New City Council bill revives hope for Coney Island ferry stop

It's been a long struggle.

September 12, 2024 Raanan Geberer

Passengers on board a NYC Ferry watch as the boat departs Sunset Park for Rockaway, Queens, Monday, May 1, 2017. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

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The contentious issue of adding a Coney Island stop to NYC Ferry’s Rockaway route may not be over yet — even though the city dismantled a newly built pier near Coney Island Creek around a year ago.

Councilmember Justin Brannan — a Democrat who represents Bay Ridge, Coney Island, Sea Gate and parts of Dyker Heights, Bath Beach and Gravesend — has submitted a bill that would require the Economic Development Corporation to study building a new ferry landing, according to Crain’s and other sources.

His bill urges the EDC to particularly consider using the Steeplechase Pier near West 16th Street — a longtime wish of many neighborhood residents who felt the previously-planned site, at Kaiser Park adjacent to the creek, was too far from the heavily-trafficked amusement area.

The city halted plans to bring ferry service to the already-built landing in 2022, citing unforeseen and “significant sand shifts.” This was pooh-poohed by some local activists and officials, who asked, in effect, “Why didn’t they notice this before?”

After ferry service had been neglected for decades, the city, under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, announced plans for what later became NYC Ferry in 2016. The first route, which included Lower Manhattan, Bay Ridge and Rockaway, debuted in 2017.

Almost immediately, Coney Island-area residents asked for a stop there as well. “I want a ferry. If it’s good enough for Bay Ridge, it’s good enough for us,” Coney Island resident Bertha Thompson told the Brooklyn Eagle at the time.

Initially, then-Borough President Eric Adams, supported by a group called New Yorkers 4Ferry wanted the stop to be at Neptune Avenue and 21st Street. But many locals opposed that location, saying the site was too shallow and too full of abandoned boats, debris and toxic waste.

“Initially, they’d have a lot of work to do,” Ida Sanoff, the executive director of the National Resources Protective Association told Brooklyn Daily, a website then-connected with Courier-Life.

When the Kaiser Park site, also on Coney Island Creek, was being considered in 2020, many locals also protested, for different reasons.

“This is not going to happen. We won’t let it happen,” Larry Whitaker, a lifelong Coney Island resident, told the Eagle. “I fish here. I crab here,” he added. Protesters carried signs saying “Fishing Not Ferries,” and began an ultimately unsuccessful petition drive.

Ultimately, the cost of studies, dredging and construction cost the city more than $12.5 million, CBS found after using the Freedom of Information Act. And the removal of the landing cost another $930,000.

The idea of ferry service to Coney Island is not new. Ferries helped the island become popular in the 19th century, long before the subway system expanded to Stillwell Avenue. Private ferryboats continued to serve the amusement area, operating out of the old Iron Pier, until 1950.