12
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, MAY 12, 2019
FERRY
hood’s West End and that
they do not plan to offer a
shuttle to transport riders
to the beachside amusement
district.
The waters around the
site at W. 21st Street and
Neptune Avenue are both
too shallow and too narrow
to accommodate one of the
city’s vessels, according to
a senior project manager at
the Economic Development
Corporation, the quasi-governmental
agency tasked
with growing the city’s
economy that operates the
ferry system.
“As you move into the
creek, it gets shallower,”
said Doug Rose. “Not only
is the water depth a challenge,
but it’s also maneuverability
— our boats are
quite big…it’s just really
problematic for us.”
Rose said at the May 6
meeting that the vessels
cannot sail in less than
nine feet of water, and
the waters around W. 21st
Street measure only about
four feet deep, according to
the federal Offi ce of Coast
Survey . The senior project
manager added that offi -
cials instead plan to drop
the dock near the mouth
of the waterway, where the
waters are closer to 12 feet
deep, at either the fi shing
pier in Kaiser Park near
W. 31st Street, or at W.
33rd Street and Bayview
Avenue, which the most
recent feasibility study
noted poses “operational
risks” and challenges due
to shifting sands and the
width of the waterway’s
entry point.
And the proximity of
the W. 21st Street site to the
subway station six blocks
away also made it an undesirable
location for the
landing, since honchos intend
for the boat to improve
the commutes of people
in the peninsula’s transitstarved
West End, near the
sites at W. 31st and W. 33rd
streets, according to Rose.
“W. 21st Street is also
closest to the subway, which
intuitively might seem like
a good thing, but with the
ferry what we’re trying to
do is help people who have
the worst commutes currently,”
he said.
The announcement falls
in line with the agency’s
initially-announced plan
to build the dock closer to
the mouth of the waterway,
near W. 31st Street, which
spokeswoman Stephanie
Baez said was the tentative
location for the dock in
January, when the mayor
fi rst announced plans for
the People’s Playground
ferry, which will make a
stop in Bay Ridge before
sailing to lower Manhattan
in what offi cials estimate
will be a sub-40 minute trip
by 2021. But the agency’s
plans have remained in
fl ux since then: at a February
meeting with the local
Community Board 13, Rose
announced that offi cials
were in fact studying sites
within a 10-block swath of
the creek, stretching from
W. 23rd – W. 33rd streets,
to determine the best spot
for the berth within that
stretch. And at the Monday
night meeting, Rose said
the agency had only actually
studied the three aforementioned
sites, including
the one at W. 21st Street.
Local advocates from a
group called the Friends
of Coney Island Creek
Ferry and Landing fi rst
proposed dropping a dock
at W. 21st Street in 2013,
when they led a successful
test run in a 150-passenger
vessel to the site from Battery
Park. And Borough
President Eric Adams endorsed
the location in a
December 2017 statement
supporting the re-zoning
of a nearby block, and reiterated
his support for it
earlier this year. But local
environmentalists alleged
the ferry should go elsewhere
, claiming that the
creek is already fi lled with
derelict boats, debris, and
toxic waste — which they
noted would have to be regularly
dredged — and that
a dock at W. 21st Street and
Neptune Avenue would interfere
with recreational
use of the channel.
In 2012, offi cials suggested
creating a stop at
the fi shing pier site near W.
31st Street, but offi cials rejected
that location, claiming
it was too far from the
amusement district. But
this time around, city offi
cials said they’re prioritizing
the neighborhood’s
alleged 700 projected riders,
who make daily commutes
to lower Manhattan,
over tourists, which is why
they don’t plan to offer a
shuttle from the landing to
the amusement district, according
to an assistant vice
president at the economic
development agency.
“This isn’t set up or focused
to be bringing people
to the amusement district
or to the beaches,”
said Megan Quirk.
But the local community
board’s district manager
charged that beachbound
tourists will be
among the ferry riders, and
that they’ll be left stranded
near Kaiser Park.
“They’re going to look
for the beach and the
amusement park, and
they’re going to be stuck
there,” said Eddie Mark.
And the board’s chair
claimed that one of the Kaiser
Park locations could
lead to quality-of-life issues
for local residents, claiming
that ferry riders will
likely be loitering in the
area after they dismount
the vessel.
“They’re going to come
in, there’s housing right
across the street, how are
we going to move these people?”
said Joann Weiss.
But the amusement district
is already well-served
by four train lines, according
to economic development
agency spokeswoman
Stephanie Baez, who added
that honchos do not have a
timeline for when they plan
to pick the exact location,
and that they will continue
to analyze the two possible
dock sites.
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Continued from cover
ROCK THE BOAT: City offi cials have eliminated one of the three
sites in Coney Island Creek that they studied as a possible location
for a ferry landing. NYCEDC
/www.AntiqueAndEstateBuyers.com