FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
With city eyeing potential new ferry routes, one
lawmaker pushes for a line in northeast Queens
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
ADomenech@qns.com
Councilman Paul Vallone is pushing
for ferry service to reach the northeastern
region of Queens as the New York City
Economic Development Corporation
(NYCEDC) launches a new ferry feasibility
study.
“While the city has announced and
moved forward with expansions of existing
ferry service, transportation deserts
like northeast Queens continue to be
overlooked,” said Vallone.
Th is is not the fi st time Vallone has
tried to lengthen ferry service to the area.
In 2014, the councilman, along with
then-Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-
Copeland and Councilman Peter Koo,
wrote a letter requesting that the director
of ferry services conduct a pilot program
that would test out the long-term viability
of ferry service from Manhattan to Citi
Field in Flushing and to Fort Totten in
Bayside.
Th e letter cited economic viability,
lack of transportation alternatives to the
northeast of Queens and local demand
and reasons behind the request. Vallone
has advocated for a Willets Point ferry
stop.
“A bus and two-train commute every
weekday into the city is becoming more
and more unbearable,” said College Point
resident Nancy Coppola Anchor, who
spends at least three hours commuting
each day during the work week. “A ferry
would be an ideal solution.”
Currently, the New York City Ferry
has six routes – Rockaway, East River,
Astoria, South Brooklyn, Soundview and
the Lower East Side – and has served
nearly 6.5 million riders since launching
in May 2017. Th e NYC Ferry serves
approximately 18,000 riders on an average
every week day and approximately
28,000 on Saturdays and Sundays.
“We’re slashing commuting times, connecting
residents to major job centers,
and reuniting New Yorkers with their
waterfront and helping them discover
other neighborhoods,” said NYCEDC
President and CEO James Patchett. “We
look forward to exploring ways to bring
ferry service to more communities.”
On the NYCEDC’s website, it states
that the agency is taking steps to meet
with city offi cials and community board
representatives of communities along the
city’s waterfront in order to learn about
potential sites to include in the study.
Visitors of the website can suggests by
fi lling out a short form. Responses will be
accepted until Oct. 15.
Th e website also states that the study
will take factors such as existing access
to transit, population density and water
depths into consideration before making
a decision as to where to place more ferry
stops. Th e criteria needed in 2018 to open
a new ferry landing or line will be virtually
identical to the last ferry feasibility
study conducted in 2013.
But ferry service is a double-edged
sword, according to one resident.
“Parking is already horrible,” said
College Point resident Lauren Anchor,
who is concerned about infl ux of parked
cars as residents from the surrounding
neighborhoods leave their vehicles to take
the ferry. “I would love to get to the city
faster but not with the risk of more parking
problems.”
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