PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by John Doyle, Member of City Island Rising, on NYC Ferry Expansion to City Island
2:36:28
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120 sec
John Doyle, representing City Island Rising, advocated for expanding the NYC Ferry route to include a City Island terminal. He highlighted the benefits of such an expansion, including reduced traffic congestion, support for local businesses, and significantly shortened commute times for residents.
- Emphasized the unique travel patterns of City Island, with peak times on weekends and many residents working non-traditional hours
- Noted strong community support, with over 2,000 signatures in favor of the ferry expansion
- Pointed out the Bronx's high ferry ridership retention during the pandemic, suggesting a strong demand for ferry services in the borough
John Doyle
2:36:28
Good afternoon.
2:36:29
Thank you, chairs.
2:36:30
My name is John Doyle, and I'm a resident of City Island.
2:36:33
Over the past few years have been working as part of the community based non for profit, City Island Rising, to advocate for an expansion of the NYC ferry route to include a city island terminal along the Sandview route.
2:36:44
There are many positives for such a route.
2:36:46
It would help reduce traffic congestion, which can be legendary on a summer weekend season.
2:36:52
It can also help give much needed foot traffic to our commercial strip, which there are many chronic storefront vacancies, and many businesses, some of whom you're gonna hear from today, struggled to keep customers during the off season.
2:37:04
And most importantly for the residents, hundreds of whom work in Manhattan and Brooklyn, it would cut commute times almost in half.
2:37:10
That's truly transformative for many families who can spend up to 3 hours commuting via bus and subway into the city each day.
2:37:18
Moreover, while I understand a study was done 5 years ago, I'd asked you to keep the the these few important factors relative to the community.
2:37:27
1, peak travel time and city on is on weekends, not weekdays when the study was measuring the community.
2:37:32
And 2, this is a blue collar community with many folks working in the construction trades, hospitality industry, and first responders working nontraditional hours.
2:37:40
Thus, they might not have been captured in the previous study.
2:37:44
While we are not traffic at experts.
2:37:46
We have over 2000 signatures and many in hard copy 4 months city island and the surrounding communities who would support such a transit proposal.
2:37:54
Additionally, with climate change concerns mounting and the specter of some of the congestion pricing on the horizon, the city should act now now out later to to provide residents with an economical form of transportation into Manhattan in the surrounding boroughs.
2:38:07
Finally, I would ask you to remember that the Bronx, despite having only 1 of 2 terminals, kept nearly 90% of its ridership during the pandemic, while the whole ridership fell by almost 70%.
2:38:17
Clearly, there's a pent up demand through the borough.
2:38:20
Let's seize this opportunity.
2:38:21
I hope you'll take all of this into consideration for future planning.
2:38:24
Thank you for your time, and I have 2 editorials I wrote for your consideration.