Ed Koch was the mayor when passengers boarded the first and last ferry boat to travel between Riverdale and Manhattan. The catamaran operated by New York Waterways tied up at the Riverdale Yacht Club for a one-time show-and-tell organized by Councilwoman June Eisland. The councilwoman was enthusiastic about ferries: her first-ever resolution after being sworn in, in 1979, called for the revival of ferry service between New York and New Jersey. She had clout: by the time she sponsored that experimental ride from Riverdale she was chair of the transportation committee and she had succeeded in breaking through bureaucratic encrustation to permit New York Waterways to inaugurate its cross-river service.
So as ferry service becomes an issue in the discussion of congestion pricing and in the upcoming campaign to elect a new representative to the City Council, it’s worth pondering why the Hudson did not become a highway for Riverdale commuters and whether it ever will or should be.
To its supporters, a ferry stop is a nobrainer. "It’s an idea whose time has come," says Ari Hoffnung, founder of the grandlynamed Riverdale Ferry Coalition, who deserves the credit for making ferry service an issue of widespread public discussion.
"I’m excited about it. The more people I speak to, the more excited I get," he said in a recent interview. "No one says, ‘You’re crazy; no one is going to take it.’"
What makes this a moment of opportunity, according to Mr. Hoffnung, Councilman Oliver Koppell and other proponents of a ferry stop, is the inauguration of ferry service from Yonkers. The bright yellow vessels operated by New Water Taxi have seats that the company wants to fill.
Though the high-speed ferry service operating from Yonkers and Haverstraw to Lower Manhattan offers a far swifter commute than other modes of transportation, the line has not drawn a substantial mass of passengers. It has, however, received large subsidies.
According to reports, ferry service operator New York Water Taxi took in $1.19 million from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation between May and December 2007. With as few as 87 riders per day departing from the Yonkers stop, that means that some pretty penny is spent to carry each of them.
Ari Hoffnung, cochairman of the Riverdale Ferry Coalition, who has pitched a similar project here in Riverdale, said that public money has not been wasted on the commute-by-boat endeavor. Instead, he said, the abysmal ridership numbers and the steep subsidies just "reinforce the urgency of adding a ferry stop in Riverdale."
"I remain confident that together, the communities of Yonkers and Riverdale can attract the number of commuters required to make high-speed ferry service a financially sustainable project," he said. Continue Reading »
ARI HOFFNUNG, a rosy-cheeked 34-year-old bundled in a dark overcoat over his business suit, boarded the 7:50 a.m. ferry from Yonkers as a rising sun bathed the Palisades in golden light. Seagulls squawked overhead, and whitecaps licked the edge of the yellow, high-speed catamaran as it glided smoothly down the Hudson River.
“As you can see,” Mr. Hoffnung said as he surveyed the river from his perch at the bow of the boat, “there’s no traffic or congestion here. No tolls. No delays.”
His point was underscored four miles south of Yonkers as the ferry passed Riverdale, where Mr. Hoffnung lives. Gazing wistfully at the shoreline, he imagined out loud how convenient it would be if the ferry could stop and pick up passengers there.
Ed Koch was the mayor when passengers boarded the first and last ferry boat to travel between Riverdale and Manhattan. The catamaran operated by New York Waterways tied up at the Riverdale Yacht Club for a one-time show-and-tell organized by Councilwoman June Eisland. The councilwoman was enthusiastic about ferries: her first-ever resolution after being sworn in, in 1979, called for the revival of ferry service between New York and New Jersey. She had clout: by the time she sponsored that experimental ride from Riverdale she was chair of the transportation committee and she had succeeded in breaking through bureaucratic encrustation to permit New York Waterways to inaugurate its cross-river service.
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