 2016. Some of the ferry's six proposed routes were originally supposed to be operational in June 2017, but the implementation date was later moved to May 1. Under the 2015 plan, the whole system was expected to come into full service by 2018. The system includes routes that were formerly under NY Waterway, most notably the East River route. There would be at least 18 boats needed for rush-hour operation. Twelve boats would be deployed in 2017, while the other six would be put in service the next year. The number of boats was later revised slightly to 20, including three boats that would be upgraded later. The creation of the ferry system was supposed to relieve some of the load of the city's transportation system, which is largely "the footprint of an early-19th-century transit map" according to Deputy Mayor

Alicia Glen Alicia Glen is a civil servant who served as Deputy Mayor for housing and economic development for the City of New York from 2014 to 2019. She was appointed by Bill De Blasio, and stepped down in early 2019. In June 2022, Glen was appointed by G ...

, and cannot accommodate the city's fast population growth. As a result of projected desire for the ferries, annual ridership was expected to eventually reach 4.5 million to 4.6 million. Even though this amounted to only about 12,500 daily riders (compared to the New York City Subway's 5 million riders each weekday), one fellow at the

Manhattan Institute The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (renamed in 1981 from the International Center for Economic Policy Studies) is a conservative American think tank focused on domestic policy and urban affairs, established in Manhattan in 1978 by Ant ...

said that "every person you’re not cramming on to the trains helps". New York City's deputy mayor for housing and economic development stated, "Our aim is to make this thing as big as possible."

Planning

In March and April 2015, the city started the process of environmental review for Citywide Ferry. The city requested the draft of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on August 12, 2015, which was completed by April 18, 2016. After public comment, the final EIS was approved on July 28, 2016. The project also had a City Environmental Quality Review, which analyzed the ferry's effects on open space, urban design, natural resources, nearby transportation, noise pollution, air quality, the environment, and public health.

Construction

From January to June 2016, the city bought 4 boats for the proposed ferry service for a combined total of $6 million, with plans for a total of 30 boats over the coming years. Hornblower Cruises requested 13 boats for the first routes, each costing $4 million each. The total combined cost of the boats is more than $70 million. In addition, the city was building 13 ferry landings at a cost of $85 million, as well as a boat depot. One of these docks, in Astoria, was built privately as part of the Astoria Cove development. In September 2016, construction on 19 ferries began at two shipyards in

Bayou La Batre, Alabama Bayou La Batre ( or ) is a city in Mobile County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Mobile metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,204, down from 2,558 at the 2010 census. Bayou La Batre is a fishing village wi ...

, and

Jeanerette, Louisiana Jeanerette () is a city in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, United States. Known as "Sugar City", it had a population of 5,530 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 467 from the 2000 tabulation of 5,997. It is two thirds African American, many of them Creol ...

, with 200 full-time employees working on the boats. The contract with the two shipyards is unusual because shipbuilding contracts are usually with only one company. However, NYC Ferry executives had purposely chosen these two companies because of their expertise and because of the unlikeliness that both shipyards would be destroyed by hurricanes. Ferry implementation required permission from several entities. Before the ferry could start service, the NYCDOT was required to approve a new transportation mode within its service area. Additionally, the

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protection ...

and

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

(CoE) was supposed to give NYC Ferry permission to use of the landings, with the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

advising the CoE's approval of a permit as well as monitoring the design of vessels. In addition, the

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYS OPRHP) is a state agency within the New York State Executive Department Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law § 3.03. "The office of parks, recreation a ...

had to allow ferries to use the landing at

Gantry Plaza State Park Gantry Plaza State Park is a state park on the East River in the Hunters Point section of Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens. The park is located in a former dockyard and manufacturing district, and includes remnants of f ...

, and the

Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) is a New York State public-benefit corporation responsible for developing Roosevelt Island, a small island in the East River that is part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Organization ...

was consulted so they could give permission for the Roosevelt Island landing to be built. By September 2016, the Gantry Plaza landing had been approved. In December 2016, Hornblower purchased the rights to operate the East River route for $21 million. The route had been operated by Billybey Ferries, which had a contract to operate the line under the NY Waterway banner. As part of the sale, Hornblower paid $6 million for four older boats already in use on the East River ferry. The first completed new vessel left the Bayou La Batre facility on around March 24, 2017, and it arrived in New York on April 2, 2017. On April 6, Mayor de Blasio announced that the service had been rebranded from Citywide Ferry to NYC Ferry, and that the start of service had been moved up a month from the original schedule, with the East River, South Brooklyn, and Rockaway routes to begin on May 1, a month ahead of schedule. Under the new schedule, the South Brooklyn route began on June 1 and the Astoria route began on August 29, while the Lower East Side and Soundview routes were still to begin in 2018.

