Ferry Service Coming to Grand Street on the Lower East Side in 2018
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Photo: East River Ferry
It’s a long way off, but Lower East Siders can look forward to ferry service approximately three years from now. An eternity, and a time when the Essex Crossing will have already borne fruit.
Mayor de Blasio announced in his State of the City speech yesterday that the city would spend $55 million to expand service across the Five Boroughs. Ferry routes – run and funded by the city – include Astoria, southern Brooklyn, Grand Street on the Lower East Side, Soundview in the Bronx, and Rockaway Beach. Rides will cost the same as a subway ride, he noted.
The Grand Street terminal had been included in an EDC study last fall as a probable successful route, serving “an economically diverse population” here on the East River. It would further provide those living in public housing residents – historically transit-underserved – an additional option. The stop will expand the limited infrastructure by providing access to local Citi Bike terminals, the M14, and the M21.
But a ferry landing at Grand Street probably won’t become a reality until 2018.
“I applaud Mayor de Blasio’s proposal to expand ferry service citywide, including stops at Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and Grand Street on the Lower East Side, as I urged with colleagues in October,” State Senator Squadron noted.
“For lots of New Yorkers who live in fast growing waterfront communities without enough transit options, new service is very – or ferry! – good news. New service will also provide another option when existing networks are compromised, as happened during Hurricane Sandy. And, it will expand access to our growing Harbor Park, a Central Park for the center of our city, from Pier 42 on the Lower East Side to Brooklyn Bridge Park and beyond.”
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