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East River Ferry Gets A Bigger Boat (For The Weekends)
By
Garth Johnston
Published May 25, 2012
Modified May 25, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published May 25, 2012
Modified May 25, 2012
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Yup, they're getting a bigger boat. After being surprisingly popular from the get-go, the still-in-a-pilot-phase East River Ferry program is expanding weekend service, starting tomorrow, by bringing in 399-seat boats (as opposed to the 149-seaters they run during the week).
While the service is popular with weekday commuters it is really popular with weekend daytrippers and tourists who use it to explore other neighborhoods and events (Smorgasburg!). But bringing in the new boats isn't as simple as just floating up to the dock. As CityRoom reports, the new boats were proposed last fall but
"that would have required more money from the city. The Dumbo landing in Brooklyn was too small to accommodate the bigger boats and too narrow for the herds of passengers boarding and disembarking there, he said. As a compromise, the city last week opened a bigger floating dock 100 yards south, at the edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park."
With all that cleared up, the new boats start picking up passengers this weekend—news that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn was so excited about that she took time off from her honeymoon to talk it up to the press.
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