New NYC Ferry landing
hailed as ’game-changer’
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
In one of his fi nal acts as
New York City mayor, Democrat
Bill de Blasio championed
the Bronx’s new ferry landing
— a newly installed dock located
in Throggs Neck at Ferry
Point Park which will add one
stop to the Soundview ferry
route — for Bronxites looking
for alternative ways to commute
to Manhattan.
“The Throggs Neck ferry
landing is a game changer for
Bronx commuters,” said de
Blasio, whose two-term run as
mayor concluded at midnight
on Friday, Dec. 31. “This landing
will provide affordable, accessible,
and time saving transport,
expanding transit options
for all New Yorkers, further
connecting the fi ve boroughs
and building a recovery for all
of us.”
The new dock, christened at
a Dec. 28 press conference, will
become the new terminal stop
and include pickup points at
the aforementioned Soundview
station, East 90th Street, 34th
Street and Stuyvesant Cove
before the fi nal stop in Lower
Manhattan at Pier 11 near Wall
Street.
On the extended Soundview
route, ferries will continue to
run every 40 minutes during
peak times, and every 60 minutes
during off-peak weekday
times. According to city offi -
cials, Throggs Neck residents
can expect to reach East 90th
Street in 25 minutes, with the
duration to the fi nal stop at Wall
Street/Pier 11 in 60 minutes.
City offi cials estimates the
“one-seat” commute should
take about an hour, end-to-end.
Traveling from Throggs
Neck to Wall Street by bus and/
or train is a longer commute at
an estimated hour-and-a-half
and costs the same as the ferry’s
fare of $2.75.
“Ferry service in Throggs
Neck will provide commuters
and visitors alike, an effi cient
and fun way to get from point A
to point B and also explore the
Bronx,” said former Bronx Borough
President Ruben Diaz Jr.
The extension of the Soundview
route is part of the NYC
Ferry expansion plan that was
announced August 2021. De
Blaiso was unable to complete
the expansion plan — which includes
an added St. George route
that connects Staten Island to
Manhattan’s West Side and also
brings service to Coney Island,
as well as year-round service to
Governor’s Island — but that is
expected to happen sometime in
2022.
BRONX TIMES R 8 EPORTER, JAN. 7-13, 2022 BTR
NYC Ferries costs more
than $10 to subsidize the service
— a steeper price than operating
subways and buses which
are subsidized by about $1.
State Assemblyman Michael
Benedetto praised the upgrades
to the park’s parking lot, which
he referred to as an unserviceable,
“third-rate” community
parking lot prior to the upgrades.
“It’s important that we keep
our city as liveable as possible
and it’s a city that for too long
people have been plagued with
traffi c jams or subways that
are overcrowded or stuck with
delays,” said Benedetto. “So it’s
really important that we have
alternative methods for people
who live in this area ... to get
to downtown Manhattan by
shorter and less crowded alternative
means.”
The new Bronx landing is
situated within Ferry Point
Park, which will also feature
the aforementeioned upgraded
parking lot that is available to
both ferry riders and park users.
A small electric transit vehicle
will be available, with
preference to seniors and people
with disabilities, to shuttle riders
from the parking lot to the
ferry landing, city offi cials say.
Offi cials, such as new Bronx
Borough President Vanessa
Gibson hope that the ferry line
expansion can alleviate the
prevalence of transit deserts in
the northernmost borough.
“This ferry line expansion
is also another step forward toward
decreasing transit deserts
in our city and achieving
greater transportation equity
in our borough for residents
that need it the most,” Gibson
said.
Newly minted City Councilwoman
Marjorie Velázquez
touted accessibility benefi ts for
commuting Bronxites at the
dock’s grand opening last week.
“The residents of the Eastern
Bronx have suffered for
years due to a lack of transportation
access, and today
the City fi nally delivers on its
promise to increase ferry service
within our community,”
said Velázquez.
Ridership on the ferry
tends to favor New York’s
white and wealthy. In 2019,
data from the city’s Economic
Development Corporation,
a nonprofi t group that runs
the ferry service, reported
that 64% of ferry riders were
white with a median income
of $75,000-$100,000.
The new dock extends the NYC Ferry
Soundview route, which stops
on the Manhattan’s Upper East
Side, Midtown and the Financial
District
(inset) Ferry Point Park offers
views of Manhattan. Photos Andrew
Dapolite
Mayor Bill de Blasio opens a new landing for the NYC Ferry in Throggs
Neck’s Ferry Point Park on Dec. 28, 2021.