Newsday/AP: Queens Neighborhood Could Get Ferry Connection to Downtown NYC...

NEW YORK (AP) _ A far-flung Queens neighborhood that is more than an hour's drive from Manhattan, and has few mass transit options, may be getting its long desired ferry service.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that the city is gauging whether there is interest among private ferry operators to begin a route that would connect Lower Manhattan with the beachfront community known as the Rockaways. The neighborhood is situated on a peninsula between Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, near John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"That would greatly improve the quality of life for many people in the Rockaways, replacing hours spent in traffic with a beautiful ride along New York's coastline," Bloomberg said.

More than 100,000 people commute by ferry each day through the waters around New York City.

The Bloomberg administration is hoping to increase ridership on ferries and all other mass transit systems in its long term plan to decrease traffic and pollution.

When the mayor proposed a controversial plan last month to charge motorists extra fees to drive into the most congested parts of the city, he said it could not happen unless New Yorkers had more mass transit choices.

Ferry companies interested in creating service to the Rockaways should contact the city in the next several weeks.

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