Operation

Opening and high ridership

The first two routes were opened on May 1, 2017. On its first day of service, NYC Ferry saw more than 6,400 riders; of these, 1,828 rode the Rockaway ferry while the rest rode the East River Ferry. In its first week, the ferry transported 49,000 riders, of which 38,000 used the East River Ferry while the remaining 11,000 used the Rockaway route. Although the service had a 95% on-time rate during the first week, NYC Ferry chartered a boat from NY Waterway due to delays on some routes. NYC Ferry also continued to temporarily use some of the older East River Ferry boats on that route. The ferry grew so popular that during the

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

weekend in May 2017, the routes saw 26,000 passengers over two days, including 9,600 riders on the East River Ferry during each day. Described by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as the service's "biggest test so far", the 2017 Memorial Day weekend saw reports of hour-long waits for overcrowded ferries. In June, NYC Ferry had to charter two 400-passenger charter boats for the East Ferry route to alleviate crowding on the routes serving Governors Island while packed boats skipped stops along these routes. By June 22, the ferry had carried 500,000 passengers, a milestone officials had not expected to be reached for several months. Due to unexpected demand, crowding became worse as the summer of 2017 progressed, with packed-to-capacity boats and long waits becoming more common. By July 2017, there were an estimated 83,500 riders on the South Brooklyn route in one month, exceeding the original ridership estimate by more than 30,000. The East River ferry saw about 7,200 riders per average weekday since being taken over by NYC Ferry, up from 3,257 average weekday riders in 2013. That month, three new boats being built were also revised to fit more passengers. A 500-passenger boat was also borrowed from SeaStreak for the Rockaway route. By July 26, 2017, NYC Ferry had carried 1 million riders. In August 2017, NYC Ferry filed plans to build four ferry docks: one in Soundview, one in Yorkville, one near Stuyvesant Cove, and one on the Lower East Side. It also sought to add two more piers to its home port at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The Soundview route was revised so that it would stop at East 34th Street instead of at East 62nd Street, which would no longer be built. That month, Brooklyn politicians called for docks to be built in

and

Canarsie Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Aven ...

, owing to the new system's popularity. The Astoria route was projected to carry 1,800 daily passengers upon opening, by which point the service had seen 1.4 million riders. Due to even more ridership demand, three extra ferries were ordered in September 2017, by which time over 2 million people had ridden the ferry. By November 2017, there had been a total of 2.5 million rides on NYC Ferry, compared to the 1.8 million that had been projected by this time, and two of the four routes had already surpassed ridership milestones that the city had not anticipated would be reached until 2019. At that point, the city had spent $16.5 million to subsidize the ferry. The ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' reported in November 2017 that five of the new ferryboats had already been taken out of service due to leaks. According to the ''Post'', the boats were taken out of service starting in October after Coast Guard inspectors observed severe corrosion on the hulls. Hornblower subsequently confirmed the report, saying that the cause of the corrosion was misaligned

keel cooler A keel cooler is a type of internal combustion engine cooling Internal combustion engine cooling uses either air or liquid to remove the waste heat from an internal combustion engine. For small or special purpose engines, cooling using air from th ...

s, and that three vessels had been removed from service in October for repair, followed by three more in November. Construction on the four remaining NYC Ferry docks in Manhattan and the Bronx started on February 28, 2018, in preparation for the start of Lower East Side and Soundview service that summer. In May 2018, the first anniversary of the ferry system's opening, de Blasio announced that NYC Ferry had received an extra $300 million to purchase extra boats, increase fleet capacity, and expand service. The number of new boats was not specified, but it was expected that there would be a mix of standard 150-passenger boats and large 350-passenger boats; as a stopgap, Hornblower would charter up to eight 500-passenger boats for temporary use on NYC Ferry. At this point, the city planned that the service would see 9 million riders per year, double the original annual estimate of 4.5 million riders. However, critics stated that the MTA's subway and bus systems carried a combined 7 million passengers per day, and that such a large subsidy for NYC Ferry was disproportionate to the number of people who rode the ferry. According to ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

,'' NYC Ferry was aiming to transport 24,500 daily riders by 2023, a figure smaller than the 2017 daily ridership of 14 local bus routes. NYC Ferry had averaged 10,000 daily riders in 2017, while the bus and subway system had respectively carried 2 million and 5 million daily riders on average. In August 2018, it was announced that service on NYC Ferry's Soundview and Lower East Side routes would begin that month. The route to Soundview opened on August 15, 2018, followed by the Lower East Side route on August 29. New York City Transit extended select Bx27 bus trips to Clason Point Park to serve the Soundview route in summer 2018.

Further expansion

2010s

Following the opening of the Lower East Side route in August 2018, de Blasio stated that he planned for the system to expand further. In January 2019, de Blasio announced further expansions to the NYC Ferry system to take place by 2021. There would be two new routes to Staten Island and Coney Island, as well as extensions of two additional routes. The Staten Island route would travel between Manhattan's West Side and the

St. George Terminal St. George Terminal is a ferry, railway, bus, and park and ride transit center in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City. It is located at the intersection of Richmond Terrace and Bay Street, near Staten Island Borough Ha ...

, and was originally slated to open in 2020, but was pushed back to 2021. The Coney Island route would travel between Pier 11 Wall Street and Coney Island, and would start operating in 2021. The Astoria route would make an extra stop at Brooklyn Navy Yard, while the Soundview route would be extended from Soundview east to

Throgs Neck Throggs Neck (also known as Throgs Neck) is a neighborhood and peninsula in the south-eastern portion of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by the East River and Long Island Sound to the south and east, Westchester Creek on ...

. The South Brooklyn route would terminate at Brooklyn Army Terminal, and the existing Bay Ridge ferry pier would be served by the Coney Island route. The Brooklyn Navy Yard stop opened on May 20, 2019. The same month, NYC Ferry launched a new weekend-only shuttle from Pier 11/Wall Street to Governors Island, replacing the East River and South Brooklyn service to the island. The service expansion required that the city increase its per-rider subsidy to $8. In March 2019, the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) found that NYC Ferry was one of the most subsidized forms of transport in New York City, despite having low ridership. The CBC found that the city paid $10.73 per person per ride, and once the Coney Island route started operating, the subsidy to NYC Ferry would rise to $25 per person per ride. The per-ride subsidy was so high because NYC Ferry had only 4.1 million passengers in 2018, less than the total subway patronage on an average weekday. Furthermore, NYC Ferry ridership tended to decline by two-thirds between August and January of each year. In January 2020, the NYCEDC announced three minor changes to the expansion plan. The St. George ferry's Staten Island terminal would be

Empire Outlets Empire Outlets New York City is a retail complex in the St. George, Staten Island, St. George neighborhood of Staten Island in New York City. Construction on Empire Outlets started in 2015, and the complex opened on May 15, 2019. Tentative plans ...

rather than St. George Terminal; the South Brooklyn route would be truncated to a new stop at

Industry City Industry City (also Bush Terminal) is a historic intermodal shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex on the Upper New York Bay waterfront in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The northern portion, commonly cal ...

; and the Coney Island ferry would go directly between Bay Ridge and Wall Street without a stop at the Brooklyn Army Terminal.

2020s

With the

COVID-19 pandemic in New York City The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City was confirmed on March 1, 2020, though later research showed that the novel coronavirus had been circulating in New York City since January, with cases of community transmission confirme ...

in March 2020, the regular Spring 2020 schedule was cancelled and remained on the Winter 2020 schedule with reduced service during mid-days and weekends. On May 15, 2020, it was announced that service was further reduced, all ferry service ending at 9 p.m., with the discontinuation of the Lower East Side route, the addition of the Stuyvesant Cove stop to the Soundview line, and the modification of the South Brooklyn route to run from Atlantic Avenue to Wall Street, Dumbo, and to its new last stop at Corlears Hook. This service change started on May 18, 2020. The ferry to Staten Island would not be implemented until 2021, along with the Coney Island and Throggs Neck expansions. On June 27, 2020, the summer schedule was implemented, increasing frequency of all routes in response to high summer ridership, except for the Governors Island route, which remained indefinitely suspended until July 18 when a new summer schedule was created. Shortly after, de Blasio budgeted $62 million for eight new vessels, despite citywide budget cuts caused by the pandemic. On August 22, 2020, the Astoria route was extended to 90th Street and the Rockaway route received a schedule modification. On November 2, 2020, the East River route was extended north to Hunters Point South, with the previous northern terminal, East 34th Street, becoming the second to last stop. Throughout 2021, numerous stops experienced periodic closures due to mechanical failures, according to

AM New York Metro ''AM New York Metro'' is a free daily newspaper that is published in New York City by Schneps Media. According to the company, the average Friday circulation in September 2013 was 335,900. When launched on October 10, 2003, ''AM New York'' was the ...

