‘Summer of hell’ gets hotter

Kaminsky, Miller call for South Shore ferry

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Underscoring the need for “dependable and dignified” commuter transportation, State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach, and State Assemblywoman Melissa Miller, a Republican from Atlantic Beach, sent a letter to Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joe Lhota last week, urging him to explore locations near Inwood for long-term ferry service to Manhattan for residents of the Five Towns, Long Beach, Valley Stream and other South Shore communities.

“We are asking the MTA to tour prospective docks in Inwood and other areas on the South Shore,” Kaminsky said as he and Miller stood with two commuters near a tributary of Jamaica Bay in Inwood Park on July 23, a few streets from where a ferry business operated in the 1990s.

Kaminsky noted the early success of the ferry service out of Rockaway, which delivers commuters to Wall Street in 59 minutes, and ferries from Glen Cove that began operating amid the expected eight-week-long Amtrak repair project at Pennsylvania Station, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo dubbed the “summer of hell.” Schedule changes have complicated the commuting schedules of many Long Island Rail Road users.

“We believe this is not only a viable option but a very welcomed option,” Miller said. “The ferry would alleviate that frustration of a longer commute for a lot of people.”

In their letter, Kaminsky and Miller noted the possibility that the repair project could extend into 2018, and that the East Side tunnel project could be just as disruptive as the current work, if not more so. They said they would like to see ferry service established for the long term, and that they had reviewed several potential locations. “While many Long Island commuters have expressed to us an interest in a ferry, real plans for one on the South Shore have yet to be proposed,” they wrote. “It is time this changes.”

“The MTA does not operate any permanent ferries to Manhattan,” MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said. “We will review and respond to the letter.” The Rockaway ferry is being run by the public NYC Ferry system, and the National Ferry Company operates the Glen Cove ferry.

According to people familiar with MTA operations, the agency worked with local officials and ferry operators to try to establish ferry service during the repair project. Officials said that there was a lack of usable dock space and available water routes.

Kaminsky said he understood that creating a ferry service before the summer repair project began was difficult. “I’m asking them to revisit the issue as an alternative mode of transport,” he said, adding that compared with the amount of money being spent to upgrade several LIRR stations — between $5 million and $6 million each — the dredging and construction of the infrastructure needed for ferry service would not be cost-prohibitive.

Inwood residents Yolette Louis and Adam Mayer also endorsed the ferry idea. “Commuting isn’t easy any time, and this is a real, meaningful and smart idea,” said Mayer, 34, who works in both school management and real estate and commutes between Inwood and Manhattan. “We call on the MTA to echo the efforts of Senator Kaminsky and Assemblywoman Miller.”

For the past 17 years, Louis, 56, has traveled from Inwood to her job as a secretary at New York Presbyterian Hospital. “This is a very good idea,” she said of the ferry proposal. “I love the idea of traveling by ferry, and not driving and not having to find parking.”

Have an opinion about commuting to work? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.