DeB’S FERRY TALE
Insists boats are safe despite rust, leaks and two smashes
What the hull? Mayor de Blasio said on Thursday that he saw no serious safety issues with his foundering NYC Ferry fleet, claiming two groundings in little more than a month weren’t a sign of danger to passengers.
He blamed “human error” for both fateful trips — including one that stranded 23 passengers on a sandbar off the Rockaways for nearly six hours amid bone-chilling cold Wednesday night — and insisted the “mistakes” shouldn’t overshadow the high demand for the ferry service.
“There’s no question it’s safe. We have ample evidence it’s safe, and we’re going to continue to make sure the service is run well,” he said at an unrelated news conference at Police Headquarters.
“I have no idea why in these two instances specifically these mistakes were made . . . but you guys, you gotta look at the totality of something that’s now been going on quite a while and has a huge number of riders.”
Officials wouldn’t say who was at the helm of the ill-fated ferry, named the Flyer, on Wednesday. The city’s Economic Development Corp., which oversees NYC Ferry, said the captain “has been taken off duty pending the outcome of the investigation.”
Co-workers said the captain hadn’t piloted an NYC Ferry boat for some time and may have been unfamiliar with the waters.
The captain was brought in after the route’s regular pilot, named Danny, called out ahead of his shift, one worker said.
“Danny’s really good. He wasn’t driving,” the worker said.
Meanwhile, the captain who plowed another NYC Ferry boat into a pile field in the East River on Nov. 27 hasn’t returned to the helm and is currently assigned to other duties, the EDC said.
While de Blasio said he didn’t consider either incident “acceptable,” he noted no one was hurt and suggested that fact was evidence of the boats’ safety.
“People are safe because people all came out of it safe,” he said of Wednesday’s incident.
Because the Flyer was stuck in shallow water, its passengers had to be shuttled to an FDNY boat by inflatable dinghies amid temperatures in the mid-teens.
The mayor also downplayed the corrosion and leaks that sidelined six ferries last month as “a few issues with a few boats.”
Only one of those boats has returned to service, with repairs to the others “nearing completion,” according to the EDC.
De Blasio repeatedly pointed to the popularity of the ferry service, which launched in May with $325 million in taxpayer subsidies.
“We’ve had a huge level of demand for the ferries. They’ve worked well,” he said.
The captain in Wednesday’s incident strayed one-third of a mile off course shortly after leaving the Rockaway terminal at 5:15 p.m. for Wall Street’s Pier 11, sources said.
“That’s something investigators will look at,” said Skye Ostreicher, a spokeswoman for the ferry’s operator, Hornblower.
The Flyer was in dry dock Thursday in Upper Nyack. It won’t carry passengers again until it has been inspected by the Coast Guard, the EDC said.
Hornblower is giving each Flyer passenger a yearly ferry pass, a $50 Uber credit and a dinner-and-movie package at the iPic Theater at the South Street Seaport.
Three passengers who were going to the Garden for the RangersCapitals game but missed it will be reimbursed for their tickets and receive reservations for a future game, the company said.
The NHL is also treating the fans to six tickets to the NHL Winter Classic at Citi Field on New Year’s Day and a VIP tour.