Live From Community Board 1: A Presentation Regarding Ferry Service

May 20, 2011 by
Filed under: 11211, 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn 

It took me awhile to upload it, but here it is. Footage from this week’s Transportation Committee meeting. A couple of items of interest were discussed:

  • The ferry service set to commence next month.
  • The proposed overhaul of West Street by the Department of Transportation.

For the purposes of this post I will focus on the ferry presentation. Enjoy!

New York Shitty analysis/synopsis:

  • The price for this service has yet to be set. Initially it was planned to be $3.00 “within zone” and $5.00 “outside zone”.
  • This service is subsidized by the city (Department of Economic Development).
  • Concerns about India Street were raised. It was noted this point of departure is not located close to public transportation, the area is rather desolate and security measures (such as additional lighting) need to be put in place.
  • Here’s my two cents: this is undoubtedly someone’s “pet project”. As a Greenpoint resident— and while it might be nice to, say, be able to go to Governor’s Island— I cannot honestly see how this service is going to alleviate our transportation woes in any real, lasting way. What’s more, it is rather expensive. In the case of India  Street in particular it does not seem to be very well thought out. As stated, the location of this stop is not close to public transportation, there really isn’t anything in the way of sites of interest to be found nearby and being rather desolate the concerns about security which were raised are quite salient. In this respect I found the prospect of having an automated machine selling tickets somewhat troublesome; I lay odds this device will be both vandalized and looted on a routine basis. Lastly, I found it rather telling that the stops for this ferry were placed at locations where the city wants to foster economic development. This would certainly explain why it doesn’t go to 14th Street (which I suspect a number of folks hereabouts would find quite useful). Sorry folks, I cannot get terribly excited about this.

Miss Heather

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Comments

3 Comments on Live From Community Board 1: A Presentation Regarding Ferry Service

  1. eagle_teater on Fri, 20th May 2011 10:01 am

    2. On the other hand:
    1) might result in actual NYC Sanitation service in that area finally
    2) might (I’m not holding my breath) provide an alternate to the L train for the OSA concerts at East River park
    3) it would be really nice (especially if they allow bikes) to have an easy way to get to Brooklyn Bridge Park and the new parks over along the BQE.

    On the whole, though, I agree with you. It clearly is not designed with actual commuters in mind. What train, for example, is at 34th Street? None. You have to walk all the way up to Lex for the 6, no?

  2. missheather on Fri, 20th May 2011 2:26 pm

    3. What bothers me more than anything is our tax dollars are subsidizing this endeavor. I have a really crazy idea: why not allocate that money towards fixing the f**king G train? Oh wait: a developer won’t benefit from that.

    sigh…

  3. Diamond Joe on Sun, 22nd May 2011 8:32 am

    4. Put a bus stop or a bike share station or something else there to get home from India Street and I’m all about it. Guess I’ll have to get a beater bike to take to/from the ferry if/when I use it, which means any trips I make on it will have to be planned in advance and probably only in good weather

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