East River Ferry Service Maiden Voyage Coming in June

Probably not a moment too soon for Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Dumbo and Long Island City residents comes the arrival of the East River Ferry, slated to begin on June 13th (UPDATE: A ferry spokesman says there is no official date yet. We'll let you know when we find out.) The two deck, 74-foot ferries that can hold up to 100 people are going to be running on a commuter's schedule, operating from 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. every twenty minutes (weekend service is 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. with additional stops at Atlantic Avenue and Governors Island). The main challenge is going to be getting people to fork over the $4 per ride or the $140 for a monthly pass. And to stay afloat, the ferry is going to have to draw in about 718,000 commuters every year, but it's slightly bolstered by the city subsidy of $9.3 million over three years. The CEO of the ferry service, New York Waterway, says “It’s going to take time to build traffic...Right now, it is all a question of frequency — and 20-minute frequency is what you need so that people don’t think of it as appointment ridership.” If this ferry sticks it out and doesn't totally screw up its scheduling one way or another, it's not totally unlikely that Brooklyn yuppies begin to think of the ferry the way everyone else thinks of MTA services — a necessity. Then again, we wouldn't hold our breath.

According to the Brooklyn Paper, the "life changing" ferry service begins

at 7 am from piers on India Street in Greenpoint, N. Sixth Street and Schaefer Landing in Williamsburg, and Fulton Ferry in DUMBO and drop them off at either Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan or East 35th Street in Midtown. And during peak hours, between 7 am and 9:30 am and between 4:30 pm and 7 pm, commuters leaving DUMBO can get to Wall Street in as little as eight minutes and those leaving Greenpoint can get to Midtown in as little as 10.

On Fridays and the weekend, the ferry will add stops at Atlantic Avenue and Governors Island beginning at 9 am and ending at 8 pm — essentially cutting travel time between North Brooklyn and Governors Island in half.

· Ferry good news! New East River service to begin next month [BK Paper]
· East River Ferry Coverage [Curbed]