's analysis of announcements on NYC Ferry's Twitter account. In April 2021, the Dumbo ferry landing was closed for eight to ten weeks so it could be relocated to Fulton Ferry, and the South Williamsburg landing was closed for the same amount of time for expansion. The Greenpoint landing was temporarily closed in October 2020 because the pier had been sold, and it was closed again in May 2021 due to a mechanical issue; it did not reopen until November 2022. The St. George route began operating on August 23, 2021. Further expansion of the ferry network on Staten Island was not planned at that time; in places like the East Shore and South Shore of Staten Island, any new construction would potentially require building a dock of at least due to shallow waters there. Work on the Coney Island ferry pier had begun by October 2021. The Throggs Neck ferry stop opened on December 28, 2021, with the Soundview route being extended there. The implementation of the Coney Island ferry route was delayed and, in mid-2022, the EDC announced that the ferry route had been postponed indefinitely. One problem was that the sand in the Coney Island Creek shifted frequently, hampering efforts to construct a ferry pier there. Another issue was that the creek itself was heavily polluted, and a

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...

cleanup project was being planned for the creek. Independent news site ''Hell Gate'' subsequently reported that test boats had repeatedly run aground in Coney Island Creek and that sand had returned to the creek after it was partially dredged in 2021. Mayor

Eric Adams Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and retired police captain serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since January 1, 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York C ...

announced in July 2022 that NYC Ferry would introduce a $1.35 reduced-price ticket and a $27.50 ten-trip ticket while raising its base fare to $4. The new fare scale, to be implemented in September 2022, would increase revenue by an estimated $2 million per year. Also in July 2022, the Rockaway Rocket route started operating during summer weekends. That September, city officials announced that further NYC Ferry expansions would be postponed until the system's finances stabilized.

Routes

, there are six routes and one seasonal route that make up the NYC Ferry system. There was a phased introduction of these routes. Phase 1 covered the routes implemented in 2017 and provided new service to the Rockaways,

, Sunset Park,

Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 85 ...

, and Astoria in addition to areas already served by the East River Ferry. Phase 2 covered the routes implemented in 2018 and provided new service to Soundview, Yorkville,

Kips Bay Kips Bay, or Kip's Bay, is a neighborhood on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by East 34th Street to the north, the East River to the east, East 27th and/or 23rd Streets to the south, and Third Aven ...

, and the Lower East Side. In 2019, the summer weekend extension of the East River and South Brooklyn lines to Governors Island was eliminated due to complaints about the confusing routing patterns, and replaced by a new Governors Island shuttle route. The Governor's Island route is seasonal and only operates during summer weekends; it launched in 2019. A route to St. George, Staten Island, started operating in 2021, and a route to Coney Island, Brooklyn, is planned. There are two main Manhattan terminals at

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

and East 34th Street. The Lower East Side route was discontinued in 2020. These routes have been discontinued. In addition to ferry service, NYC Ferry also operates 3 shuttle buses to connect passengers with ferry landings. A fourth shuttle, the West Midtown shuttle, will begin operating from the 39th Street pier in 2021.

Astoria Ferry

Astoria ferries run in both directions with year-round service running every 25 minutes during rush hours, every 50 minutes during weekday middays and evenings, and every 1 hour and 40 minutes during weekends. The route began stopping at the Brooklyn Navy Yard/Pier 72 in May 2019, and was extended to end at East 90th St on August 22, 2020.

East River Ferry

East River ferries operate in both directions with year-round service, running every 20 minutes during rush hours, every 40 minutes during middays and evenings, and every 1 hour on weekends.

Rockaway Ferry

The Rockaway Ferry route runs in both directions with year-round service. Service operates every 60 minutes during weekdays and every 1 hour and 30 minutes during weekends. In May 2018, a special Rockaway Express service was implemented, running express between Pier 11/Wall Street and Rockaway while skipping Sunset Park. This service did not return for the summer 2019 season. In July 2022, the Rockaway Rocket express service was reintroduced during summer weekends and holidays. The Rockaway Rocket is a premium-fare service costing $8 per ticket; a seat is reserved for every ticket holder. During mornings, the Rockaway Rocket runs directly from Pier 11 to Rockaway; during afternoons and evenings, the Rockaway Rocket runs from Rockaway to Pier 11.

