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Read the press release here.

Pols Want Hudson River Ferry With Stops in Washington Heights and Inwood

 Four West Side councilmembers would like to see Mayor de Blasio's ferry plan extended to the Hudson River.
Four West Side councilmembers would like to see Mayor de Blasio's ferry plan extended to the Hudson River.
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Flickr/otto-yamamoto

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Two local councilmen want to make Uptown residents’ commutes smoother sailing.

Councilmen Ydanis Rodriguez and Mark Levine, in conjunction with Councilmembers Helen Rosenthal and Corey Johnson, proposed a plan on Thursday to bring ferry service to Manhattan’s West Side.

The proposed route would run from Wall Street or Whitehall Street in Lower Manhattan all the way up to Dyckman Street in Inwood, including stops at 39th Street, 125th Street and 178th Street, according to a letter from the group to the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

The proposal follows Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement earlier this year that he would seek to develop a citywide ferry system. The mayor’s plan would expand ferry service to the Rockaways, South Brooklyn, Astoria and the South Bronx, with some routes expected to open by 2017.

However, none of the mayor’s proposed routes would offer service along the Hudson River, a fact that West Side politicians would like to see changed.

The councilmembers' letter pointed out that data from the MTA shows ridership on the 1,2,3, A and C subway lines has reached 350,000 people per day. 

“A ferry network with stops on the west side of Manhattan and uptown would help alleviate crowding on the increasingly over-packed 1 and A trains, remove hundreds of fume-spewing vehicles from our streets, and help stimulate economic activity," Levine said in an email.

Lucas Acosta, a spokesman for Rodriguez, echoed this idea and said a ferry route could serve two purposes. 

“We’re right now at the highest [ridership] capacities we ever have been,” he said. “It’s a matter of finding alternate ways for people to get to work.”

Acosta noted that ferry service could also help to bring more tourists — who tend to use ferries in other tourist-friendly cities — Uptown.

While infrastructure already exists at 39th Street and the two potential Downtown docking locations, 125th Street, 178th Street and Dyckman Street would need investments to build or expand their docks, the letter said.

Rodriguez, who chairs the Council’s transportation committee, has allocated $500,000 to build an appropriate dock at the Dyckman Street marina and is seeking more funding from the city Economic Development Corporation for the location. 

The EDC did not rule out the possibility of expanding service.

“A Citywide Ferry system is a historic undertaking that will benefit New Yorkers across all five boroughs," said EDC spokesman Ian Fried. "We look forward to exploring opportunities for further additions in the future as we work to implement an equitable ferry service that benefits riders throughout the City.”

Rodriguez also hopes that a new dock at the Dyckman marina could serve as a more direct route for farmers from the Hudson Valley to bring fresh produce to northern Manhattan. 

“We’re hoping that once we have that increased connection, more farmers markets would pop up in the area,” Acosta said.