This summer, residents of transit-starved Soundview and other East Bronx neighborhoods will have a new option to get to Manhattan and points south: By ferry.
Last year New York City’s ferry system, priced the same as a $2.75 subway ride, has been hugely successful and meeting expectations years ahead of schedule in terms of ridership.
Now four new docks are currently under construction, including the Clason Point dock in Soundview as the city prepares to expand service.
Demand is so huge that the city is also adding six boats with higher capacities to handle this surge of residents flocking to this new form of transportation within our metropolis.
When the ferry system was announced in 2016, Welcome2TheBronx was the ONLY media outlet who noticed a glaring mistake on the design of the routes: The Soundview ferry would NOT stop at 34th Street, a major hub, and would have gone from E 62nd Street straight to Wall Street.
The ferry will operate out of Clason Point:
We argued that this would, once again, shortchange the people of The Bronx by not stopping at 34th Street where thousands of people could get off and either head to work or continue their commute by other means.
Then least year, our voices were heard and problem solved as now the Soundview Ferry will stop at 34th Street.
The ride from Soundview to Wall Street is estimated to take 58 minutes according to NYC Ferry’s website and will stop at E 90th Street as well as 34th Street along the way and serve an estimated 400,000 residents.
Residents of the immediate area currently endure commutes of almost 90 minutes by bus and subway to get there.
At any rate, we’re glad that The Bronx will finally get this much needed ferry service but if only we could expand it to other communities and areas like Yankee Stadium for West Bronx residents?
A ferry already stops there to drop off fans for games, why not allow a ferry to stop there to help the actual residents who LIVE in the neighborhood?
That’s probably too much to ask from a city that always thinks about The Bronx as an afterthought though.
This post was last modified on February 28, 2018 1:56 pm
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