South Brooklyn Ferry

South Brooklyn ferries run in both directions with year-round service running every 30 minutes during rush hours, every 60 minutes middays and evenings, and every 1 hour and 30 minutes on weekends. On May 19, 2020, this route was modified to replace the Lower East Side route when it was discontinued. The route north of Atlantic Av was changed, where it now serves Wall St/Pier 11 before DUMBO, and was extended to now end at Corlears Hook. In 2021, service to DUMBO, Sunset Park, and Bay Ridge will be discontinued, though Bay Ridge will be served by a new Coney Island route. However, according to the new 2021 system map published by NYC Ferry, it shows that only the Bay Ridge stop will be removed from this line, and it remains unclear if service to DUMBO and Sunset Park, as well as the addition of the

stop, will still occur.

Soundview Ferry

Soundview ferries run in both directions. Service on this route runs every 30–35 minutes during rush hours, every 60 minutes during middays and evenings, and every hour and 40 minutes on weekends. On May 19, 2020, Stuyvesant Cove (originally a part of the Lower East Side Line) was added between Wall Street and 34th Street to replace LES service at this stop. On December 28, 2021 the route was extended from Soundview to

Governors Island Ferry

A shuttle from Pier 11/Wall Street to Governors Island runs every 30 minutes on summer weekends only.

St. George Ferry

This route is the first NYC Ferry route to not stop at Wall St/Pier 11.

Coney Island Ferry

Service on this route was scheduled to begin in 2021. The construction and placement on the dock has been met with opposition due the environmental impact.

Discontinued routes

Lower East Side Ferry

The Lower East Side route originally ran in both directions, with service on this route running every 25 minutes during rush hours, every 60 minutes during middays and evenings, and every hour and 30 minutes during off-peak hours. This route was permanently discontinued on May 18, 2020, due to low ridership, and was replaced by the Astoria, Soundview, and South Brooklyn lines.

Fares and amenities

The fare for a single, one-way trip is $4.00, originally $2.75, the same as on other modes of transportation in New York City such as the subway. Bicyclists must pay an additional $1 to board their bikes on ferries. Riders can transfer to other ferry routes within the system for free for ninety minutes after the passenger boards the first ferry. though this excludes the fare-free Staten Island Ferry, since it will not be integrated into NYC Ferry. In addition, the NYC Ferry system does not provide free transfer to the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...

's greater mass transit system, nor does it accept MetroCards nor

OMNY OMNY ( , short for One Metro New York) is a contactless fare payment system, currently being implemented for use on public transit in the New York metropolitan area. When OMNY is completely rolled out, it will replace the MetroCard on the New ...

. Ferry tickets can be purchased online, through NYC Ferry's mobile app, or physically at a ticket booth or ticket machine. A 30-day pass costs $121, while a 30-day pass for cyclists costs $141. Starting September 12, 2022, the fare for a one-way trip will increase to $4. The one-way fare for disabled passengers, low-income residents, and passengers over age 65 will be reduced to $1.35. In addition, NYC Ferry will introduce a 10-trip ticket costing $27.50; this would effectively keep the price of a ferry fare at $2.75 for regular commuters. The $1 cyclist surcharge will be eliminated. The boats can carry 150 people each, including wheelchairs, strollers, and bikes. As a further incentive, the boats have snacks and drink options, including coffee and wine, that are available to riders. There are also battery-charging stations on board the boats.

Stops

The service will ultimately have 21 landings, of which ten brand-new, five upgraded, and six pre-existing landings with no upgrades with the addition of NYC Ferry routes. The existing East River Ferry landings at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 1; Schaefer Landing, North

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

, Greenpoint, and

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

remained unchanged. Upgrades were made to the landings at Wall Street, East 34th Street, East 92nd Street, the

, and Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 6. The remaining landings were built as part of the project. A stop on Governor's Island was implemented along one of the routes to South Brooklyn. At the present time, the Governor's Island Ferry, the only public access to the island, runs seasonally between May and September, but ferry service year-round has been proposed. It was decided to build the Rockaway dock at Beach 108th Street, but a proposed second dock could not be built further east than Beach 84th Street due to height restrictions caused by the Rockaway Line subway bridge. Construction on the first dock, the Rockaway landing, began in January 2017. The upgraded landings, which increase capacity and passenger flow, are located on

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s that connect to land via the use of either one or two articulated ramps. The landings conform to the

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...

and contain enclosed waiting rooms with ticket booths and information boards. Mono-pile mooring facilities are installed on the side of the landings to ensure that the ferries dock safely, but some landings also include extra bulkheads or

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

Ferry fleet

In July 2016, Metal Shark Boats and Horizon Shipbuilding were jointly awarded construction contracts for the service's new-build ferries. The vessels, which were designed by

Incat Crowther Incat Crowther is an Australian Company, headquartered in Belrose, a suburb of Sydney specializing in Marine engineering design. Incat Crowther has offices in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States and Romsey, UK. The company has a diverse product ...

