NYC Ferry
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Ferry Lunch Box underway, May 2017.
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| Locale | New York City |
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| Waterway | Atlantic Ocean, East River, Jamaica Bay, Lower and Upper Bays |
| Transit type | Passenger ferry |
| Operator | Hornblower Cruises |
| Began operation | May 1, 2017 |
| No. of lines |
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| No. of vessels | up to 36 (6 in service during rush hours) |
| No. of terminals | 21 |
| Daily ridership | 12,500 (projected) |
| Website | Official website |
NYC Ferry (originally called Citywide Ferry Service) is a network of ferry routes in New York City operated by Hornblower Cruises. It is set to launch in two phases. The first phase launched on May 1, 2017, with service along the East River and to the Rockaways, with routes to Bay Ridge and Astoria starting in June and August, respectively. A second phase, in 2018, will launch to the Lower East Side and Soundview. A ferry to Coney Island and Stapleton is under consideration.
The new ferry service, which will eventually have 18 boats on nine routes during rush hours, is expected to transport 4.5 to 4.6 million passengers annually. It costs $2.75 per ride, though a $121 monthly pass is also available. The service was proposed in 2013 as a result of two studies in 2011 and 2013 that showed the impacts of ferries in New York City. It was officially announced by the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2015.
In the 19th century and before that, when the East River and Hudson River did not have many bridge or tunnel crossings, there used to be many ferries across these two rivers.Hudson River ferries had been in existence since a Communipaw-to-Manhattan ferry was founded in 1661. At one point, there were boat routes running from New Jersey to twenty passenger docks in Manhattan. However, the construction of the Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, and George Washington Bridge between Manhattan and New Jersey, as well as the growth of car ownership in the United States, meant that these ferries were no longer needed by the mid-20th century. As a result, in 1967, the last cross-Hudson ferry (between Hoboken and Battery Park City) ceased operations. At that point, the Staten Island Ferry was the only commuter ferry within the entire city. Despite this discontinuation of ferry service, people moved to places along the waterfront on the New Jersey side. In 1986, waterfront settlements like Bayonne, Highlands, Keyport, Port Liberte, and Weehawken saw a reinstatement of their ferry service to Manhattan, under the operation of NY Waterway. By 1989, around 3,000 of the settlements' combined 10,500 residents paid a $5.00 fare in each direction to board the NY Waterway ferries, despite competition from cheaper alternatives like the PATH. Around this time, there were plans to create ferry routes between Inwood and Atlantic City; South Amboy and Wall Street; and from the city proper to New Jersey, Connecticut, and Westchester.
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Wikipedia