A ferry to southern Brooklyn gets more support

Residents of Bay Ridge and Sunset Park were disappointed when,last June, the city’s Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC)launched the East River Ferry service betweenManhattan, Long Island City in Queens, and four terminals innorthern Brooklyn – Greenpoint, Williamsburg and DUMBO/Red Hook -but left out the southern Brooklyn waterfront. Still, they held outhope that it would one day happen.

Now that Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz has voicedsupport of the idea in his 2012 State of the Borough address, thathope has gotten a little brighter.

For years, New York Water Taxi has moved 300,000 peopleannually to attractions across the city… but let’s make it easierfor tourists and residents to explore all that Brooklyn has tooffer, said Markowitz to an enthusiastic crowd at BrooklynCollege’s Whitman Hall. Let’s extend service to Coney Island,Sheepshead Bay, the Canarsie Pier and, of course, the 69th StreetPier in Bay Ridge.

This was a welcome endorsement of the community’s ongoingefforts, said Councilmembers Vincent Gentile and Domenic Recchia.I wholeheartedly support renewing ferry service to SouthBrooklyn, Recchia said. Not only does this address trafficconcerns but it is also a greener, more scenic way for folks tovisit Coney Island — New York’s greatest playground!

I have been banging the drum to extend East River Ferry Serviceto connect Manhattan to Bay Ridge for almost a decade now and I’mexcited to have him on board, added Gentile after the February 1speech. The time has come – it is much-needed and longoverdue.

State Senator Marty Golden — who had been instrumental ingetting ferry service between the Brooklyn Army Terminal in SunsetPark and Manhattan, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks –agreed. As motorists are faced with an increase in gas prices andtolls, as well as traffic congestion, taking the waterways insteadof the highways, will be more cost-efficient and convenient, hecontended.

While the ferry service between the Army Terminal and Manhattanoperated on and off until July, 2010, the 69th Street Pier last sawdirect commuter ferry service in the 1990s, when it had to beclosed for repairs and renovations.

Since then, an allocation by Gentile and then City CouncilmemberDavid Yassky of $500,000 in city funds for the construction of a 20x 30 foot ferry slip to be attached to the pier — which currentlyserves as a hub for joggers, bicyclists and families seekinggorgeous views — stalled despite Transportation Department andCommunity Board 10 support.

According to the NYCEDC, there are no plans to extend ferryservice until after the end of the three-year pilot program, whichis operated year-round by NY Waterway and BillyBey Ferry Co. andreceives $9.3 million in subsidies from the city. One-way ticketscost $4; a monthly unlimited pass is $140.

But Peter Killen, the president of the AARP’s Bay Ridge chapter#3630 and a former board member of the now-defunct Sunset-RidgeWaterfront Alliance, is optimistic that that existing support,coupled with new energy from Markowitz, could be enough to move thedialogue to reality sooner rather than later.

We fought very hard previously [because a ferry] gives thepeople of southwest Brooklyn another alternative to get toManhattan, said Killen. If [Markowitz] has a plan, I would loveto take it and run with it… My senior citizens would be the idealcustomers. Coming from a senior center, they could put together [abus] and a whole group of them go off for the day. It would beperfect, especially with no elevators to subways.

We have this magnificent pier, with parking, he added. Itwould be beautiful. And if they serve coffee to you, that would beeven better.