WEINER OUTLINES PLANS FOR FAST FERRY SERVICE IN NEW YORK CITY
DELIVERS $15 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING TO START QUEENS – BROOKLYN – MANHATTAN ROUTE
NOW MAYOR NEEDS TO ACT
New York City – Armed with $15 million dollars in federal funding, today Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens & Brooklyn), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, outlined his plans to expand ferry service in New York City.
The first step: fast ferry service from Rockaway to Brooklyn to Manhattan.
New Yorkers have some of the longest commutes to and from work in the nation. That’s especially true of residents of Rockaway, the furthest Southern tip of New York City. Rockaway residents coming into Manhattan are forced to choose between dilapidated express buses, an hour and a half on the A train, or gridlock on the Belt Parkway.
But on Wednesday, President Bush signed into law the Transportation Equity Act (TEA-LU), legislation that funds the nation’s transportation projects.
Weiner, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, secured $46 million worth of transportation projects in the bill for New York City, including $15 million for the city to purchase three fast ferries.
Fast ferry service would cut transportation times from places like Rockaway dramatically—a ferry ride from the Fort Tilden ferry dock in Rockaway to Pier 11 in Manhattan could take as little as 25 minutes. And increased ferry ridership would decrease pressure on our overburdened subways, reduce traffic congestion on our roads, and cut smog.
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The Weiner plan would mean better transportation options for Brooklyn as well. Fast ferries running from Rockaway to Manhattan would also make stops at the Brooklyn army terminal and the still under construction 69th Street stop.
Here’s the hold up: as with all federal transit programs, to receive the $15 million Weiner has secured for ferry service, the city of New York is required to provide a 20% match—meaning $3.75 million. Mayor Bloomberg has indicated that he does not want to provide the matching funds.
“The biggest obstacle to expanding ferry service in New York City has been simply buying the boats,” said Rep. Weiner. “Now we have the funding to do that, and to cut commute times for residents of Rockaway and Brooklyn, take a bite out of gridlock, and take some of the pressure off of our subways. But the Mayor must act. Politics should never get in the way of a better quality of life for New Yorkers, and you hope that’s not what is happening here.”
The Weiner plan calls for using the $15 million to purchase three small, fast ferries, to be strategically deployed in the most cost effective manner.
The Kennedy, Barberi, and Austen class ferries currently running the City's Staten Island route can travel no faster than 16 knots. Weiner’s plan would employ three fast ferries, each capable of traveling at speeds exceeding 30 knots.
The Staten Island ferries can carry up to 6,000 passengers. The three fast ferries called for in the Weiner plan are smaller and appropriate to demand, carrying no more than 400 passengers.
Under the Weiner plan, ferries will run the Rockaway route only during peak hours, during the morning and afternoon rush, and be made available for other routes during off hours.
Over the past four years, Weiner has secured $1.7 million to build a ferry landing at the old Fort Tilden Coast Guard station, in Rockaway, just west of the Marine Parkway Bridge.
