April 17, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan
The new Citywide Ferry boats will begin sailing in and out of a new Long Island City dock in August.
Mayor Bill de Blasio welcomed the first three of 20 new ferryboats at Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park earlier today, and announced the schedules and timetables for the launch of the new ferry system this summer.
The Citywide Ferry system will add five new routes on the East River by the summer of 2018, including a new Astoria route that will stop in Hallets Cove and Long Island City (at the northern tip of Gantry Plaza State Park), and will begin service in August.
“After months of construction and weeks of travel, the new NYC Ferry boats are officially here in the five boroughs. And in just two weeks’ time, New Yorkers will be able to ride these brand new boats themselves – to work, to school, or to explore all the incredible things our waterfront has to offer,” said New York City Economic Development Corporation President and CEO James Patchett.
The first new route will launch on May 1, joining the existing East River route (which incorporates Hunters Point South Park), and will run between the Rockaways and Wall Street.
Two other routes will launch later in the summer, including a South Brooklyn route in June and the Astoria route in August.
Existing East River route
De Blasio said that the new ferry service represents “greater opportunity for every New Yorker, from the Rockaways to the Bronx, and at just $2.75 a ride.”
The new Astoria route will connect the new dock in Hallets Cove to Roosevelt Island, to Long Island City, to East 34th Street, and will end at Wall Street, with a ride totaling about 38 minutes from start to end.
De Blasio also released the timetables for the new routes, which show that Astoria ferry service will begin with the first ferry leaving at 6:30 a.m. every day, and the final ferry arriving back to Astoria at 9:47 p.m. on weekdays, and 10:28 p.m. on weekends. The ferries will run every 20 minutes during peak hours, and every 30 to 45 minutes during less popular times.
According to the current timetable, the new system will run 30 ferries from Astoria every weekday and 23 ferries from Astoria every weekend.
Each new ferry boat will carry 150 people at a time and will have free Wi-Fi, bike racks, temperature control and a snack bar on board, and a single ride will cost $2.75, with both paper and smartphone tickets available for purchase.
The city also plans to add a Lower East Side route and a Soundview route servicing the Bronx in the Summer 2018.
Click for the Astoria Ferry Service Schedule.
New Astoria route
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17 Comments
does anyone know when does the 2.75 ferry fare start?
SF has had viable public ferries as part of their transportation strategy for, what, 40 years? What the heck took so long?
If you have to be a douche, at least be funny.
Will any of the new ferry lines go to Westport?
surprised you didn’t get on a van bramer or deblasio rant. Wait for it…. ….
That truth is self-evident, but it’s impossible to have a ferry stop in Queensboro Plaza or Court Square without building an artificial waterway as they do in Venice
It seems a little ridiculous to me that the “Northern” LIC stop is a 10 min walk from the Southern LIC stop. theres more to LIC than the area around Gantry
To best serve density now and in the future there really isn’t?
You want them to drive up the Newtown creek and pick people up there?
appropriately distancing stops to serve enough people in different areas is ridiculous?
Is everyone always this self centered?
Where would you want them to have a stop? don’t complain and not provide a better alternative.
That’s my point precisely. The northern LIX stop is a hoax. It doesn’t exist. Their maps prove it.
fake news! imaginary stop!
If you click on the link and head to LIC, the stop is listed as 47th road. This is inconsistent with the northern tip of the park which is Anable basin.
That’s for the EXISTING stop.
There have been other articles and news that they were thinking about where to put the stop. They settled for a stop near annabel basin at the northern end of Gantry.
They obviously did not really update their website as nothing is built yet.
I live across the street from the new LIC stop and I couldn’t be more excited. Though I probably won’t use it much during the week, we will use it a lot on the weekends.
The new ferry line stops at the north end of Gantry Park, so there appears to be no direct connection to the East River Ferry, which stops at the south end and then calls on four Brooklyn stops – unless the connection is supposed to be made at 34th St. Also the new line also goes down to Wall Street, just like the East River Ferry…. Seems to make little sense.
They are rolling out the new boats and new routes piecemeal as the new ships roll in. This new line is supposed to serve new neighborhoods for Astoria and Roosevelt Island and the new building residents at north Gantry Park so it does make sense for those people who work Manhattan but maybe not for you.
They will later replace the existing lines as they receive more boats. Just take a second to think before replying. Just because it doesn’t make sense to you doesn’t mean it doesn’t serve other people. Of course the new route should go to Wall Street as well. The new neighborhoods they are serving need to get there as well. Multiple routes are fine. Look at all the subways that stop at Wall Street. Should only one subway line stop there because you think one train should be enough?
They have to think who would actually use the ferries, would enough people from Astoria take the ferry to get to BK? Most likely not enough. Yes, there may be a few but not enough to sustain an entire run of boats. Is there enough people to go to 34th St and wall street? Absolutely.
Where is this new ferry dock for northern Long Island City? Is it by Anabelle Basin? I have not seen any construction anywhere to suggest a new ferryboat pier.