Mostly White, Rich People Ride NYC Ferry, Survey Shows

NEW YORK — The crowds setting sail on New York City's ferries are much wealthier and less diverse than the straphangers who cram the city's subways and buses, newly released data show.

The long-awaited results from the city Economic Development Corporation's NYC Ferry ridership survey indicate city officials are pouring money into a public transportation service that largely benefits those who are well-off or white.

Some 64 percent of the ferry riders surveyed in May and June identified as white, according to the results released Tuesday. The remaining 36 percent were people of color — compared with 66 percent of subway commuters and three-quarters of bus commuters, according to one 2017 report.

Ferry riders' annual median income fell somewhere between $75,000 and $99,999, "slightly higher" than the $73,000 median of the system's service area, the EDC says. And only 36 percent of riders earn less than $75,000 a year, the survey found.

Those incomes are well above the typical earnings of subway and bus commuters, who have median incomes of $40,000 and $28,455, respectively, City Comptroller Scott Stringer has estimated. They're also higher than the city's overall annual median household income of $63,799, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

The figures released Tuesday came from the EDC's fourth survey of ferry riders. "Most results have remained consistent throughout" the system's two years in operation, the agency says.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration has heavily subsidized the NYC Ferry service, which has expanded to six routes touching four boroughs since its May 2017 launch. The city has touted the system as a new transportation option for underserved neighborhoods and kept the fare at $2.75 for a one-way ticket.

The city spent $10.73 on subsidies for each ferry trip in the 2018 fiscal year, more than double the public subsidies of $4.92 per ride for the MTA Bus Company, according to an analysis the Citizens Budget Commission released in March.

The per-ride subsidy dropped to $9.34 in the 2019 fiscal year and will fall between $7 and $8 after the system is expanded in the next two years, the EDC says. That number is in line with subsidies for the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad, according to the agency.

The planned expansion will also give more low-income communities access to the ferry system, the EDC argues. The St. George neighborhood on Staten Island, which will get ferry service next year, has a median income of $45,164, while the median income in Coney Island, where a route is due to launch 2021, is $33,909, the agency says.

"We look forward to expanding this service in the coming months to neighborhoods that have endured unacceptably long commutes to the City’s job centers, including Coney Island, Ferry Point Park (in The Bronx), and St. George," an EDC spokesperson said in a statement. "Our goal is make this service even more equitable and continue to connect New Yorkers from around the city using this system."