It’s finally happening! After almost 18 months of suspension, NYC Ferry service to Greenpoint will return on Monday, November 14.
Councilmember Lincoln Restler tweeted the good news this morning. “Service will be restored to Greenpoint ferry stop on Monday morning, 11 /14,” the tweet said.
Tom Reller, Head of Communications at Lendlease, also confirmed that the Greenpoint ferry pier will reopen for service on Monday.
Greenpointers received a third confirmation from Greenpoint resident, Jeff Holmes, a spokesperson and Senior Vice President of Public Affairs for the EDC.
Holmes said, “We are thrilled to be bringing NYC Ferry service back to Greenpoint and look forward to welcoming riders on Monday. We appreciate the patience of Greenpointers, and all NYC Ferry riders, as we worked with Lendlease to safely restore the landing.”
If these three declarations were not confirmation enough, NYC Ferry finally tweeted this afternoon: “We’re excited to announce that the Greenpoint landing will reopen on Monday, November 14. We appreciate your patience and look forward to serving our Greenpoint riders once again on the East River route.”
NYC Ferry also released the new East River ferry schedule, with the addition of the Greenpoint stop.
Greenpoint residents have experienced a series of disappointing updates about this critical mode of transportation after NYC Ferry abruptly halted service at the India Street pier in May 2021.
In August 2021, Greenpointers reported that the ferry was projected to restore service to Greenpoint in May 2022, leaving riders stranded for an entire year. But, the one-year mark came and went, and there was no reopening date in sight.
After ferry service was suspended for 15 months, in August 2022, Isaac Henderson, the former Development Director at Lendlease, said the ferry’s return was “imminent,” however, he had to amend his statement as the bedrock ended up being “thicker and denser than what is normally encountered in similar locations in the river.”
Lendlease provided an update on their website on October 15 stating, “The anticipated launch of the landing will be in early November,” but Greenpoint residents were rightfully skeptical.
Fingers crossed that all goes well on Monday morning!
Shouldn’t the ride be free on Monday? We’ve waited long enough.
I remember hanging out down there in the 70s when coke a cola was the factory there on India street , there was a whole gang of us about 30-40 ,we would have bbqs right by the water in back of coke a cola ,
Late at night it became a lovers lane, I remember when the black out of 1977 we were hanging out drinking beer and smoking ,pot lol and half the city lights went out than the uptown lights went out ,,,all you could see was the far drives cars headlights and back lights ,,,,, soon after that Brookkyn lights went out ,,,,, I have so so many memories and stories of hanging out down the Huron Street and India street piers I really shoukd write a book ,but I don’t think anyone would believe it all , even remember the 1975 Bicentennial year ship that came threw there,,, we always had keg parties and in the winter nights we woukd get a large drum and put wood in it lite it up to keep warm
Ohhh How I wish I could go back to that time
My husband lost a friend who’s car went into the river but they couldn’t save him
Well I can go on and on as I walk down there I just look around and think ,,,wow who would of thought. All these buildings would of been there anyway thanks for listening to my memories but very happy there opening up the ferry service again
Love to hear memories of how the neighborhood used to be, Helen! Glad there was so much fun to be had here 🙂
Helen. You’re not the only one who remembers THAT India (and Huron) St. Pier. I was there, right along with you. That’s when Greenpoint was a real neighborhood. Ahh, memories.
Nice. Finally a quick efficient way to get to financial district Pier 11 from Greenpoint location where I live . I missed it. My company is on a hybrid model so when I need to go in vs working from home it’s better than
subway
As a senior I heard the good news the we will get a break just like on the subways.
However the issue is you have to go on the computer to apply and then go someplace to pick it up. Most seniors living alone or have kids who don’t want to be bothered by it are not computer literate over a certain age say age 70, ie the people who want it and many cannot travel to get the pass.
The city should simply the rules ie the whole process by mail or in each area a simple process where the senior can walk and get the pass.
If you do pub;ish my prpr comment, here is a version with most of the typos removed:
The ferry fares are up four bucks now, and Ii’s a hassle obtain senior citizens ferry discounts. An MTA senior citizen card should be enough proof.
But even for the young among us , in nasty weather ferry riders are quite literally “walking the plank” in trying to reach the ferry at the very end of a long pier, exposed to the elements. It would be a great public service to enclose the pier to improve ridership. Other ferry stops are on or very near the shoreline. But of course the private ownership of the India Street pier complicates things. There actually was a prior ferry at the end of Greenpoint Avenue for more than 100 years. Bring it back!
https://greenpointers.com/2017/05/01/history-greenpoint-ferry/
As for the comments about the ferry being only a perk for the wealthy living in watefront high rises, there ae still plenty of moderate and lower income or retired people in Greenpoint that would avail themselves of the ferry if it were more convenient year-round. And at many other ferry stops NYCHA housing is within walling distance. New York City’s coastline— which stretches a total of 520 miles – is longer than the coastlines of Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco combined! need to make more & better use of our waterways.