Seeking a dependable and sane commute

Kaminsky, Miller call for a South Shore ferry service

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Underscoring the need for “dependable and dignified” commuter transportation, State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat, and State Assemblywoman Melissa Miller, a Republican, showed bipartisan support for a Manhattan-bound South Shore ferry as they signed a letter sent to Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joe Lhota to explore locations near Inwood for residents of the Five Towns, Long Beach, Valley Stream and other surrounding communities.

“We are asking the MTA to tour prospective docks in Inwood and other areas on the South Shore,” Kaminsky said, as he and Miller stood with a couple of commuters near a tributary of Jamaica Bay in Inwood Park on Sunday, and a few streets away from where a ferry business operated in the 1990s.

Kaminsky noted the early success of the ferry service operating out of Rockaway that is delivering commuters to Wall Street in 59 minutes, and the North Shore ferries operating out of Glen Cove that are a response to the expected six-week Amtrak repair project at Pennsylvania Station that is being referred to as the “summer of hell” due to the scheduling changes that in some cases have elongated travel for Long Island Rail Road passengers.

“We believe this is not only a viable option but a very welcomed option,” Miller said. “The ferry would alleviate that frustration of a longer commute for a lot of people.”

In the letter, Kaminsky and Miller noted the possibility of repairs extending to 2018, and said that they reviewed several potential locations for the ferry service. “While many Long Island commuters have expressed to us an interest in a ferry, real plans for one on the South Shore have yet to be proposed. It is time this changes,” they wrote.

Inwood residents Yolette Louis and Adam Mayer also endorsed the ferry idea. “Commuting is not easy anytime and this is a real, meaningful and smart idea,” said Mayer, 34, who commutes between Manhattan and Inwood for his dual interests in school management and real estate investment. “We call on the MTA to echo the efforts of Senator Kaminsky and Assemblywoman Miller.”

For the past 17 years, Louis, 56, has traveled from Inwood to her job as a secretary at New York Presbyterian Hospital. “This is a very good idea, I love the idea of traveling by ferry and not driving and not having to find parking,” she said.

An expanded story will appear in the upcoming Herald.