City of Glen Cove to move forward with ferry operator

The Glen Cove City Council voted to move forward with entering negotiations with Hornblower N.Y. to make the New York City-based company the operator of the city’s ferry. The vote passed four to three, with council members Kevin Maccarone, Marsha Silverman and Donna McNaughton, along with Mayor Tim Tenke, voting “yes.” Council members Nicholas DiLeo Jr., Pam Panzenbeck and Joe Capobianco voted against it.

The selection of Hornblower helps the city reach another milestone in its action plan for having a commuter ferry up and running by May 2020. The next step is to draft a contract with the company, which would need the City Council’s approval in September. If the city fails to have the ferry operational by May of 2020, Glen Cove’s taxpayers may be responsible for repaying the $16.6 million grant given to the city by the federal government for the project.

Silverman said she is on board with the decision because she does not want to have to risk paying back the $16.6 million. Capobianco said he wants to wait for more potential operators to get their “skin in the game” before the city commits to one. He said improvements to the Garvies Point area could attract other operators, especially when residents move into the Beacon condominiums by the end of 2019.

Tenke said the monetary requirements given by Hornblower have remained just about the same since last reported in June. For the two-year pilot program, Hornblower issued a cost of roughly $5 million, or $1,200 per hour. Ticket prices are still being worked out based on the destination to which the ferry would travel. The initial price given by Hornblower was $85.69 per ticket based on rides to Wall Street. The city is also looking into traveling to Soundview in the Bronx or Roosevelt Island, which would likely make the tickets cheaper.

Tenke said the city would continue to work with Hornblower to adjust the costs and stabilize ticket prices. The destination will be worked out during a pre-pilot program that could begin in April, Tenke said. While the initial idea for a pre-pilot program was set to start this fall, it has been moved to April so there would not be any gaps in time between the pre-pilot programs on the off chance the pre-pilot had to be discontinued.

The other potential operator that spoke with the city, New York Water Taxi, initially offered a cheaper coast of $3.2 million, or per $950 hour. However, Tenke said NYWT would only provide the city with one boat and would not leave its boat in Glen Cove overnight, instead having it return to the company’s base in New York City. He said Hornblower would give the city two boats and leave them there overnight.

Tenke said he is optimistic about the ferry moving forward, as signing on with Hornblower would allow more people to ride the ferry on a daily basis. The boats staying in Glen Cove would prevent any trouble that could arise if travel was required from New York City.