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September 30, 2015

BP ADAMS CALLS FOR CITYWIDE FERRY PLAN TO INCLUDE MTA FARE INTEGRATION, BETTER COMMUNITY ACCESS TO FERRY LANDINGS

BROOKLYN, NY, September 30, 2015: On Monday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams called for Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) fare integration and better community access to ferry landings in testimony he submitted to the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) regarding an Environmental Impact Study Scoping Hearing for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s citywide ferry plan. The hearing, held at Brooklyn Borough Hall, reviewed a plan that, according to EDC, would consist of six routes and carry an estimated 4.6 million trips per year when fully operational in 2018. While he applauded the ferry’s fare structure for aligning its fares with that of single-trip MTA rides, he stressed the need for integrating into the next generation payment system, as well as providing free transfers in the short-term, in order to “generate ridership and effectively [connect] the City’s transit networks.” Additionally, Borough President Adams called on the City to work with EDC to give greater consideration to the need for ferry service to connect ferry landings seamlessly with MTA bus routes, Citi Bike stations, general bicycle routes, and safer pedestrian connections.


“The New York City Department of Transportation [should] foster safer pedestrian connections to ferry landings, including traffic-calming improvements that link communities to access points,” wrote Borough President Adams in his testimony. “Improved connections to surrounding communities and job centers are imperative if this new transportation system is to be successful.”


Borough President Adams applauded EDC’s overall plan, particularly its call for the introduction of a Southern Brooklyn local ferry route which would provide reliable service to Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Red Hook, Brooklyn Heights, and DUMBO; he added his belief that there was potential for an additional stop in Sunset Park in proximity to the Bush Terminal complex. He also supported the Rockaway ferry proposal which would include express ferry service to Bay Ridge, and suggested that the route “could subsequently be modified after initial success to add service to the Canarsie Pier, the marina opposite Aviator Sports in Dead Horse Bay, Plumb Beach, and Coney Island (possibly [the] West 21st Street landing in Coney Island Creek).”


“I am a long-time supporter of ferry service as a means to improve transit accessibility, reduce congestion, catalyze economic development, and connect communities,” wrote Borough President Adams in his testimony. “These proposals will offer resilient transit service to communities in dire need of more transportation options.”


In addition, Borough President Adams called on EDC to improve the existing plan by revisiting its site selection process in Red Hook, based on local concerns regarding “distance to the nearest points of transportation and to concentrations of community residents,” as well as the potential impact of adverse seasonal weather conditions, at the Beard Store site and Valentino Pier. He proposed greater consideration of a ferry landing closer to the dead end of Van Brunt Street, the dead end of Wolcott Street, or Atlantic Basin.


Borough President Adams’s testimony can be viewed on his website by visiting brooklyn-usa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Citywide-Ferry-Service-EIS-Scope-BP-Testimony-Comments.pdf.