It Was All a Dream / I’m on a Boat: the Bay Ridge Ferry Is Back
Bay Ridge has had a long history with ferries, especially at the foot of Bay Ridge Avenue. The 69th Street Ferry, as it was colloquially known, transported passengers and their cars across the Narrows to Staten Island for more than 50 years, from July 1912 until the opening of the Verrazano Bridge in November 1964. (From “Before Ferry Service Returns to Bay Ridge, A Look Back at Local Ferry History”)
Direct commuter ferry service from Bay Ridge to Lower Manhattan ended when the deteriorating 69th Street Pier was closed back in the early 90’s. Since then many groups have fought hard to bring it back.
In 2004, Councilman Vincent J. Gentile secured funds specifically for the construction of a 20 x 30 foot ferry slip to be attached to the newly renovated American Veterans Memorial Pier. For myriad reasons, it never materialized. But it got the attention of then Councilman Bill de Blasio of Park Slope.
The push to return ferry service to Bay Ridge reached its apex in 2008 when local Bay Ridge musician & activist Heather McCown and the Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance delivered thousands of signatures to Mayor Bloomberg demanding a commuter ferry from Bay Ridge to Lower Manhattan. But the NYC Economic Development Corporation at the time decided it would be more economical to give Sunset Park a new dock at 58th Street than to renovate the one at 69th Street. Thankfully, Councilman Gentile and the Waterfront Alliance were unfazed and kept on banging the drum.
2013 brought new hope with a new Mayor at City Hall. I almost immediately circulated a new petition calling on Mayor de Blasio & the NYC Economic Development Corporation to bring ferry service back to Bay Ridge once and for all. Thanks to you, the petition garnered several thousand signatures in just a few days. It was clear what the people wanted. And, this time, City Hall actually listened.
Soon we were told that Bay Ridge would indeed be a part of the Mayor’s 5 borough ferry plan. But we had been down this road before so some of us were still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
But now the day has finally come. Pinch me, I must be dreaming. The new ferry slip at the pier has been built and they even let some awesome local public school kids name a few of the new ferry boats!
After some 13 years of petitions, advocacy, fits, starts and endless hard work by many volunteers and civic groups who carried the torch all these years, commuter ferry service will return to the 69th Street Pier starting tomorrow, Thursday, June 1.
Congratulations, Bay Ridge! We did it!
See you at the pier!
