The Staten Island Ferry broke record ridership levels this past year, Metro New York has learned. Between July 2015 and June this year, more than 23 million rode the ferry between Staten Island and Manhattan, and what’s more, the ridership levels surpassed the record set in 2012 by over 800,000 people.
The Borough President James Oddo told Metro that the surge in ridership had to do almost entirely with the fact that ferry service was now operating every half hour at all times from the previous hourly ferries on weeknights and weekends.
He also pointed to the massive amount of development taking place on the island’s North Shore as a major contributing factor to the interest in people making their way on the ferry. What’s soon to be one of the tallest observation wheels in the world, New York Wheel, is now taking shape on the Staten Island waterfront. Just next door, the massive shopping complex, Empire Stores is also taking shape.
This past year, the launch of the amenity-packed rental, Urby, also brought a lot of attention to the island, as did progress on the north shore’s mini-megaproject Lighthouse Point. It’s safe to say the ferry is only going to see an increase in ridership and popularity in the coming years.
- Record numbers ride Staten Island Ferry [MetroNewYork]
Loading comments...