River dance
New Yorkers are spicing up their commutes with DJ-led dance parties on the decks of New York ferries
ON Friday nights, revelers are turning a commuter ferry into a DJhelmed dance party. Helicopters buzz overhead as the East River churn bumps riders — businessmen and women just off work and metallicjacket-clad partiers alike — while beats blast from the boat’s stern.
“You see guys with suits on, chugging a beer and just dancing,” says NYC Ferry captain Ben Nedrick, as he steers the boat along the Lower East Side route.
From his booth on the boat’s upper deck, he watches as DJ Sheri Barclay mixes music for the weekly Rooftop Sounds pop-up.
The other week, Nedrick, 23, handed the wheel to his co-captain so he could join in the fun, break dancing in his uniform as a soca jam played, to his passengers’ delight. There’s an almost
palpable sense of cutting loose, especially on a hot summer night.
“It’s got that kind of lawlessness to it,” says Barclay, 36, the manager of online radio station KPISS.FM, which streams from an RV in Bushwick.
The dance parties did, in fact, begin illicitly.
“Last year, I threw my birthday on the ferry without their permission,” says creative director Franz Aliquo, 43. He and his guests rode for one round and finished all the booze on the boat before getting kicked off. This spring, he says, the ferry company reached out to him.
“They hit me up to be like, ‘You did it last year, and it was pretty dope,’ ” says Aliquo, who picks the DJs and organizes the events as a labor of love.
Now, the happy hours have the blessing of the ferry — and that of its concession stand, which sells a rotating variety of beer ($7), wine ($8) and snacks on board all boats. (Passengers aren’t allowed to BYOB.)
“It gives a good vibe,” NYC Ferry marketing coordinator Tiffani Samaroo tells The Post. She says the transit service is planning other events it hopes will increase ridership, though only the Friday night 6:30 to 8 p.m. “happy hour” will have a DJ.
There’s no cover charge, just the price of passage: $2.75, the same as a subway ride — but you can’t use a MetroCard. NYC Ferry currently operates six routes and a summer shuttle to Governors Island.
Last Friday, many passengers came just for the dance party — but a few commuters were taken by surprise.
“I was like, ‘Is this every ferry?’ ” says Joanna Allen, 29, who came aboard after a day’s work on Wall Street. “If it’s always like this, I’ll ride it more. I love it.”
NYC Ferry Rooftop Sounds pop-up runs Fridays from 6:30 to 8 p.m. through Aug. 30. The route is subject to change; check NYC Ferry’s Instagram or call 917-267-9384.