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Navy Yard Upgrades, Citywide Ferry Boat Purchases Funded in Mayor's Budget

By Alexandra Leon | April 27, 2016 2:16pm | Updated on April 27, 2016 2:57pm
 The Brooklyn Navy Yard will be getting an upgraded pier and four new ferries as part of the mayor's executive budget for 2017.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard will be getting an upgraded pier and four new ferries as part of the mayor's executive budget for 2017.
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Brooklyn Navy Yard

BROOKLYN NAVY YARD — The city is setting aside $42 million to buy four ferries for its new Citywide Ferry System, which will be based at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and is set to launch next year.

Mayor Bill de Blasio made the announcement Tuesday as he presented the city’s $82.2 billion fiscal year 2017 executive budget.

“We are building up water-based transportation, too — our Citywide Ferry System — in this budget,” de Blasio said.

The $42 million will be used to purchase four ferries that are currently part of the East River Ferry Service and will be retrofitted to be part of the Citywide Ferry System, a spokesman for the Economic Development Corporation said.

The funds will also be used to reconstruct a pier at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which will serve as the Citywide Ferry Service's homeport, according to the mayor.

Mayor Bill de Blasio first announced the five-borough ferry plan in his 2015 State of the City address.

The ferry will shuttle passengers from neighborhoods on the Rockaway peninsula, Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Red Hook, Astoria and Long Island City to Manhattan. It will cost the same as a MetroCard ride but has not yet been approved for free transfers between subways abd buses. It will run an estimated 4.6 million trips a year when it's fully operational in 2018, the city said.

The ferry service is expected to provide 155 new jobs, with an additional 40 jobs at the Navy Yard.

The city is also setting aside $328 million as part of its 2016-2020 executive capital plan to build three new ferries for the Staten Island Ferry system, according to a Department of Transportation spokesperson.