The Riverdale Ferry Coalition applauds the Five Borough ferry plan unveiled earlier today by Mayor Bloomberg and New York City Council Speaker Quinn. Today’s announcement is another example of the positive impact citizens can have by working closely with elected officials.
Ferry service from Riverdale benefits our city both environmentally and economically. It reduces carbon emissions and alleviates traffic congestion. Simultaneously, ferry service saves commuters travel time and contributes to the revitalization of Lower Manhattan by making it more easily accessible to residents of various other neighborhoods. Continue Reading »
I would like to submit this letter to the editor in support of ferry service from Riverdale to lower Manhattan. ("Driving Mr. Hoffnung," political arena, Feb. 21)
I noticed a few weeks ago a letter to the editor warning that ferry service from Riverdale would be impossible given docking and river current conditions. After speaking with representatives of the Riverdale Ferry Coalition it is clear that ferry service is definitely feasible and safe.
Ferry service to lower Manhattan would directly improve the quality of life of many Riverdale residents who make the long journey to lower Manhattan for work. This service would save the average commuter up to 35 minutes or more one way. This saves a commuter at least five hours of commute time in just one week. If you then calculate the savings in a year, the amount of time saved is enormous.
It’s been a good week for ferries. First, Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced in her state of the city address that she and Mayor Mike Bloomberg want to create a citywide, year-round ferry system. The idea started with a pilot ferry program for the Rockaways, which will be up and running this summer, but Quinn described widespread ferry service that would shorten commuting times throughout the city.
“Think of how it will enhance our infrastructure, open up our waterfronts and create jobs,” she said Tuesday. The Queens service is likely to include stops in Lower Manhattan
John Liu, chairperson of the Council’s Transportation Committee, sees the ferry program as a return to the city’s historical reliance on waterways to transport people and goods.
“For the last 100 years, we kind of lost sight of the value of the waterways,” Liu told Downtown Express. “So this is reclaiming this lost natural resource of the waterways of the city.”
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn endorsed the creation of a citywide ferry service and an expansion of a small business insurance program in her State of the City address last week. Now advocates and stakeholders are weighing in, and - for the most part - appear to be praising the proposals.
Last week, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced her support for a five-borough, year-round ferry system that Mayor Bloomberg and the city Department of Transportation are developing. Such a proposal may seem like a pipe dream to many New Yorkers, who have seen ferry service remain fairly stagnant, either from a shortage of funding or an apparent lack of demand.
Earlier this week, in her annual State of the City address, New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn announced her plans to develop a comprehensive five-borough, year-round New York City Ferry System.
"New York must do more to make transportation throughout the city cleaner and more accessible. It’s only natural to look at our natural highways… our water ways … to move New Yorkers efficiently and sustainably. Later this month, we’ll unveil a detailed plan for developing what will be one of the most significant transit initiatives in recent New York City history," said Speaker Quinn.
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.
Another elected official has thrown his support behind creating a high-speed commuter ferry service between Riverdale and lower Manhattan.
City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera announced last week that he’s in favor of offering the service to local commuters, given Riverdale’s position on the Hudson River. He said the added option will not only shorten commute times for many of Riverdale’s train, subway and bus riders, but will also have a positive effect on the city’s transportation congestion as a whole.
"Given the fact that it can take over 75 minutes each way to commute from Riverdale to lower Manhattan via public transportation, it is no surprise that so many people choose to drive into Manhattan instead," Mr. Rivera said. "If we are serious about reducing congestion into Manhattan, we must provide the people of the Bronx with viable commuting alternatives. Offering high-speed ferry service in Riverdale would help shorten commutes for thousands of people in an environmentally responsible fashion." Continue Reading »
Majority Leader Joel Rivera today announced his support for establishing high-speed commuter ferry service between Riverdale and Lower Manhattan.
“Riverdale’s geographic location adjacent to the Hudson River makes it an ideal site to establish high-speed ferry service,” said Majority Leader Joel Rivera.
"Given the fact that it can take over 75 minutes each way to commute from Riverdale to Lower Manhattan, via public transportation, it is no surprise that so many people choose to drive into Manhattan instead. If we are serious about reducing congestion into Manhattan we must provide the people in the Bronx with viable commuting alternatives. Offering high-speed ferry service in Riverdale would help shorten commutes for thousands of people in an environmentally responsible fashion.”
“I enthusiastically support establishing ferry service in Riverdale, and in the coming months I will be working closely with Speaker Quinn, my Council colleagues, and the Department of Transportation in order to make this vision a reality.”
The Riverdale Ferry Coalition applauds the Five Borough ferry plan unveiled earlier today by Mayor Bloomberg and New York City Council Speaker Quinn. Today’s announcement is another example of the positive impact citizens can have by working closely with elected officials. 
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.
Majority Leader Joel Rivera today announced his support for establishing high-speed commuter ferry service between Riverdale and Lower Manhattan.
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