It’s been less than a month since the citywide ferry service started with a new route between Wall Street and the Rockaways and riders are already complaining that the ferry is often late and that they can’t get on because it’s too full.
“Hell hath no fury like a bunch of brooklynites at sunset park told there’s no more room on the Rockaway Ferry. More boats plz,” tweeted Liz Donohue over the Memorial Day weekend — when it was cold and rainy.
That doesn’t bode well for beach-goers who were hoping to pack onto the ferry service in the heat of summer.
The rebranded East River ferry service has had problems with delays, as well.
Further, riders are irked that they sometimes lose cash when they activate their e-tickets — and then can’t board because of crowding.
“People – do not activate ticket until last second. If ferry is too crowded to board, you lose full value,” tweeted Roger Westerman.
Mayor de Blasio appeared tickled by the ferries’ popularity on Thursday.
“It’s a good problem to have,” he said during a press conference to introduce a new South Brooklyn ferry service, which is launching on Thursday morning.
De Blasio said the city plans to keep adding more boats until it can match capacity.
“We’re going to keep adding what we need to make it work,” he said.
He also said he still thinks the new boats the city just bought, which hold 150 riders, are big enough to meet demand, but he may reconsider that later.
“We believe right now they are the right size. When we see the whole system come together, we’ll get the full picture,” he said. “But if we need larger boats, we’ll again, we’ll make that adjustment.”




