City News Conference Regarding Expanded Ferry Service Addresses Roosevelt Island Dock Construction

Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn announced today the start of Rockaway ferry service on May 12, restored service to Williamsburg and expanded east river routes. City and Council-funded programs to be joined with federal funding and allocations from Congress-members Nadler and Maloney.

According to the official news release the second phase of the plan will include the construction of a new dock on Roosevelt Island. Once again Congresswoman Maloney has shown her committment to bringing ferry service to Roosevelt Island.

It is expected this dock will be replace the dock currently sitting just South of the Octagon complex and across from the Dayspring Church on the Western side of the island facing Manhattan. The news release states that the ferry service route that will stop at this dock will be a private operator and apparently not the City-subsidized routes starting on May 12th. No dates were stated in the news release regarding construction start dates on Roosevelt Island.

So Roosevelt Island is one step closer to having access to the water. The questions still open are (1) how many stops per day (presumably during the morning and evening rush hours will the private operator make on the island (2) at what cost to the commuters and (3) how many residents will use (a) the service overall and (b) whether the location of the dock at North end of the island will influence their decision?

Update: 4:20 pm

According to an anonymous (uncomfirmed) comment left here and on the Roosevelt Islander, Mayor Bloomberg announced at the news conference that ferry service to / from Roosevelt Island would commence in 2010.

Should Roosevelt Island Have Two Docks?

As reported last week the Army Corps of Engineers has given its approval to plans to build / reconstruct / strengthen a dock to be located up by the Octagon to water taxi traffic. My question is whether two such docks should be operationally available. Yes, I know the first is not even operational but still I want to pose the question for the below reasons.

The first is not so much for daily commuting needs but to have in case of an emergency where a backup egress point would be necessary if the Tram, subway and Roosevelt Island Bridge were all out of service. The likelihood of this trifecta is quite small, although it has happened, but if for some reason the only way off the Island was via the water it would be helpful if more than one location was available for boats to dock.



The second reason involves the planned Tramway rehab and the need for additional transportation resources to cover the added commuter congestion on the subway. If the planned Octagon dock is successful as a commuting point we may actually see commuters traveling North in the morning to get of the Island. If there was a second dock perhaps the water taxi could make two stops with the second one closer to Southtown and the existing transportation hub.





Could the existing pier be modified so that a water taxi could dock there? Was that pier ever used as a true dock? It does not appear to jut far enough out into the channel but the size of the pier would lend itself to passengers boarding and de-boarding with ease.

The concept or a desire for ferry access or a water taxi is not new by any means and the December 1980 New York Times article provided below show that such service was discussed at a level above mere water cooler conversation after a Tram line had fallen causing the Tram to be off line at that time. With the pending Tram rehabilitation scheduled for 2008 or 2009 the issue again bears thought. Granted in 1980 there was no subway service on the Island and I believe the Upside Down Building and its stairway to the 59th Street Bridge might have been gone as well.

Perhaps the Octagon pier (if completed) will pick up the slack from the Tram but with only two stops planned in Manhattan and the only pick up point being up at the Octagon it is still questionable how many residents will take the water taxi as opposed to crowding onto the F Train.


Updated: 10:11 pm

As noted in the comments the “Subway Pier” has been used as a temporary dock for police boats depending on the need. The below photo, courtesy of the Roosevelt Islander, shows once such instance when the police were investigating a floating body that was nearby the Island. See the Roosevelt Islander’s post linked Here for that story.

New Water Taxi Dock - Comments from Bruce Becker & Steve Shane

The following are e-mails I received today upon specific requests for comments to both RIOC President Steve Shane and Bruce Becker of Becker and Becker and Octagon LP.

From: "Stephen Shane"
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:30:42

"RIOC Is delighted that another mode of transportation will be available for Roosevelt Island and will do whatever it can to promote its successful implementation.

The design for the dock facility has not been reviewed by RIOC but we will require obtaining the neccessary permits, licenses and approvals from the various City, State and Federal authorities having jurisdiction.

We have only had a support role so far. We approved the concept and urged the City Office of Emergency Management to get behind the application, which it did. We encouraged Congresswoman Maloney*s support."


- - - -

From: "Bruce Becker"
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:27:21
To:
Subject: RE: Octagon Dock Approval

"Hello Eric,

Yes, we are very pleased to be near the end of an exhaustive permitting process. The Army Corp permit was the last in a series of permits which were difficult to obtain, including a tidal wetlands permit from the DEC, a Coastal Zone consistency determination from the New York State Department of State, as well as a permit from New York City department of small business. This has been more than a two and a half year process including about six months spent designing dock improvements. Representative Maloney was very helpful in moving this process forward. We still have to work out funding agreements with the NYCEDC to utilize Federal funds which were secured for the purpose of making dock improvements by Representative Maloney, and arrange for required operating support for the water taxi operations.

We've been in discussions with New York Water Taxi for the last three years about bringing service to Roosevelt Island and adding our stop to planned routes up the East River. When service is established we expect to have service running to 34th Street and Wall Street. Eventually we hope there are many more options.

-Bruce "

Congresswoman Maloney Announces Approval Roosevelt Island Water Taxi Dock

For a link to the press release link HERE to Congresswoman Maloney’s website. This is major transportation news for the island. Check back here for updates and I am sure on related Roosevelt Island sites as more info is learned.

Apparently the dock will up at the Octagon. Presumably the new dock will replace the current dock, pictured below, which I posted about recently here on this site within a post about the "Prow". By having the dock at the Northern end of the Island it will be interesting to see how this would affect morning commutes off the Island and if such service is provided at what cost would it be offered to interested residents.