NEXT STOP JOISEY: COUNCILMAN PROPOSES NEW HUDSON RIVER FERRY UPTOWN
Councilman Mark Levine wants to add at least one ferry stop on the Upper West Side — preferably West Harlem — that would take people to and from New Jersey and other parts of Manhattan. Levine, who represents the West side north of 96th street, sketched out his idea in a column for amNewYork this week. He said the piers at West 125th street coud serve as a connector for ferry service to and from Edgewater, NJ, Inwood and piers at West 39th street.
Ferry service from West 125 Street would alleviate crowding on the increasingly overcrowded 1 train, which runs on Broadway just a short walk from the river. With thousands of new students and staff set to descend on Columbia University’s soon-to-be-opened Manhattanville campus, the need for a new transportation hub is even more acute.
A West Harlem-to-Edgewater ferry would give uptown residents access to jobs in Bergen County. And it would bring New Jersey customers to upper Manhattan businesses, especially the burgeoning restaurant scene on 12th Avenue. Ferry service also would remove scores of vehicles from our streets, allowing New Jersey commuters who otherwise drive down from the George Washington Bridge to leave cars at home. Fewer cars spewing fumes means better health for us in a community with high asthma rates.
To read the whole column, click here.
Photo by Jeremy Hunsinger.
How about a link from 96th or 72nd to Hoboken and/or Jersey City?
Hear, hear!
Thirded!
Stops at Hoboken, Newport, Exchange, 72nd and 96th during the rush hours. Don’t know if the 12th ave restaurant biz is enough to support a ferry. Ferries are expensive to run.
Whew! When I read your tweet, I thought you meant a ferry at the 79th St Boat Basin, and boy wouldn’t THAT raise a stink! (Even though it would be very convenient for myself)
We don’t need no more Jersey people. lol. But seriously, if you’re my age, you may remember the boat that went to Bear Mountain from 125th Street, before the pier burned down.
I have a picture of an ‘electric’ ferry from when I was very young (early 1950’s). Is this what you were referring to?
This is very welcome news. Why not take advantage of the water as an alternative form of transportation? Sydney, for one, rediscovered its waterfront and successfully made water transportation a significant part of its overall infrastructure; waterfront neighborhoods subsequently flourished. Unfortunately, perhaps the biggest problem with this idea in our case is that, to date, fares on these ferries has been prohibitively expensive. I hope they figure out a way to make the price more attractive. Nonetheless, again, I am very glad to hear that efforts are being made along these lines.
more ferries the better.
how about a water taxi along the Manhattan coast. you can hop on and hop off, 20 blocks, 40 blocks or more later..
I mean, seriously. Why would this be a bad thing? I submit to you that the answer is that it would not!