LONG ISLAND CITY — The new ferry landing that's planned for Hunters Point will have its own waiting area and bathrooms on the boat itself, according to city officials, who said they're looking to minimize any negative impact the station might have on the surrounding area.
The city's Economic Development Corporation is considering two possible locations in Long Island City for a new ferry dock — part of a larger plan to launch ferry service citywide in the next few years — including on Center Boulevard in Gantry Plaza State Park.
Local Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan voiced concerns last week about the potential impacts of having the station located in the park, including the fear that lines of passengers would cause "undue wear and tear" on the green space or overwhelm the park's only restroom.
"How will lines of people be handled at this location? The park should not be a queuing location for the ferry," she wrote in a letter to the EDC.
But EDC officials said they've designed the future ferry landings to accommodate waiting passengers so they won't need to line up outside the station. Each site will have a barge that can fit 90 to 130 passengers as they wait, which will also offer seating and a canopy overhead.
And while the barges won't have bathrooms, there will be working ADA-accessible restrooms on the ferries, officials said.
"We really see these landings as amenities to the places that they are," EDC official James Wong said. "We hope that in addition to providing access, they benefit not only the local neighborhood around it but bring new users from different parts of the city into places like the park."
The new ferry line is set to launch in Long Island City in 2017, and will connect to Astoria, Roosevelt Island, Midtown and lower Manhattan. It will be the second ferry station in the neighborhood, which already has an East River Ferry stop.
In addition to the site in Gantry Park — located on the very northern end of Center Boulevard — the EDC is considering placing the new station at the end of 44th Road, though a final determination has yet to be made.
