Mayor Bill de Blasio says that New York City's new ferry line will make its maiden voyage a full month ahead of schedule.
On May 1, the NYC Ferry (formerly known as the Citywide Ferry Service) is casting off with the first of six planned routes: the Rockaway Route connecting the far-flung Queens neighborhood to Manhattan, as well as the revamped East River Route.
"Rockaway residents have some of the longest commute times in the city," Mayor de Blasio said in a statement. "We promised we'd bring them our new NYC Ferry service first, and today we're delivering on that promise."
The Mayor's Office says several new ferry landings in the Rockaways are nearly complete, and now that the first of the new ferry fleet has arrived in New York Harbor, it's just a matter of weeks before they start shuttling New Yorkers across the waves.
"Queens is pleased with the accelerated start date for the Rockaway route, which has long been underserved by traditional mass transit," Queens Borough President Melinda Katz said in a statement. "The revised service hours are a direct result of the city's consideration of the community's significant input and insights on its needs. By this time next month, the future of transportation will be up and running."
The ferry system is set to further expand on June 1 with the launch of the South Brooklyn Route, which will make stops in Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Red Hook, and Brooklyn Bridge Park. The opening of the Astoria Route is set for August, and routes to Manhattan's Lower East Side and the Soundview section of the Bronx are planned for 2018.
Once the new system is fully up and running, officials estimate its 20 vessels will make about 4.6 million trips per year. For context, the MTA says that New York City's subways log about 5.2 million rides on an average weekday.