Ferry Route Into Long Island City To Launch This Month

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS -- Long Island City residents can take the New York City Ferry to even more parts of lower Manhattan when the service launches its new Lower East Side route on Aug. 29, city officials announced Wednesday.

Long Island City will be the last stop on the new route, which will take passengers on a 32-minute trip up the coast of Lower Manhattan from Wall Street/Pier 11, to Corlears Hook, Stuyvesant Cove and East 34th Street before landing at Gantry Plaza State Park in the Queens neighborhood, according to the NYC Economic Development Corporation.

“For the same cost of a subway ride, New Yorkers that live and work in these communities will now have a fast, affordable and convenient way to get around the city," said NYCEDC President James Patchett.

The route will become the third to service west Queens. It's similar to the Astoria route, which docks in the neighborhood's Hallets Cove and makes stops in Long Island City, Roosevelt Island, East 34th Street and Wall Street/Pier 11. Though the East River route primarily services Brooklyn, it also makes a stop in Queens at Hunters Point South.

On the borough's other side, a Rockaway route takes passengers between the southeast Queens beach, Brooklyn's Sunset Park and Wall Street/Pier 11.

Since its May 2017 launch, NYC Ferry has served more than 5 million riders across the Astoria, East River, South Brooklyn and Rockaway routes. The new Lower East Side route is projected to serve another million riders, which the city expects will shrink commutes for residents of those neighborhoods.

Before the Lower East Side route launches, the city will kick off the Soundview line on Aug. 15. That will shuttle riders between the Bronx's Clason Point Park, East 90th Street on the Upper East Side, East 34th Street and Wall Street in a 54 minute trip.

Lead photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images