The East River Ferry giveth, and the East River Ferry (maybe) taketh away.

NY Waterway has released an app that lets you but tickets on the iPhone/iPad (no word on apps for Android or other mobile devices). The app free, though obviously the tickets aren’t. In addition to buying tickets and checking schedules, the app will let you uptown commuters check the whereabouts of the next shuttle bus too. All very nice stuff.

On the flip side, starting on Monday the ferry might be adding a $2 surcharge for passengers who buy tickets on the boat. Tickets bought through the ticket kiosks will still be $4 (or $140 for a monthly pass). But, if you are like me and are running late for the boat with no ticket in hand, you might get hit with a surcharge (luckily, there’s an app for that!).

This, at least, is what the attendants on the boat were telling customers. However, Metro is reporting that the surcharge is not happening, and the PR rep for the East River Ferry told Metro that “there are no changes to the fare structure at this time”.

UPDATE: Via Twitter, East River Ferry confirms that there is no surcharge. And, via comments, Withers confirms the existence (and greatness) of an Android app too. Last, I tried out the ticket purchase on the iPhone tonight, and it too is great.