More Ferries Go More Places, While N.Y.C.’s Costs Go Up

"Silent" music wedding is such an amazing and sweet idea!! I think this will catch on. Perhaps especially for public spaces that need be remain silent.

One doesn't need a demographic study to see two things about this ferry service. One, it's basically a public subsidy to the real estate business and two, it's designed to serve rapidly gentrifying areas. Given the rising rents all over the city why are we using public dollars to stimulate cost even more? I'm all for public transportation but these waterfront communities and the mayors proposed rail line are a boon to developers at the expense of basic subway and bus service for the rest of us. On the second point, gentrification typically means younger, whiter neighborhoods while again, basic service to communities of color stagnates. If folks can afford two million dollar waterfront apartments, more power to them. But then they can also afford the full fare for their waterfront ferry.

“consider that for the same price you could hop a ferry from Wall Street to Rockaway Beach, Queens, and find yourself whooshing through New York Harbor and past the Coney Island Cyclone.” Tune of ”Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody” Rockaway’s awaiting With a ferry subsidy. We can smile, ride in style. Past the Isle of Coney. No better transit deal in town The Mayor brought the fare way down With craft beer or fine vino No better way to get around that we know. Driving can be grating, And the subway’s not for me. And oh, the bus? What a fuss The traffic tends to be. So let’s set sail, the water sure is pretty, What’s more, the fare is mostly on the City. Get away to Rockaway, baby, With a ferry subsidy.

Staten Island, which is an island surrounded by water, pardon the sarcasm, still has no fast ferry service on its South and West shores. Staten Islanders in these areas face some of the longest commutes in the country due to congestion on the Staten Island Expressway. Ferries serving these areas would offer relief to commuters opting for the ferry and reduce congestion on the SIE. Why are these areas being neglected and why was the first fast ferry put in service on the North Shore of the island right next to the current Staten Island Ferry?

If the ferries can receive such gracious subsidies, is there any hope for the MTA???

I live in BayRidge and it’s 3/4 mile walk to the R (rarely) train. The ferry has been a welcome addition to our community of mostly lower middle class to middle class families, not only commuters. Glad to see coverage in the NYT because a surprising number of people are still unaware of its advantages and even its existence. Hopefully as more people ride, subsidy’s will fall. Our beautiful waterfront needs to be utilized by everyday people.

Gondolas are energy efficient, environmentally safe, give people jobs and are beautiful. Put a sail on a long boat and it’s quick. Why let one company get a subside when there could be so much free market competition? Why subsidize something people would willingly do?

The ferries serve the Bronx and Queens and Harlem, were instigated by a socialist in Gracie Mansion who puts race ahead of all decisions and critics think they favor the wealthy? Do they mean all those hedge fund managers living in the south Bronx? Here’s a real subsidy: For $2.75 you can ride the subway all day from Far Rockaway to Pelham Bay and back. For the same $2.75 you can ride the SBS bus from 86th to 57th. The city shouldn’t be subsidizing anyone’s commute and you should pay for what you use.

"What Is the Met Gala, and Who Gets to Go?" Obviously, it is both a party and an enormous fundraiser. Why the saucy style, as though a fundraiser should be thought of as yet another strike against the well-heeled? The secrecy around who goes and what happens is silly but helps sell tickets and provides pizazz. The people who attend the gala are rich enough to shell out big bucks so that Bill de Blasio can continue to insist that the Met remain "free" to those who pay a hundred dollars every month for cable TV but shouldn't be asked to shell out even five dollars to visit one of the best museums on earth. Money from this gala is earmarked for the Costume Institute (which also contains the priceless collection the self-consciously egalitarian Brooklyn Museum didn't want anymore), but that leaves more money for the upkeep of the rest of the museum. Individual Met membership is about $90 a year, maybe less. Again, most people pay that every month for cable. To each his own.

I wondered about the environmental impact of subsidizing and catering to a minority of the city's residents, Going back to 2016, the most recent I could find: The new citywide ferry service set to launch next year will significantly increase air pollution at docks along the East River, according to an environmental report released by the city — especially in Midtown and Lower Manhattan, where air quality is already poor. So, while we subsidize the more affluent inhabitants of Brooklyn and Queens, we are possibly harming the environment.