Citywide ferry service is set to launch this summer, with routes from the Rockaways, south Brooklyn and Astoria, but there's no official start date just yet. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report.
For the price of a subway ride, New Yorkers will soon be able to travel around the five boroughs by water.
"We have not had citywide ferry service in a century in New York City," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "This is a big new thing."
The service will begin this summer, with ferries making trips from the Rockaways, south Brooklyn and Astoria. But the mayor says New Yorkers will have to wait until April to learn the actual launch date.
"Right now, we are going to keep it to a nice, clear 'this summer,'" de Blasio said.
Trips from Soundview in the Bronx and the Lower East Side are scheduled to begin next year.
"It's a game-changer for folks who right now have a very very long commute," de Blasio said.
Work is underway at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for a storage and maintenance facility for the ferry boats. It will also be the location of an additional ferry stop as well.
The Navy Yard is going to be the main jobs hub for the ferry system, 200 positions in all, the mayor says, with about half of them paying $50,000 a year or more.
"We need people to start out as deck hands and be able to work their way up to good-paying, long-term jobs," de Blasio said.
The city is subsidizing the ferry system by $30 million a year, on top of a $55 million investment in structures like ferry landings.
"It does cost money, but I think that this is a really smart investment for New York City," the mayor said.
The cost for riders will be commensurate with a subway ride, but the ferries will not be part of the same transportation system, which means no transfers to the train once you arrive at your port of choice.
Unlike the subways, there will be food for sale on board the boats. The plan is for alcohol to be sold as well.