More transit good news arrived in our inbox today with word that the East River Ferry is starting limited service. The ferry will be running to Queens and Manhattan, so you now have another option if the horror of a sixteen hour line for the bus bridge is too much to take. According to NY Waterway, there will be two loops, one going north and another going south. The northern loop will run through North Williamsburg, Long Island City, and East 34th Street, arriving at each stop every 15 minutes. The southern loop will go through North Williamsburg, Brooklyn Bridge Park in DUMBO, and Wall Street/Pier 11, and arrive at each stop every half hour. NY Waterway will also be running its free bus service on East 34th street on a limited basis. The northern route will max out at 149 passengers per trip, while the southern loop has a capacity of 399 passengers. The last ferry out of both Manhattan locations will be at about 6pm.
Since the ticket machines took on damage, ferry staff will be selling the tickets onboard, but it’s cash only. NY Waterway has asked people to download the free NY Waterway ferry app, available here, or in the Android and iPhone stores, to speed things up.