You Can Now Take The NYC Ferry From The Brooklyn Navy Yard

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — The first of several new stops for the NYC ferry opened at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Monday, offering a new way for New Yorkers to get between the borough's waterfronts.

The new stop adds the terminal to the ferry's Astoria Route, which snakes across the East River from Astoria down to Wall Street, making stops at Roosevelt Island, Long Island City, 34th Street in Manhattan and now the Navy Yard along the way. It was opened with a ceremony on the Navy Yard's Dock 72 Monday morning.

Officials said the new stop will help connect the 9,000 people employed at the Navy Yard to the ferry system. The Yard is also in the process of an expansion that will add another 11,000 jobs to its site.

“The addition of the Brooklyn Navy Yard landing is our first ferry stop at a dedicated job center, and we know it will help boost access to jobs, schools, and other neighborhoods while shortening commutes and creating new opportunities for New Yorkers,” NYC Economic Development President and CEO James Patchett said.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard stop is the first in a series of expansions to the ferry routes that were first announced by Mayor Bill De Blasio in his State of the City address earlier this year. Overall, the expansion includes a $100 million investment from the city for new boats, new landings and improvements to existing landings, ferry officials have said.

Next up is a new route that will connect St. George, Battery Park City and Midtown West, which is scheduled to launch in 2020. A new Coney Island Route that will serve Coney Island, Bay Ridge and Wall Street and an expansion of the Soundview Route to include a new landing in Throgs Neck in the Bronx are slated for 2021. Also in 2021, the South Brooklyn Route will be modified to start in Sunset Park instead of Bay Ridge.

"This new ferry stop is just the latest step in the ongoing, and truly remarkable, transformation of the Brooklyn Navy Yard," said Sebastian Gunningham, vice chair of Dock 72 tenant The We Company. "We are incredibly proud to be a part of this moment, which will allow more New Yorkers to experience the diverse and vibrant community of the Navy Yard for years to come."

Ferry riders using the new Navy Yard stop can transfer for free to all other existing ferry routes at the East 34th Street and Wall Street/Pier 11 ferry terminals, officials said. The stop is accessible by walking through Building 77 near Flushing and Vanderbilt avenues.

“The expansion of NYC Ferry service to the Navy Yard will bring more entrepreneurs, jobs and development to Brooklyn," Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Hector Batista said. "People want to live and work here. More reliable and convenient public transportation will allow them to do that.”