, are about long, with a beam, and have a passenger capacity of 149. They are powered by Baudouin diesel engines, with a service speed of . By September, nineteen ferries were being built for Phase 1 of service. In January 2017, five more ferries were ordered from Horizon Shipbuilding, for a total of 24 vessels. The first new-build vessel for NYC Ferry was launched by Horizon Shipbuilding on February 13, 2017. These boats arrived in New York City on April 17 and were named at a ceremony at

Brooklyn Bridge Park Brooklyn Bridge Park is an park on the Brooklyn side of the East River in New York City. Designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park is located on a plot of land from Atlantic Avenue in the south, und ...

. The boats use the same types of loading equipment on the

port and starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

Sides and bow as do boats that already operated in the

New York Harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...

. There are two types of boats: an open-water "Rockaway vessel" type for the Rockaway route, and another "River vessel" type for the rest of the system. Both designs have a common length and beam, but the Rockaway service vessels have a slightly deeper

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

and higher

freeboard In sailing and boating, a vessel's freeboard is the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship. In commercial vessels, the latter criterion measured relativ ...

, as well as added fuel capacity and larger engines giving a slightly higher service speed. All of the vessels are powered by engines that pass

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

Tier 3 vehicle emission and fuel standards guidelines. Ferry horns' volumes were Lowered in June 2017 after complaints by residents living near ferry stops. The Brooklyn Army Terminal and Brooklyn Navy Yard were considered for the location of the vessel maintenance facility. The Navy Yard option, which the city preferred because of its proximity to the "core operating area" of the routes and would allow an extra station to be added there in the future, was eventually selected. Renovation of the site was required to remove an existing pier and replace it with a new structure capable of docking up to 25 boats. This new facility is responsible for performing regular cleaning and maintenance on the vessels. The construction work began in spring 2017 with completion in March 2019. Originally three of the twenty 149-passenger vessels were to be reconfigured into 250-passenger boats. The plan was scrapped as the city will be ordering additional 250 or 350 passenger vessels. In September 2017, the NYCEDC ordered three new 350-passenger boats for NYC Ferry service to supplement the 20 original boats. Metal Shark will build the new boats for $7 million to $7.5 million each. Three more large boats were ordered in November 2017. Additional large boats (250-350 passenger) are expected to be ordered within 2019–2020. As part of the contract between the city and Hornblower, both parties have options for the city to buy the boats in the future. The first of the new 350-passenger boats was delivered in July 2018. By early 2020, a total of 31 vessels were in active service. In April, the first two vessels powered by engines meeting EPA Tier 4 emissions standards were delivered, with five additional ferries under construction and scheduled to enter service by the end of the year. By this time, the construction program had expanded beyond Metal Shark to include other shipbuilders in both Louisiana and Florida. Before being allowed to pilot a NYC Ferry vessel, prospective captains are tested using a ferry simulation at the

State University of New York Maritime College State University of New York Maritime College (SUNY Maritime College) is a public maritime college in the Bronx, New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Founded in 1874, the SUNY Maritime College was the fir ...

. , there were plans to hire up to 50 captains by 2018. In July 2017, Hornblower started looking to hire 80 deckhands to dock boats.

Active roster

The following vessels are owned and operated by Hornblower for NYC Ferry operation, and do not include vessels leased from other companies.

Schedules and shuttle buses

NYC Ferry operates from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. during all seven days of the week. During peak hours, ferries operate or are proposed to operate at 20-minute

headway Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise defi ...

s to Astoria and the Lower East Side; 30-minute headways to Bay Ridge and Soundview; and 30-60 minute headways to the Rockaways (see for more details). NYC Ferry operates three

shuttle bus A shuttle bus is a bus that travels a shorter route in comparison to most bus routes. Typically, shuttle buses travel in both directions between two points. Shuttle buses are designed to transport large groups of people who are all travellin ...

routes. One was taken over preexisting NY Waterway service to the East 34th Street landing. The others are brand-new services to the Rockaway landing, which is at Beach 108th Street. One route goes west to

Jacob Riis Park Jacob Riis Park, also called Jacob A. Riis Park and Riis Park, is a seaside park on the southwestern portion of the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It lies at the foot of the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Brid ...

