NY Times article on the Brooklyn ferries

[MarkBearSF]

An interesting article on the Brooklyn ferries including some things to see in Red Hook.
A great article on the Brooklyn ferries (including some tips on things to see in Red Hook) https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/travel/brooklyn-ferry.html

[Cruise NH]

Used the ferry to get to the QM2 for the 2020 world cruise. We can’t recommend it enough.  Inexpensive and it gets you steps away from the ship.

[techteach]

@MarkBearSF Thanks for posting this link. I’ve saved it for our July 4th cruise next year.

[D&N]

We think 'NYC Ferry' are great. I'd been looking at them from 2018 when we first booked our TAs, and realised that in 2017/2018 they received a fleet of brand new purpose built vessels.

We used South Brooklyn route from Red Hook to Wall Street and return on our 5th June day in New York. Then on 4th July, on a separate visit, after a walk around Central Park, continued walking to East 90th Street Pier, boarding the Astoria route to zig-zag down East River to Wall Street. Transferring on same tickets to Rockaway route to Rockaway and with fresh tickets returned about 20 mins later.

Nearly 3 and half hours of river cruising in an air conditioned cabin for $5.50 each!

Being a public holiday and very hot, the queues/lines for the Rockaway boats were long but everyone got on with plenty of seats still available.

[techteach]

@D&N That sounds like a lovely way to spend the 4th in NY. Several years ago we booked a room in the Ritz Carlton at the Battery with a telescope and view of the Statue of Liberty. (No longer exists due to Super Storm Sandy). We watched the ships sail in and out and wanted to see the fireworks over the bay. Alas, they moved the fireworks to midtown on the Hudson. We ended up eating Sushi and drinking wine in Soho until midnight.

[Sushicat]

On 7/8/2022 at 4:35 PM, Cruise NH said:

Used the ferry to get to the QM2 for the 2020 world cruise. We can’t recommend it enough.  Inexpensive and it gets you steps away from the ship.

We are looking into this for upcoming TA on QM2. Which ferry route did you take and which stop is it that's steps away from the ship? Atlantic Avenue? Thanks for any additional advice!

[D&N]

Red Hook on the South Brooklyn Route.

You can see the ferry pontoon in the dock with gangway leading to access road near the terminal entrance and the canopy to left with white blocks in front is where folk queue.

If you are capable of getting your luggage aboard the ferry at the boarding jetty, you should have no problem at Red Hook.

This should be a link to the current timetable for that route.

https://images.ferry.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/22235744/Web-Scheds-Template_5-23_SBv2.pdf?_ga=2.256678923.1014499596.1657573659-753858623.1657381906

 

[frankp01]

The ramps are easy to navigate, if you have rolling suitcases. And there's plenty of room for luggage onboard. Not to mention the excitement of seeing the ship when you approach it from the water. I think the ferry is the best way to get to Red Hook.

[GTJ]

The NYC Ferry system has not been without some controversy, Perhaps of greatest concern for users is its lack of integration to the rest of the city’s public transportation system. It was in 1997 that Mayor Giuliani initiated the “One City, One Fare” program using the then-new MetroCards, permitting for the first time free universal multimodal transfers between buses and subways. Yet when the NYC Ferry began in 2017, it was planned as a distinct and separate program from the rest of the city’s public transportation system. While the NYC Ferry service matches the same $2.75 fare for buses and subways, there are no free transfers to and from the buses and subways, resulting in an intermodal fare of $5.50 . . . and a departure from the “One City, One Fare” promise made twenty years earlier. Accordingly, for city residents dependent on buses, because neither the subway nor ferries are within reasonable walking distance, making connections with NYC Ferry is discouraged by the double fare, and instead crowding onto an overcrowded subway train is encouraged by the free transfer. The apparent reason for the lack of integration is that it was necessary in order to make the numbers “work,” and if publicity of the lack of free transfers could be avoided the political benefit of starting up the NYC Ferry service could still be attained. There had been charges of excessive cost for NYC Ferry service, but the most recent reports from the Federal Transit Administration, in its National Transit Database, do not bear this out. In looking at the operating cost per revenue passenger mile (that is, the average cost of transporting a single person for one mile) for NYC Ferry is $2.69. (Don’t think that this means NYC Ferry is profitable with a $2.75 fare: the average trip length is greater than one mile, so the total operating expenses per unlinked trip are $15.30!) In comparison, the operating cost per revenue passenger mile is $1.70 for the Staten Island Ferry, $1.06 for the subways. $$2.94 for the buses operated by New York City Transit Authority (including its subsidiary Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority), and $3.51 for the buses operated by MTA Bus Company (the figure is higher than NYCTA primarily because of the large number of higher-cost express bus routes operated by MTABC). These statistics are reported on the route profiles attached hereto.

 

It is good to cruise vessel passengers using this NYC Ferry service. It would even better if some of them would join in calling for their integration to the rest of the city’s subsidized public transportation system.NTD NYC Ferry.pdf

NTD MTABC.pdf NTD NYCTA.pdf NTD S.I. Ferry.pdf

[D&N]

@GTJ  As you requested, I've made a comment on the MTA feedback system, suggesting that integrating NYC Ferry into the OMNY system would have made our travels even simpler. I added that this would benefit regular commuters as well as tourists.

