The Economic Development Corporation has launched a search for potential new ferry operators — with a goal to make money instead of being completely buoyed by tax dollars.
Ferries
Posted inEnvironment
Coney Island NYC Ferry Site Could Dredge Up Toxins
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. Standing between Coney Island and a planned NYC Ferry dock: toxic chemicals at the bottom of polluted Coney Island Creek — including mercury, PCBs, lead, dioxins and pesticides. That’s the finding of sample tests […]
Posted inFerries
Developer Floats Ferry Link Between Upper East Side and Astoria
A developer wants the city to extend a ferry line by one stop to connect Astoria with the Upper East Side – at public expense. The Durst Organization recently opened the first tower in a planned seven-building residential complex in Astoria, about a 10-minute walk from the neighborhood’s ferry terminal. The ferry route currently runs […]
Posted inFerries
Double Duty: How an Overseer of NYC Ferry Became an Investor
In early 2018, the company that runs the city’s ferry system scored a major investment from a deep-pocketed firm. Onboard that deal was Mark Patricof, a member of the board of directors that governs the New York City Economic Development Corp. (EDC) — the quasi-public authority that oversees and helps fund the NYC Ferry system, […]
Posted inFerries
Stringer Fires Another Torpedo at EDC’s Embattled Ships
Questioning the integrity of the selection process behind the city’s ferry program, Comptroller Scott Stringer again on Tuesday sent back an $82 million plan to buy new boats. THE CITY reported last week that the Economic Development Corporation judged a bid from ferry operator Hornblower Cruises to be cheaper than a competing offer from three […]
Posted inFerries
Comptroller: Put NYC Ferries in DOT Hands
The agency that runs the Staten Island Ferry should consider taking the helm of the city’s new ferry system “as soon as possible,” City Comptroller Scott Stringer said Wednesday in the wake of THE CITY’s report on the high price paid for boats. Taxpayers are on the hook for as much as $369 million worth […]
Posted inFerries
City Hall’s $369 Million Riverboat Gamble on Ferries
The boats for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s signature ferry program could soak taxpayers for up to $369 million — a cost that might have been avoided under another operator, which offered to use its own vessels, bidding documents show. In 2016, the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced it had picked San Francisco-based Hornblower […]