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Officials Call on City to Mitigate Hike in Pollution from Citywide Ferry

 The citywide ferry service will begin in 2017, officials said.
The citywide ferry service will begin in 2017, officials said.
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LOWER MANHATTAN — Elected officials and community leaders are calling on the city to do a better job mitigating the air pollution hike expected when the citywide ferry service launches next year.

According to an environmental report released by the city, an increase in the amount of air pollution, especially around docks for the new ferry service, will have a "potentially significant" impact on air quality.

In Lower Manhattan, where a dock will be located at Pier 11, at Wall and South streets, nitrogen dioxide levels would reach almost six times the national standard in open spaces and 1 1/2 times the national standard in residential areas, according to the report. Related pollution would also spread to buildings situated further inland, including residential and commercial buildings, the report says.

At a public city hearing last week in Lower Manhattan regarding the environmental report, representatives of several elected officials voiced concern over the jump in air pollution, especially Downtown, where air quality since Sept. 11 has been a major issue for residents. 

The environmental report says air pollution would be unavoidable in order for the project to move forward, but that the city will continue to seek out remedies down the road to minimize emissions from ferry engines. Possible long-term options include retrofitting ferry boats with nitrogen dioxide reduction technology or adding hybrid or all-electric ferries to the fleet, the report says.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who represents several areas that will be impacted by the ferries, including Red Hook and Sunset Park, said he had particular concern for Lower Manhattan, in a statement read by a spokeswoman at the meeting.

"Lower Manhattan has suffered from significant air quality problems since the days of 9/11," he wrote in the statement. "For all city residents, but for this neighborhood in particular, exposure to additional high levels of environmental pollution is deeply problematic."

Nadler urged the city to pursue means to mitigate the pollution quickly: "Steps must be taken to address these serious concerns if this proposed project moves forward."

In written testimony, Community Board 1's Director of Planning and Land Use, Diana Switaj also laid out neighborhoods concerns about the uptick in pollution.

Downtown, which already is impacted by the many ferries in New York Harbor, is also calling on the city to act as soon as possible to make the ferries more environmentally friendly.