 

I had previously read some criticism of the subsidy involved in the ferry system. One would expect a water based transit system requiring a fleet of new vessels and pier infrastructure and their ongoing maintenance to require high subsidy. Although the alternatives to increase capacity on East River crossings could have involved new bridges or tunnels. Both would involve massive capital investment and take many years to complete, if space exists for them. I'm not arguing for or against either, it's up to administrations and those who vote them in to decide what subsidy levels are acceptable.

 

From the point of view of positive benefit to New Yorkers, the Rockaway route was extremely popular with day trippers on Independence Day. We thought at one point we wouldn't get on the boat since the lines of folk carrying picnic and beach equipment were so long! Perhaps an expensive luxury considering the service needs to be paid for year round, but I wouldn't underestimate the benefits of having infrastructure that generates such obvious enjoyment for thousands.

[GTJ]

6 hours ago, D&N said:

From the point of view of positive benefit to New Yorkers, the Rockaway route was extremely popular with day trippers on Independence Day. We thought at one point we wouldn't get on the boat since the lines of folk carrying picnic and beach equipment were so long! Perhaps an expensive luxury considering the service needs to be paid for year round, but I wouldn't underestimate the benefits of having infrastructure that generates such obvious enjoyment for thousands.

One of the key policy aspects of public transportation is that it be provided equally without judgment as to the value of any particular trip purpose. That aspect is specifically codified in paratransit regulations, and so there is criticism when disabled persons reserve greatly-subsidized trips from their homes to race tracks and casinos, for gambling purposes, as if that trip purpose is unworthy of public subsidy. As I noted, there are controversies. Should large public subsidies be provided so persons wanting to picnic and swim at the beach? There are good arguments to be made on both sides.

[AF-1]

I plan on using the ferry in Oct.  I am staying at Hampton Inn near the Pier 11 terminal.  

[GTJ]

2 hours ago, AF-1 said:

I am staying at Hampton Inn near the Pier 11 terminal.  

An easy half-mile walk to the ferry . . . virtually no risk of traffic delay on any portion of the journey from hotel to vessel on embarkation day.

[AF-1]

3 hours ago, GTJ said:

An easy half-mile walk to the ferry . . . virtually no risk of traffic delay on any portion of the journey from hotel to vessel on embarkation day.

Thank you for your feedback.  I like your response;  I see you live in NY; so you are well versed in ferries.  Have a great weekend

[AF-1]

On 7/8/2022 at 2:52 PM, MarkBearSF said:

An interesting article on the Brooklyn ferries including some things to see in Red Hook.
A great article on the Brooklyn ferries (including some tips on things to see in Red Hook) https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/travel/brooklyn-ferry.html

sorry I can not access this article.  Website says I have to subscribe to read the article.  

[yorky1]

Hi. 
Im arriving at. Red Hook on Queen  Mary in September.    I need to get across to Manhatten Cruise Terminal to board an NCL.cruise 

What is best way to travel ?   Do I get the ferry to Wall St from Red Hook and then hail a cab ? Is there a better way to make the journey?  Thanks for your help 

[GTJ]

32 minutes ago, yorky1 said:

What is best way to travel [from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal]?

There are many ways to travel, no single method being the "best." An important consideration is whether you're facile with geography or if you routinely get lost. If you're traveling light, have a full day, and are in reasonable physical condition, then it could make for a lovely day to walk from Red Hook into Manhattan. You will see so much, and traverse the iconic Brooklyn Bridge (or, optionally, the Manhattan Bridge). It is just over eight miles, requires three hours without breaks (but almost certainly you will see things on the way that will cause you to stop). Public transportation would require multiple legs, as there is nothing that goes directly from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. There is a ferry that operates from the Red Hook landing, immediately adjacent to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, to Pier 11 in lower Manhattan, and by changing vessels (no extra charge) at Pier 11 to continue to the Est 34th Street landing (a misnomer as the landing is actually between East 35th Street and East 36th Street). M34 buses to the west side are available at the East 34th Street landing, and taxis direct to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal are available at both East 34th Street (3 miles) and Pier 11 (6 miles). There is also the B61 bus on Van Brunt Street, outside the Brooklyn Ferry Terminal, that travels into downtown Brooklyn, where there are numerous subway lines (no extra charge) into Manhattan, including the "C" train that goes to 50th Street, at Eighth Avenue, closest station to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal (4 blocks). Of course, the easiest way is to hire a taxi or TNC vehicle to take you directly from one terminal to other terminal, though that would be the highest cost option, and because it almost certainly be the fastest, it could leave at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, sitting around with nothing to do until the vessel becomes available for boarding. I have personally used all of these alternatives (but for going by taxi/TNC), each being the "best" for me at the time.

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, yorky1 said:

Hi. 
Im arriving at. Red Hook on Queen  Mary in September.    I need to get across to Manhatten Cruise Terminal to board an NCL.cruise 

What is best way to travel ?   Do I get the ferry to Wall St from Red Hook and then hail a cab ? Is there a better way to make the journey?  Thanks for your help 

If you have more than just some light carry on luggage skip the buses and subways. Either take a taxi or Uber directly from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal to the Manhattan Cruise terminal or take the ferry from Red Hook to Pier 11 and get a taxi or Uber from there.

Take your time disembarking the QM2 .  There's no need to get to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal too early.