Ferry Service to Governors Island Back on Table
Governors Island is one of the greatest spots in the city for a day trip, but it’s currently a pain in the butt for Brooklynites to get to. Despite being closer to Brooklyn’s shores, Governors Island lacks ferry service to the County of Kings. There’s been talk over the past four years, but the first…
Governors Island is one of the greatest spots in the city for a day trip, but it’s currently a pain in the butt for Brooklynites to get to. Despite being closer to Brooklyn’s shores, Governors Island lacks ferry service to the County of Kings. There’s been talk over the past four years, but the first sign of any positive momentum in a while came on Friday when the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corp. approved $3.2 million in its capital spending plan to create a feasibility study and preliminary designs for a ferry landing in Red Hook that would host direct ferry service to the island. The federal government would have to pay for the construction, but a NY Post article says that it’s more likely to happen now that the city has taken control of the island from the cash-strapped and gridlocked state. And in the meantime, there’s supposed to be water taxi service to the island from Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Update: Leslie Koch, president of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, just wrote in with the following message: Last year, Governors Island ran free ferry service on Saturdays and Sundays from Fulton Ferry Landing. This service accommodated both pedestrians and bicycles. Governors Island will be providing that same service from Brooklyn on Saturday and Sundays when the Island is open from June 5 through October 10. We are working with the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation which is planning to open a dock at Pier 6, as we are hoping to move our free service from Fulton Ferry Landing to Pier 6 this summer. The new location cuts the travel time to Governors Island to three minutes, so boats will be able to run continuously between Governors Island and Brooklyn for free. Governors Island has always stated its intention to add a ferry from Red Hook that would provide pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle access. As a Boerum Hill resident, I very much look forward to taking the free Brooklyn service to Governors Island on weekends this summer.
Red Hook Ferry Project for Governors Island Back on Track [NY Post]
Photo by edwhitaker
why don’t you just swim. 10 minutes?
Comment from Leslie Koch, president of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation: “Last year, Governors Island ran free ferry service on Saturdays and Sundays from Fulton Ferry Landing. This service accommodated both pedestrians and bicycles. Governors Island will be providing that same service from Brooklyn on Saturday and Sundays when the Island is open from June 5 through October 10. We are working with the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation which is planning to open a dock at Pier 6, as we are hoping to move our free service from Fulton Ferry Landing to Pier 6 this summer. The new location cuts the travel time to Governors Island to three minutes, so boats will be able to run continuously between Governors Island and Brooklyn for free. Governors Island has always stated its intention to add a ferry from Red Hook that would provide pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle access. As a Boerum Hill resident, I very much look forward to taking the free Brooklyn service to Governors Island on weekends this summer.â€
It’s a 7-minute ferry ride from Manhattan–not exactly a long haul.
Thanks for checking, Ringo. I’ll Google it later and see if I can find it. Looking forward to riding my bike on Governors Island this summer.
Agree with Brownstonerlogin. Cannot wait for Pier 6 to be finished and would love to see a ferry service running from there to Gov’s Island. I’m sure the residents of 360 Furman would love that as well.
Isn’t anyone else troubled that they are going to spend $3.2 million on a “feasibility” study when there is no funding to actually build the ferry? And why do they need a big ferry, with a lot of infrastructure to build a ferry port, anyway?
Why not just subsidize the water taxi (which is going to happen anyway, according to the article) so that it will run more frequently? That would cost much less than $3.2 million. And the water taxi could make stops in both Red Hook and at Fulton Ferry or the new park when its open.
And I agree Red Hook is not the best location for the Ferry Terminal. It should be somewhere not too far from the subway — it would actually take a lot of Brooklynites less time to go to Manhattan to take the ferry from there than to do a subway-bus combo to Red Hook.
In general, I think NY should do more with the water as a form of transport (like Venice) – especially now that the waterways are not full of commercial shipping, but I don’t think a ferry that is not needed to get people to work is the place to start.
CGar, I just checked and I don’t have the email. Could have been from Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy or the BHA?
Although I love taking advantage of it myself, I don’t understand why this ferry service should be free?
Shouldn’t there be a self-sustaining fee for the service. Also, by making it free, you will kill off the also convenient water taxi.
Although I love taking advantage of it myself, I don’t understand why this ferry service should be free?
Shouldn’t there be a self-sustaining fee for the service. Also, by making it free, you will kill off the also convenient water taxi.