{"id":24732,"date":"2025-06-13T09:09:40","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T13:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/multi.nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/blue-subway-revival-council-bill-could-restore-staten-island-brooklyn-ferry-service\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T09:09:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T13:09:40","slug":"blue-subway-revival-council-bill-could-restore-staten-island-brooklyn-ferry-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/blue-subway-revival-council-bill-could-restore-staten-island-brooklyn-ferry-service\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Blue Subway&#8217; Revival: Council Bill Could Restore Staten Island-Brooklyn Ferry Service"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two <\/span><b>New York City Council<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> members are charting a course to reconnect Staten Island and Brooklyn by water \u2014 reviving a historic ferry route that\u2019s been dormant for six decades.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">City Council Pushes to Reconnect Staten Island and Brooklyn by Ferry<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Council Members <\/span><b>Justin Brannan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of Brooklyn and <\/span><b>Kamillah Hanks<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of Staten Island have introduced new legislation, Intro. 1306, that would reestablish ferry service between Bay Ridge and the St. George terminal. The bill seeks to integrate Staten Island into the city\u2019s broader NYC Ferry network, offering a long-awaited waterborne alternative to car-clogged bridges and sluggish bus routes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis bill brings us one step closer to reestablishing that vital link,\u201d Hanks said. \u201cRestoring a smarter, faster and more resilient option for commuters and families who deserve better than traffic jams and endless bus transfers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Historic Route Poised for a Comeback<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The proposed route would likely rely on existing infrastructure, including <\/span><b>Bay Ridge\u2019s American Veterans Memorial Pier<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at 69th Street and <\/span><b>Staten Island\u2019s St. George terminal<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. These two sites once hosted regular ferry traffic until 1964, when the opening of the <\/span><b>Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> led to the service\u2019s quiet demise \u2014 just four days after the bridge began operation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, with traffic congestion worsening and climate goals pressing, Brannan and Hanks say it\u2019s time to bring the ferry back.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis isn\u2019t a new idea,\u201d said Brannan. \u201cIt\u2019s a return to something that always made sense. Reestablishing the St. George-Bay Ridge ferry restores a direct, logical connection that should have never been lost.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reviving the \u2018Blue Subway\u2019<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2024, the council members wrote a joint letter to <\/span><b>Mayor Eric Adams<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> urging the restoration of ferry service and calling for a direct Brooklyn stop as part of the city\u2019s East River ferry system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If enacted, the bill would mark a significant step in expanding access to the city\u2019s \u201cblue subway,\u201d a nickname for the ferry network that some transit advocates see as an underused lifeline for outer-borough commuters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brannan previously worked with the city\u2019s <\/span><b>Economic Development Corporation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2023 to establish an express ferry between Bay Ridge and Wall Street, further showing that harbor transit can be more than a novelty for tourists.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe harbor becomes a true transit corridor,\u201d Brannan said. \u201cNot just for tourists or weekend riders, but for working New Yorkers who need real alternatives. It\u2019s time we made smart use of our harbor again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beyond convenience, the lawmakers hope the restored route can reduce car dependency, lower emissions, and boost local economies on both sides of the harbor.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two New York City Council members are charting a course to reconnect Staten Island and Brooklyn by water \u2014 reviving a historic ferry route that\u2019s been dormant for six decades. City Council Pushes to Reconnect Staten Island and Brooklyn by Ferry Council Members Justin Brannan of Brooklyn and Kamillah Hanks of Staten Island have introduced [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5893,"featured_media":24733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2717,2866],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bk-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.4 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#8216;Blue Subway&#8217; Revival: Council Bill Could Restore Staten Island-Brooklyn Ferry Service - Brooklyn News and Events<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/blue-subway-revival-council-bill-could-restore-staten-island-brooklyn-ferry-service\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#8216;Blue Subway&#8217; Revival: Council Bill Could Restore Staten Island-Brooklyn Ferry Service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two New York City Council members are charting a course to reconnect Staten Island and Brooklyn by water \u2014 reviving a historic ferry route that\u2019s been dormant for six decades. 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