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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, APR. 8-14, 2022 BXR
Passengers walk to the landing in Soundview as the ferry approaches. Photos Aliya Schneider
Should the Bronx get another ferry stop?
City Islanders think so, but EDC has no plans
BY ALIYA SCHNEIDER
Now that the Soundview ferry
route reaches up to Throggs
Neck, nearly 1,000 City Island
residents say they want water
transit too.
The NYC Ferry, which is
highly subsidized by the city and
costs $2.75 to ride, travels along
the east side of Manhattan from
Wall Street to Soundview, and
since December, Throggs Neck’s
Ferry Point Park in the Bronx.
An online petition started by
civic group City Island Rising
has garnered more than 700 signatures,
and the group’s president
John Doyle said he has 251
more signatures on a physical
version, as of Wednesday.
The petition speaks to the limited
transportation options to the
east Bronx tourism hub, making
it hard for New Yorkers to get to
and from the island, which can be
accessed by drivers on one road,
with only one bus. The request
was featured on the blog for the
New York non-profit Waterfront
Alliance, which points to a potential
funding source through the
federal infrastructure bill, such
as $150 million dedicated to the
federal Department of Transportation
Urbanized Area Passenger
Ferry Program.
But the entity that oversees
the ferry, the New York City Economic
Development Corporation
(EDC) does not have “any active
plans” to expand the ferry route,
according to a spokesperson.
“We are focused on stabilizing
the system that we have and seeing
how riders adapt to the new
landings and changing ridership
patterns since Covid, and on ensuring
that the system is delivering
the best possible service to
New Yorkers,” the spokesperson
said in a statement to the Bronx
Times.
City Councilmember Marjorie
Velázquez, a Throggs Neck
Democrat whose district includes
City Island, said the idea of bringing
a ferry stop to the northeast
island has to be discussed further.
“Right now we’re exploring
what that would look like, but
certainly, is it feasible is the first
question, and the second question,
are all City Islanders in favor
of it?” she said in an interview
with the Bronx Times.
The petitioners argue that a
ferry landing could strengthen
the local economy while decreasing
vehicular traffic on the island.
But Velázquez pointed to
traffic implications as a potential
cause for concern, with people
driving to the island to specifically
use the ferry.
The councilmember, who is
part of the council’s progressive
caucus, said the conversation has
to include voices in surrounding
neighborhoods, and if it’s worth
exploring other areas for a new
landing, like Orchard Beach.
“We want assets like this to
benefit us all,” she said.
State Assemblymember Michael
Benedetto, a Democrat
whose district spans the east
Bronx water, told the Bronx
Times he is in favor of another
Bronx ferry stop, whether it’s at
City Island, Co-op City — where
constituents have also come to
him about getting a landing —
or Orchard Beach.
While he suspects it will take
a couple of years to convince
the city to add another stop,
he hopes the administration
“will see the intelligence of that
move.”
Jonathan Soto, a Progressive
challenging Benedetto in
the June Democratic primary,
has been critical of Ferry Point
Park and how difficult the ferry
Weekend passengers on the top level of the NYC Ferry.
landing is to get to for many.
In an interview with the
Bronx Times, he said there
should be a horseshoe-shaped
ferry route that connects the
west and east Bronx, stopping at
Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Soundview,
Throggs Neck, City Island
and Orchard Beach.
He isn’t the only one with
dreams of larger waterside expansions,
as the City Island Rising
petition also shares hopes of
the ferry system reaching into
Westchester in the future.
But the landings can’t just be
dropped into the water.
Soto said ferry developments
need more oversight, from making
the boats more efficient with
less carbon emissions to community
based approaches that
utilize, for example, local businesses
for concession stands or
participatory budgeting.
The ferry system tends to
draw wealthy and white riders,
according to EDC survey data.
“It can’t be a Trojan horse
for gentrification, that’s my concern,”
Soto said.
Attempts to interview councilmember
Amanda Farías
were unsuccessful. Farías, a
Soundview Progressive, chairs
the City Council Economic Development
Committee, which
provides oversight to EDC.