Is there renewed hope for a ferry in Coney Island?
NEW YORK — There's a sense of renewed hope for residents in Coney Island who have been fighting to get NYC Ferry service to the peninsula.
This week, Councilmember Justin Brennan renewed a call for a ferry on the ocean side of the neighborhood, saying he'd like to do an independent study to determine the feasibility of the project.
It comes after a 2023 report by CBS News New York's Hannah Kliger, who spoke to longtime residents about their opposition to the New York City Economic Development Corporation's decision to build a ferry in the Coney Island Creek.
Residents said it was an inappropriate location because it was narrow, shallow and historically polluted. Instead, activists pushed for a ferry on the ocean side, close to the amusement district.
Despite years of opposition, NYC EDC built a ferry in the creek in 2022, but after spending more than $13 million, pulled the plug on the project and left the neighborhood with no ferry at all.
"We want to get to the bottom of what the costs are, what the obstacles are. Look, I just, I'm just not buying the cotton candy that they're selling us, right. They're trying to say that every other ferry slip costs about $10 million to build, but the Coney Island ferry is going to cost $250 million to build. It's just impossible to believe," Brannan said.
NYC EDC said in a hearing on Tuesday that it conducted an analysis in Coney Island as recently as 2022 and determined that there are concerns about building a ferry on the ocean side, because of exposure to ocean swells and strong winds.
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