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Astoria Ferry Service to Launch in August, City Says

 The new Astoria ferry landing under construction at Hallets Point.
The new Astoria ferry landing under construction at Hallets Point.
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DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly

HALLETS POINT — The city's new ferry service will start running in Astoria in August, officials announced Thursday.

The new route — which will connect Astoria riders to Roosevelt Island, Long Island City, Midtown and Lower Manhattan — is the third new line expected to launch this spring and summer as part of the NYC Ferry service, formerly dubbed the Citywide Ferry.

Passengers will be able to board boats at a new dock that's currently under construction on the waterfront near the Astoria Houses, off of Vernon Boulevard between Welling Court and 30th Road.

The area is located on what's known as the Hallets Peninsula, a piece of land that juts out into the East River, where the nearest subway station is about a 20 minute walk away.

"The ferry will transform Western Astoria, by providing new and convenient commuting options for residents who live only 1,550 feet from Manhattan but usually have to transfer between buses and subways," Councilman Costa Constantinides, who represents the area, said in a statement Thursday.

Rides will cost $2.75, and will connect to ferry landings in Long Island City's Gantry Plaza State Park, on Roosevelt Island and at East 34th Street and Wall Street in Manhattan.

The city did not have an exact launch date for Astoria service other than that it would start in August.

Service on the city's other new ferry lines will start even earlier. The first will launch in Rockaway on May 1, a month ahead of schedule, followed by a South Brooklyn route that will start running June 1.

NYC Ferry will also take over operations of the existing East River Ferry lines by May 1, with fares on those routes to drop from the current $4 weekday and $6 weekend price to $2.75, officials said.

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