A BOATLOAD OF CASH
THE CITY will spend $300 million to boost its new ferry system, nearly doubling the fleet of boats plying the waters around the five boroughs.
Mayor de Blasio announced the expansion plans on a ferry pier in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, saying the ferry has proved more popular than city officials dreamed, with the projected number of riders is growing.
“The response to NYC Ferry has been overwhelming,” de Blasio said. “This makes me think of a simple phrase: We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
The city initially bought 20 boats, of which 16 are already running, with a total capacity of about 3,000 riders.
With the new money, over the next five years, they expect to double that. The exact number of boats will depend on their size — some carry 150 riders while others carry 350 — but they hope to be able to ferry 6,000 passengers.
The city is now projecting the boats will have 9 million riders a year by 2023 — almost double the 4.6 million who were originally expected.
The boats cost far more to run than the $2.75 fare covers. The city subsidies about $6.60 per ride. The fare is pegged to the cost of a subway ride, but must be paid separately.
The ferries are now running to the Rockaways and Astoria in Queens, south Brooklyn and across the East River, and new routes to Soundview, the Bronx, and the Lower East Side are expected to launch late this summer.
The $300 million, which was included in de Blasio’s executive budget, will also pay for improvements to the city’s two biggest ferry terminals at Wall St. and E. 34th St., so that more boats can run at the same time.
Three more 350-passenger boats will hit local waters this summer, with up to eight charter boats helping to handle the crowds.
“I do want to set expectations, though,” said Economic Development Corp. president James Patchett.
“On a really crazy beautiful day in the summer when it seems like everyone in the city wants to go to the beach at the exact same time, there’s still gonna be lines.”
De Blasio brushed off concerns from some critics that the big bucks spent on the ferries which carry relatively few passengers could better be used on other forms of transit, and worries the new routes could drive up rents.
“If you don’t have good enough mass transit and it keeps the rent down, is that a good thing?” he said. “I would say no.”