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It’s My Turn

Ferry Makes A Real Difference


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I am a lifelong New Yorker, a nurse for over 46 years, and most recently, a convert to the city’s ferry service. As a Rockaway Park resident, I know firsthand how getting to and from the Rockaways can be long, convoluted and even frustrating, especially if you’re moving between the boroughs or heading into Manhattan. For many, the peninsula can seem like a transportation desert.

But the introduction of the NYC Ferry service has started to change that, offering a much-needed transportation link for communities like mine.

I work at the Birthing Center of New York in Sunset Park and arrive there every day by 9 a.m., where I help deliver babies. My work can be hectic, unpredictable, and I work hard to be on time and available for my patients. Before the ferry, this meant leaving my house at 6:40 a.m. and spending a minimum of two and a half hours on the train each way going to and from work.

That’s five hours of commuting every day.

Now, thanks to the ferry, my travel time is less than half that. Since the Rockaway route opened two years ago, I take the 8:15 a.m. ferry and the entire journey takes approximately 40 minutes – something I never thought was possible. The time I get back at the start and end of each day has made a huge difference to me and my family. Every day, I save about an hour and a half. That’s almost 8 hours a week – or a full workday.

Moreover, I can rely on the ferry to get me to work on time, enabling me to focus my attention and energy on providing the best possible care for my patients – mothers and their newborns. With the ferry, I’m even more accessible to talk to my patients by phone when they are concerned about their babies as opposed to when I used to take the train underground. And at $2.75 each way, I can afford this simpler, more efficient way of travel.

NYC Ferry has helped countless New Yorkers reduce their commutes by up to 30 minutes and has exceeded 11 million rides since it started. Here in the Rockaways, I have witnessed firsthand the ferries becoming an essential part of many of my friends’ and family’s commutes over the last two years. In fact, in the mornings I see friends and neighbors making the same journey either to Brooklyn or into Manhattan.

When I hear critiques of the new ferry service, they often fail to account for experiences like mine. The ferry service is one of the few meaningful improvements to the transportation network in the Rockaways, and it has significantly improved the quality of life for many residents. The reality is, neighborhoods like Rockaway Park need more transportation access, not less, and for many years communities like mine were overlooked and underserved.

The ferries are by no means a cureall— they are an addition to the subway and the city bus service, not a replacement. But the ferry offers an important alternative for residents in neighborhoods like mine. I hope the city will continue to explore new and innovative ways to build connections between the boroughs because this service has made all the difference for New Yorkers like me.

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