This is nuts. LendLease, the new owner of the India Street pier, likely won’t be able make the Greenpoint ferry stop operational for a full year.
And this tidbit is just too rich – “A shuttle bus was offered from India Street to Hunters Point South, however citing low ridership, NYC Ferry discontinued it on June 9th.”
So the East River ferry’s only service to Brooklyn is at North 6th Street. This is working out great.
From the newly-minted local news site The City – how the City (of New York) got to the point of owning a fleet of ferry boats for its new public-private partnership with Hornblower. From what the article describes, the city’s Economic Development Corporation passed over local operators with local experience and their own fleet of boats in favor of an out-of-town outfit that was able to offload the purchase of new boats to the city (not even EDC). It sure sounds like the locals got screwed in the bidding process, too.
Expand CitiBike to Greenpoint & LIC, and expand/subsidize ferry service – all good moves that hopefully will someday be a regular part of our transit system.
The City has decided that the East River Ferry pilot program, started in June of 2011, has been such a success that they are going to make it permanent. To that end, they are issuing an RFP to find a a permanent operator – it is a competitive process, but they’d be hard-pressed to find a better operator than the one that they have now.
Meeting the requirements of the RFP could be a challenge, though:
Respondents to the RFP will be evaluated on the extent to which they can improve the existing service while significantly reducing or eliminating the need for public operating assistance. In addition, respondents have the opportunity to propose expansion of service, such as increased operating hours and new landing locations. [emphasis added]
Expanding service would be wonderful (personally, a ferry stop at Houston Street would be grand). But reducing public subsidies (currently about $3 million per year) would require a massive expansion in ridership (it is already exceeding all expectations), something that probably only happens when riders can make a free transfer to public transportation. More likely, reducing subsidies means raising fares (probably by at least a dollar a ride).
The L train is still out, but getting to Manhattan from North Brooklyn should be a little bit easier tomorrow. The M and the J trains are both going over the Williamsburg Bridge. The J will only go as far as Essex Street, but the M will have its full route through midtown reinstated. The 7 train is also running to Manhattan, though you’ll have to a bus to L.I.C. to pick it up – the G train remains suspended (the only line completely out of commission now). The full rundown of service changes is posted at the MTA website.
If you need to get downtown, the East River Ferry is probably your best bet, what the the shortened J and no L service to Manhattan. With the exception of Greenpoint’s India Street landing, the ferry was running regular service as of today (Sunday), and they expect to have India Street open Monday morning. Expect long lines at the ferry, but if it is like last week, everyone will get on.
Even at the start of the 5 p.m. rush hour, the commuters getting off and on [at India Street] could be counted on one hand. Though the numbers are more robust during the morning rush hours — on Monday, 14 people caught the 8:39 ferry to Pier 11 near Wall Street and 21 caught the 8:40 to East 34th Street — they still raise questions about the popularity and profitability of the service as a whole. The ferries can hold 149 passengers.
Anecdotally (which is the best this article can muster too), the number of people getting on the ferry at North 6th Street every morning (going in either direction) is certainly much higher, and the number of passengers at the end of the day at Wall Street is as well. Most boats that I ride are comfortably crowded – not packed, and not at capacity, but they sure don’t feel like ghost ships.
It is not news that the ferry requires subsidies to survive, and that the ferry “functions especially well for residents of Brooklyn and Queens who [like me] live a short walk from the ferry and have jobs or attend schools near the ferry’s two stops in Manhattan” and don’t have to pay two fares.
It is also not news that the ferry is a very nice way to commute (and, if you can afford it, well worth the extra $1.75 each way to avoid the subway at rush hour).
This evening, there is a cocktail boat cruise on the East River Ferry to benefit the Northside Town Hall and a local bar and restaurant owners’ group. Tickets are $125 for three hour cruise (nothing ominous about that!) featuring food and booze from local establishments*, all for a good cause. Details on the event can be found here (and I hear that discount tickets may be available).
*Hotel Delmano, The Richardson, The Drink, Manhattan Inn, The Shanty, Nitehawk, Cubana Social, The Counting Room, Bellwether, Maison Premiere, Dram, Nita Nita, Dressler, Diner, Cafe Collete, El Almacen, Urban Rustic, Hotel Delmano, D.O.C. Wine Bar, The Drink, Bakeri, Cafe Mogador, Teddy’s Bar and Grill, Nitehawk, Mast Brothers, Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn Winery & Brooklyn Roasting Co.
The East River Ferry wants to accept Metrocards. Other non-MTA services already accept Metrocards, so the idea is not that far fetched. But the real innovation would be for the ferry to accept Metrocard transfers – i.e., eliminating the two-fare structure that most commuters using the ferry face (by the way, it’s nice to see Second Avenue Sagas having a change of heart about the ferry). As it stands now, if you want to go from the ferry to an MTA bus or subway, a one-way trip will cost you as much as $6.50. Institute free Metrocard transfers, and the price drops to $4 (the cost of the ferry ride).
Metro Focus interviews the CEO of the East River Ferry:
Ridership last week saw 1,500 riders per day. You use the word drop only in comparison to a robust level of ridership over the summer. It’s interesting how people choose to characterize the numbers. We are very impressed with how commuter ridership has grown through the winter.
Ridership is certainly down from the summer (duh), but it would be interesting to know how it compares with projections before the winter. Anecdotally, there are a lot more people riding the East River Ferry in the winter than ever rode the Water Taxi (which had fewer stops and much more limited schedule). But the East River Ferry is also caught in a bit of a catch-22 – they have reduced the number of boats in the winter months, so service is only hourly during the day, and half-hourly during parts of the morning and evening rush. That makes it much harder to just “jump on the ferry” to get somewhere.
As to the perks on the horizon – beer. You heard it here first:
