ACCORDING TO JIM / A FERRY TALE

Early in 2013, Nicholas Zvegintzov and Richenda Kramer of the Staten Island Ferry Riders Committee visited me at my old City Council office on South Avenue to talk about a topic near and dear to their hearts – ​the Staten Island Ferry and its schedule.

At that time, the ferry schedule created a de facto curfew for Staten Islanders, due to hour-long waits during overnight hours, and after 7:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.  Who among us has not suffered the misfortune of running to beat the closing doors, with full knowledge that should we miss the boat, we’d  be relegated to cooling our heels on hard benches, in a dingy terminal, for a solid hour before another arrived.

No other residents of New York City were forced to suffer
​a similar ignominy.

At the meeting with the ferry riders I immediately agreed to introduce legislation mandating the elimination of hour-long waits.  At a minimum, we all agreed, there should never be more than a thirty minute wait for the ferry.

Although an hour wait time may be acceptable to ride Peter Pan’s Flight at Disneyworld, it is absolutely not acceptable for a vital transportation link in the world’s greatest metropolis. 

We're all aware of the new development taking place on our North Shore waterfront, and we knew we could never build this hip and diverse waterfront community with such a limited ferry schedule.  In effect, it would tell potential visitors from other boroughs who, for example, might want to attend a Staten Island Yankee game on the weekend that they were not welcome, and make Staten Islanders looking to experience Manhattan cultural attractions think twice. Such a schedule also affected  those who work non-traditional hours.

So, on May 22, 2013, I introduced legislation in the City Council to increase ferry service.
Good government is not only about having the right ideas; it’s also about timing - and the timing sure was right.  We were in an election year, which meant that Mayoral candidates would be coming to Staten Island for votes; I very much wanted to get them on the record in support of the bill.  Also, it was the last year of a wonderful partnership I had developed with former Speaker Christine Quinn, and I knew she understood how important this issue was for Staten Island.

You may recall that in 2004 former Councilman (and now DA) McMahon introduced the legislation my bill was based on. He actually got passed a bill increasing service, but Mayor Bloomberg vetoed it. The Council overrode the veto, but the Mayor threatened a lawsuit, and ultimately a compromise was reached which increased service slightly, but left the one hour wait times during the hours after 1:00 am during the week and after 7:00 pm on the weekend.

After I introduced my bill I immediately got to work seeking support from my colleagues, my objective being a veto-proof majority. We needed 34 sponsors to achieve that, and on June 14, 2013, less than a month after introducing the bill, the Staten Island Advancereported that we had achieved that goal (and then some) with 42 co-sponsors out of a potential 51. It was gratifying that Council Members from all 5 boroughs supported our efforts for greater service.

In late June 2013, the City Council’s Transportation Committee held a hearing on my bill. Unfortunately, then Commissioner Sadik-Khan did not attend to testify, but sent a staff member instead who testified in opposition.

By this time, it was clear that we would negotiate: throughout my Council career I had negotiated various bills, and knew that as part of the negotiation process you usually give a little and get most of what you want.  In this case, however, I believe we got everything we wanted. My offer was a phased-in process whereby six months after we passed the bill we would get increased service on weekends, and a year later the phase-in would be complete and we would have full service 24/7.  We also had to include a provision that allowed the city avoid fully phased-in service if they determined it to be not economically feasible. ​

In February 2014, soon after his swearing in, Mayor de Blasio announced the funding of Phase 1, and on May 3-4 expanded service began.

On May 10,
I hosted a celebratory ride on the ferry to commemorate
​the implementation of Phase 1.

Now we began to work on Phase 2, which contained the clause allowing the city to delay implementation after their study.

Despite some angst, the city announces in early April, 2015, that they would be complying with Phase 2.

What have been the effects of increased ferry service

I smile when I recall that this wonderful outcome is a direct result of Nicholas and Richenda visiting meduring the waning days of my City Council tenure to talk ferry service.  It was a struggle – there are many in government -  but one that was worth it.

It involved good policy, good timing, good people, and the ability to know how to get things done. I love it when a plan comes together – but like the best laid plans of mice and men, something always comes up that must be addressed.

The tourist wave we know is coming dictates that things must change even more.  The opening of the Empire Outlets, the New York Wheel and Lighthouse Point will signal a new era for the Staten Island Ferry, one in which it will carry millions more tourists to our shores.  ​

The time to address these concerns is not next week, next month or next year; the time is now.  We’re already begun these conversations, in fact, we persuaded the DOT to do a study exploring ferry landings other than Whitehall.  But that is just the start, and there are still more chapters to be written before this story is concluded.  

And we intend to write them.