, while a second was originally planned for operation between the ferry landing and Beach 67th Street, but was ultimately extended eastward. The Environmental Impact Statement provided for an extension of the Beach 67th Street bus to Beach 31st Street via

Rockaway Beach Boulevard Rockaway Beach Boulevard, opened in 1886, was the first major east-west thoroughfare on the Rockaway Peninsula in the Borough of Queens in New York City. Much of its route parallels the Rockaway Freeway and the IND Rockaway Line above the Freeway ...

and

, but de Blasio's office said that extending the bus further would cause a bus fleet shortage, resulting in passengers missing their boats. In May 2019, as part of a three-month pilot program, a nonstop shuttle bus route was created between the Rockaway landing and

Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue station The Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue station (announced as Far Rockaway station) is the eastern terminal station of the New York City Subway's IND Rockaway Line. Originally a Long Island Rail Road station, it is currently the easternmost station in ...

Critical reception

Praise

There has been both praise and criticism for the ferry service. The editorial board in the local newspaper ''

AM New York ''AM New York Metro'' is a free newspaper, free daily newspaper that is published in New York City by Schneps Media. According to the company, the average Friday circulation in September 2013 was 335,900. When launched on October 10, 2003, ''AM New ...

'' praised the NYC Ferry system's affordability and stated that if done correctly, the ferry "could be far more enjoyable than a subway ride". It urged city officials to consider what routes to prioritize for Phase 1 service in 2017. Politicians such as City Councilman

Vincent Gentile Vincent Joseph "Vinnie" Gentile (born January 3, 1959) is an American politician who served in the New York City Council from the 43rd district from 2003 to 2017. He is a Democrat. The district includes Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, and ...

and State Senator

Marty Golden Martin J. Golden (born September 22, 1950) is an American politician from Brooklyn, New York, one of the five boroughs of New York City. A Republican, Golden represented the 43rd district in the New York City Council from 1998 to 2002 and repr ...

also lauded the fact that the ferry would bring service to places, such as southwest Brooklyn, that are underserved by transportation. In July 2017, after the ferry had opened, a commentator for the news website ''

CityLab ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' called the NYC Ferry system's "customer-oriented amenities" a "key to transit’s future." The writer noted that some of the high-quality amenities included snacks and drinks, an advanced ticketing system, connections to shuttle buses at certain terminals, and ferry workers who provided customer service—in contrast to the

, which she said "blames riders for its staggering decline in reliability" over the previous year. A reporter for

Curbed NY ''Curbed'' is an American real estate and urban design website founded as a blog by Lockhart Steele in 2006. The full website, founded in 2010, featured sub-pages dedicated to specific real estate markets and metropolitan areas across the Unit ...

wrote in September 2017 that the East River route was "worth the $2.75 fare, especially if you’re a person who loves architecture", owing to its waterfront views of landmarks along the river.

Criticism

The ferry system has been criticized for mainly benefiting the well-off and for serving gentrifying waterfront areas such as Williamsburg. Most of the ferry stops were placed in areas where the annual income is higher than the city average. Additional criticism arose from the fact that the ferry system was not definitively planned to serve Staten Island. One writer for the ''

Staten Island Advance The ''Staten Island Advance'' is a daily newspaper published in the borough of Staten Island in New York City. The only daily newspaper published in the borough, and the only major daily paper focused on a borough, it covers news of local and ...

'' noted that the only proposed NYC Ferry route to Staten Island, the Stapleton route, was not only unfunded but also redundant to the existing

Staten Island Ferry The Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry route operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. The ferry's single route runs through New York Harbor between the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island, with ferry ...

. After NYCEDC president James Patchett touted the ferry as a substitute to the subway system, Henry Grabar of ''Slate'' Moneybox noted that Patchett's supposition was "ludicrous" since each ferry fits fewer people than a single subway car. According to Grabar, the first half-dozen ferries in service on opening day did not even carry the same number of people in a single subway train. He said that the ferry system was not a way to improve transit access to people in transit-deserts, but as a way to spur economic development along the waterfront. Grabar wrote that subways had been the reason for early ferries' demise in the first place, and that the ferry was not an effective remedy for subway congestion. However, Grabar also stated that "the commute will be a real delight" for the few who found the ferry convenient enough. Benjamin Kabak, a transit blogger, wrote that "the reach of the ferries is particularly narrow", out of walking distance for 94% of city residents. He also noted that the total ridership for NYC Ferry in 2017 was less than the New York City Subway's total daily ridership, and that more than three times as many people rode

Citi Bike Citi Bike is a privately owned public bicycle sharing system serving the New York City boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, as well as Jersey City, New Jersey, and Hoboken, New Jersey. Named after lead sponsor Citigroup, it w ...

