Delays reverberated up the East River on Monday morning after one of the brand new NYC Ferry boats was pulled from service due to a mechanical issue.
A boat scheduled to depart from the Greenpoint Terminal shortly after 10 a.m. was nearly an hour late because of the faulty vessel, according to Veronica Ades, 39, a doctor from Bedford-Stuyvesant who said she was left stranded with dozens of other riders.
“According to [the] schedule I had on my app, the boat was supposed to leave at 10:10 a.m. — but there was just no sign of a boat and people were irate,” Ades said. “We were stranded on the dock with no information.”
In a series of tweets, Ades described the confusion over whether the boat that had arrived late was even safe to use.
“There were supposed to be boats at 9:40 and 10:10. We boarded at 10:27 and then were immediately asked to de-board to ‘check something,’” Ades tweeted, adding in another tweet that “people are oscillating between disbelief, frustration, and laughter. Everyone is late for work.”
It was the first morning of NYC Ferry operations, which on Monday absorbed the East River Ferry route while launching a new route from Rockaway, Queens. The city’s Economic Development Corporation oversees the service, which is now run by Hornblower.
A spokesman for the EDC, Anthony Hogrebe, described the mechanical issue as “minor” in an email and said that the boat was yanked from service as a precaution.
“At approximately 9 a.m., there was a minor mechanical issue on one of our three East River Route ferries, a loose oil temperature sensor on one of the engines,” Hogrebe said, adding that service had returned to normal and was expected to operate on schedule throughout the afternoon and evening rush hour. It wasn’t immediately clear when service was restored or how many people were impacted.
Ades was only waiting for a boat because she missed her subway stop where she transfers from the G to the L to get to her job in Manhattan. For her, the fiasco didn’t leave a good impression. She wondered why there wasn’t shuttle bus service to mitigate the delays.
“I’m supportive of the idea [of NYC Ferry service],” she said. “As a lifelong New Yorker, I realize the subway is incredibly full, so if you can get people across the water and elevate some of that pressure, that’s great.
“I’m one of the riders who will be impacted by the L train shutdown,” she continued. “I was hopeful that ferry service would be part of the solution. Now I’m not so sure.”
