Glen Cove Mayor Reviewing NYC Ferry Options

By Christopher O’Neill

The different options for commencing ferry service between Glen Cove and downtown Manhattan, moved one step forward, with Glen Cove Mayor Pam Panzenbeck ordering a review of options, and seeking clarification on cost contributions by state and federal governments, and private landowner RXR.

In 2003 Glen Cove was approved for a $16.6 million grant to construct a high-speed ferry for service between Garvies Point in Glen Cove and Manhattan’s financial district.

In 2015, Glen Cove built a ferry terminal with federal grant money, which would have to be repaid if commuter services did not run for at least two years.

During the MTA’s “Summer of Hell” in 2017 - when commuter train service was severely restricted due to repairs - the MTA provided two months of ferry service between Glen Cove and Manhattan.

Unfortunately the results were weak, with few commuters choosing the ferry over driving or taking other mass transit options.

“There were two vessels that left every day and one went to 34th Street and one to Wall Street,” stated Joe Graziose, the Executive Vice President of RXR, which has 27 acres of land in Garvies Point and is involved in the ferrye. “There were 50 people one day, 100 one day, 75 people one day. And these vessels usually take just under 200 people.”

“In a best-case scenario, which would be 149 people daily, one trip a day,” added Graziose. “At a $35 ticket price…, the ferry would lose roughly $30,000 over the two months.”

Glen Cove has requested $250,000, based upon the subsidy agreement between the City and RXR, to run ferry service in September and October.  The service would use a 149-passenger vessel. It would need to be filled to capacity every day, for the service to break even, according to RXR, and RXR has denied the request, stating that their subsidy applies after the resumption of ferry service, not before.

The question of the cost shortfall – and the subsidies needed to operate the ferry, have now again delayed any resumption of ferry service.

Mayor Panzenbeck believes that RXR has a contractual obligation to provide a subsidy for running the ferry.

“Until the matter of the RXR contractual obligation to the ferry subsidy is resolved to my satisfaction," stated Panzenbeck. "I cannot, in good faith, bring this manner to a vote.”