, the city's bike-share system, than took the ferry in 2017. Kabak stated that the ferry system was only a small part of the city's transit future, and that the city could easily build a light rail line with the subsidies that it was paying to fund NYC Ferry. The ''New York Post'' editorial board wrote in June 2020, "Mayor Bill de Blasio’s favorite white elephant had turned into a real drag on the city" even before the COVID-19 pandemic, with the NYCEDC recording its first negative profits in 2019. Tom Fox, the president of

New York Water Taxi New York Water Taxi (NYWT) is a water taxi service based in New York City. It offers sightseeing, charter and commuter services mainly to points along the East River and Hudson River. It is one of several private operators of ferries, sightseei ...

from 2001 to 2011, wrote in 2016 that the plan was marred with "an unrealistic time frame, the wrong lead agency, the selection of an inexperienced operator with no ferries, and poor planning". Fox cited the selection of Hornblower Cruises, a California-based cruise operator, despite a bid from three large ferry operators in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

; the decision to build new boats for the system, instead of buying existing boats from other companies; and the fact that the new boats could accommodate fewer people than the overcrowded existing East River ferries. He noted that the city bought French motorboat engines that had never been used on passenger boats in the United States; and that since all American shipyards with expertise were not able to take new orders until 2018, the city decided to use a builder with less experience. Additionally, a reporter for

DNAinfo.com ''DNAinfo'' was an online newspaper that focused on neighborhood news in New York City and Chicago. It was closed down by CEO and owner Joe Ricketts in November 2017 after writers in its New York branch voted to unionize, a move to which Ricketts ...

wrote that Hornblower Cruises had a history of poor relations with its workers' unions. Another writer for that website stated that Hornblower had hired ticket sellers who harangued passersby in order to sell tickets for separate ferries in Lower Manhattan. The aggressive ticket-selling practice was stopped following the latter story.

Rider reception

According to an August 2017 customer satisfaction survey from the NYCEDC, passengers had a mostly positive view of the NYC Ferry system, with 93% of riders giving positive ratings. Almost 70% of the 1,300 riders surveyed gave the ferry the highest possible rating. In May 2018, ''The Village Voice'' conducted an informal demographic survey of NYC Ferry riders, since the NYCEDC had not officially released the rider-demographic data. The ''Voice'' found that most of the 60 riders it encountered were using the ferry simply because it was less crowded and more comfortable compared to the subway. Additionally, many of the surveyed riders worked in higher-income jobs.

Other ferries

Several ferries in the New York City area were affected when plans for NYC Ferry were made public.

would give over its East River route to NYC Ferry.

remained separate, but was to eliminate 200 jobs; it had stated that if it did not win the contract with the city to operate NYC Ferry, then it would shut down. Since the company did not win the NYC Ferry contract, it had been expected to shut down in October 2016, but continued operations through the end of the year before being purchased by

Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises is a boat-based sightseeing and entertainment company in Manhattan, New York. Its principal business is operating guided tours of New York City from its base at Pier 83 in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. History Ci ...

in January 2017. The city-owned Staten Island Ferry remains a separate entity. In addition, the ferry service would add 155 jobs to the

area. Due to the lack of concrete plans for any NYC Ferry routes to Staten Island, there have been tentative agreements with other ferry services to provide fast-ferry service between Staten Island and Manhattan, supplementing the city-owned route there. In April 2017, Staten Island Borough President

James Oddo James Steven Oddo (born January 12, 1966) is an American attorney and politician who served as the Borough President of Staten Island from 2014 to 2021. Oddo had previously served as a member of the New York City Council, representing the 50th d ...

negotiated with NY Waterway to provide service between

and

West Midtown Ferry Terminal The West Midtown Ferry Terminal is a passenger bus and ferry terminal serving ferries along the Hudson River in New York City and northeastern New Jersey. It is located at Piers 78 and 79 in Hudson River Park adjacent to the West Side Highway at W ...

. In September of the same year, private developers on the South Shore of Staten Island also negotiated with SeaStreak to run a separate fast ferry route from the South Shore to Lower Manhattan.

References

External links

* * * {{Transportation in New York City, state=collapsed 2017 establishments in New York City Ferries of New York City Ferry companies of New York City Water taxis