City Island residents are hoping the Big Apple’s controversial $15 congestion toll will enable new transportation options in the Bronx enclave.
With the introduction of fees scheduled for June, a growing group of islanders living in the charming seaside community known for its seafood are finding cheaper and faster ways to get to other parts of the city. There are increasing calls for the use of ferries.
Supporters of ferry service at the 1.5-mile refuge argue that passenger boat travel would not only ease the weekday commute, but would also draw tourists from the other four boroughs.
A 2019 feasibility study considered adding ferry service to City Island or nearby Orchard Beach, but there has been no movement toward that possibility since.
“I certainly think that with future congestion pricing, this proposal should be reconsidered,” longtime resident John Doyle told the Post on Tuesday.
Citing census data, Doyle said about 10% of City Island’s 4,500 residents regularly commute to Manhattan, while the remaining 8% commute to Brooklyn by car or public transit. He pointed out that he goes to
The MTA’s congestion pricing plan is set to begin in June, and drivers traveling south of 60th Street in Manhattan will be charged a $15 fee once a day.
The program is supposed to reduce traffic and pump billions of dollars into struggling transit systems, but one of the main complaints is that working-class residents in the suburbs have no access to viable public transportation. They didn’t have the means to do so and had to use public transportation more often. If you drive into Manhattan, you get paid.
“We’ve seen in the way environmental policy, in the way urban policy works, that congestion pricing is on the horizon to try to get people to use their cars less, so here’s a very attractive option available to urban islanders. “Yes,” Doyle said, noting that there has been a renewed push to build a ferry about a year ago.
website Established by citizen group City Island Rising Residents are encouraging their elected officials to support the landing of New York City Ferry, which operates six regular routes and has more than 20 stops in the city.
The closest New York City ferry to City Island is Ferry Point Park in Throggs Neck.
David Diaz, who has lived on City Island for seven years and works in midtown Manhattan, said his commute typically takes more than 90 minutes if he takes a bus to subway line 6. He also drives a car sometimes.
“I think kind of the idea behind congestion pricing is to try to limit the amount of cars, trucks, etc.,” Diaz said. “And now people will be looking for another option to enter the country without going through that route. In that case, ferries will definitely provide that.”
A 2019 feasibility study conducted by the New York City Economic Development Corporation, which oversees New York City ferries, found that a direct ferry route from City Island to Midtown and Lower Manhattan would reduce commute times, but It has been shown that too few residents are moving.
If a pier were built around Orchard Beach, it would take 20 minutes for the nearest residents to reach the ferry, meaning service from that location would “not be able to compete with existing transportation in the surrounding area.” To do.
New York City Ferry did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.
But Doyle and Diaz argued this week that the five-year study did not adequately examine the number of visitors the ferry could bring to City Island from other parts of the five boroughs.
During the warmer months, long lines of cars resembling the final scene of the baseball movie “Field of Dreams” wait to arrive on the island in search of the various nearby seafood restaurants.
Mr Doyle called it a “legendary traffic jam” on the roads entering the island, but he hoped there would be more foot traffic coming off the ferry, which could boost business on the island’s high street. There is.
“What we’re trying to do is be a destination,” Diaz added. “How can I get here from Brooklyn, Queens, or Manhattan without taking public transportation or driving?”
