City Announces Expansion of NYC Ferry Routes, Including Coney Island

With the L train shutdown slowdown in full swing for the indeterminable future, there’s a bit of potentially good commuting news for New Yorkers who travel by boat.

Building on the momentum from routes added during the summers of 2017-2018, the NYC Ferry Service just announced plans to expand its reach to the Staten Island, Coney Island, the West Side of Manhattan, and Bronx waterfront communities in 2020-2021.

With an annual ridership projected at a whopping 11 million by 2023, the city plans to invest $100 million to purchase new boats, construct new landings, and renovate in existing landings. (Overcrowding of shops is already a problem.) Also of note, the system’s fare structure will maintain its price of a MetroCard ($2.75 per ride), and free transfers up to 90 minutes between ferry routes.

Service expansion is as follows, per NYC Ferry:

• Launch of the St. George Route in 2020: St. George, Battery Park City/Vesey Street, Midtown West (W. 39^thStreet/Pier 79)
• Launch of the Coney Island Route in 2021: Coney Island, Bay Ridge, Wall Street/Pier 11
• Extension of the Soundview Route in 2021: Throgs Neck/Ferry Point Park, Soundview/Clason Point, East 90^th Street, Midtown East/E. 34^th Street, Wall Street/Pier 11
• Modification of the South Brooklyn Route in 2021: The South Brooklyn Route will be reconfigured to commence from Sunset Park/Brooklyn Army Terminal instead of Bay Ridge, which will be added to the new Coney Island Route, and will no longer stop at DUMBO/BBP1. Alternatively, DUMBO/BBP1 will only be accessible via the East River
• Modification of the Astoria Route in May 2019 to include Brooklyn Navy Yard