The mayor is floating a new plan he hopes will quiet some of the criticism surrounding his congestion pricing plan, by giving some Queens commuters another way to get into the city.The city is considering a pilot program to provide year-round ferry service between Riis Landing, in the Rockaways, and Lower Manhattan.
The city says the plan, which is still in the early stages, would provide, at a minimum, ferry service Monday through Friday during peak rush hours. The ferry would make the commute from the Rockaways to Manhattan 45 minutes, as opposed to the current subway ride which is about an hour and a half.
"The biggest problem for Rockaway is the transportation and the challenge is, just look at a map and you'll see the challenge, New York City is an enormous geographical area," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
It's not clear how much a ride would cost, though the mayor says it's likely the city would subsidize some of it.
In a recent draft of the city's Economic Development Corporation's "Request for Interest" from ferry companies obtained by NY1, it stated "respondents should note NYCEDC's desire to have fares be comparable to the cost of an express bus fare."
Bloomberg has taken a lot of heat from commuters in the outer boroughs over his plan to charge drivers $8 to get into parts of Manhattan because outer borough residents say they have few choices considering the limited mass transit options in their neighborhoods.
"I think we would have a tremendous outpouring of support [for the ferry] from people here if there were reasonable rates," said one Rockaway resident.
"If you [take the subway] in the morning you have to change. You can get the express in the morning, but then coming back in the afternoon you have to get the shuttle. We want to be treated like the rest of the boroughs in the city,” said another. “We are sort of the stepchild in New York City when it comes to transportation."
"You can literally walk out my front door and see Manhattan,” said a third. “You just can't get there."
Starting Wednesday, the city will hear from private ferry operators interested in running the service.
