Saturday 9 July 2022

NYC DOCKS & FERRIES, 25 FERRY PIERS & 6 ROUTES

Today, The Grandma has been visiting New York City from the Atlantic thanks to NYC Ferry, the public network of ferry routes in the city.
 
She has travelled by different ferries enjoying beautiful sights and discovering more interesting stories about this amazing city and its docks.

Meanwhile, The Newtons have continued preparing their Cambridge Exam. They have studied some vocabulary about Free Time and Rooms.

More information: Free Time & Rooms

NYC Ferry is a public network of ferry routes in New York City operated by Hornblower Cruises

As of August 2021, there are six routes, as well as one seasonal route, connecting 25 ferry piers in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island

NYC Ferry has the largest passenger fleet in the United States with a total of 38 vessels, providing between 20–90 minute service on each of the routes, depending on the season. One additional route and one new pier are planned as of December 2021.

New York City had an extensive ferry network until the 1960s, when almost all ferry services were discontinued, but saw a revival in the 1980s and 1990s. The city government officially proposed its own ferry service in 2013, which was announced two years later under the tentative name of Citywide Ferry Service. The first of two phases launched in 2017 with service along the East River and to the Rockaways, Bay Ridge, and Astoria. A second phase launched to the Lower East Side and Soundview in 2018. A ferry to St. George, Staten Island, and a stop in Throgs Neck/Ferry Point Park launched in 2021, while a route to Coney Island is planned.

Single-ride trips on the system cost $2.75, with monthly and bike fares also available, but there is no free transfer to other modes of transport in the city. NYC Ferry also provides free shuttle buses, connecting to ferry stops in the Rockaways and Midtown Manhattan. The ferry service was originally expected to transport 4.5 to 4.6 million passengers annually, but the annual ridership estimates were revised in early 2018 to 9 million. Despite its crowding, the ferry has generally received positive reviews from passengers. However, there has been criticism over the highly-subsidized nature of the service, and NYC Ferry's low ridership compared to the city's other public transit modes.

Until the 19th century, when the first fixed crossings were put in place across the city's waterways, there were many ferries traversing the area.

More information: Ferry NYC

New York's first ferries date to when the city was a Dutch colony named New Amsterdam, which comprises modern-day Lower Manhattan

A ferry across the East River, between New Amsterdam and modern-day Brooklyn, was created in 1642 by Cornelius Dircksen, who was reportedly the earliest ferryman of whom the records speak.

By 1654, New Amsterdam's government passed ordinances to regulate East River ferries. The first ferry to New Jersey was founded in 1661, traveling across the Hudson River from Manhattan to Communipaw, now part of Jersey City.

Ferries along the Harlem River, between uptown Manhattan and the Bronx, started in 1667, and a ferry to Staten Island was started in 1712.  The number of ferries would grow, and by 1904, there would be 147 ferry services operating in New York City waters.

As of 2020, there are five routes and one seasonal route that make up the NYC Ferry system. There was a phased introduction of these routes.

-Phase 1. Covered the routes implemented in 2017 and provided new service to the Rockaways, Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Roosevelt Island, and Astoria in addition to areas already served by the East River Ferry.

-Phase 2. Covered the routes implemented in 2018 and provided new service to Soundview, Yorkville, Kips Bay, and the Lower East Side.

In 2019, the summer weekend extension of the East River and South Brooklyn lines to Governors Island was eliminated due to complaints about the confusing routing patterns, and replaced by a new Governors Island shuttle route. The Governor's Island route is seasonal and only operates during summer weekends, and was launched in the summer of 2019. Two additional routes, to Coney Island, Brooklyn, and to St. George, Staten Island, are expected to start operating in 2021.

There are two main Manhattan terminals at Wall Street and East 34th Street.  The Lower East Side route was discontinued in 2020.

More information: Archives NYC


 I commuted an hour and a half each way
to high school in N.Y.C. I took a bus,
a ferry, then a subway.

Colin Jost

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