STATEN ISLAND — Tourists, you are taking too long and making New Yorkers late.
And in the case of the Staten Island Ferry, the Department of Transportation is actually going to do something about it.
The Department of Transportation will completely close the upper deck on some boats — which is mostly filled with tourists who take too long to climb down the stairs and disembark.
The DOT started the pilot program last month that would close the Hurricane Deck on the three Molinari-class of boats over the weekends to see if it would reduce delays on the ferry, a spokeswoman for the agency said.
The pilot program launched on June 17 and will end on July 17, but the DOT announced on Twitter on Monday.
In an effort to reduce delays we're piloting closures of Hurricane Decks on Molinari-Class #SIFerry vessels during different times of day/wk pic.twitter.com/S132WrdxyM
— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) July 10, 2017
The Hurricane Decks — the highest level on the ferry — are mainly used by tourists trying to get a better view during the free ride, the DOT said. They can hold about 465 passengers, about 10.5 percent of the total capacity of boats.
However, tourists take too long to climb the stairs and get off the boat, extending the time for staff to clear the ferry of passengers before they can let the next batch in, the DOT said.
The idea to close the upper levels during tourist heavy times started after residents brought up concerns about delays from the increased ridership of the ferry — expected to get worse when the New York Wheel and Empire Outlets open — to the mayor during his week of working in the borough.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced they would bring back lower-level boarding in September to help the problem, but the DOT realized it would only help embarking the boats, the agency said.
They decided to pilot closing the upper levels on four weekends to see if it would help passengers disembarking the boats.
The agency said they would analyze if the program worked to determine the feasibility of instituting it full-time.
