Residents of Canarsie are still pushing for a ferry stop in their southeast Brooklyn neighborhood with limited transit options, and lamenting an apparent about-face from Mayor Eric Adams, who once supported the campaign but now, as the city’s chief executive, appears to have abandoned it.
The neighborhood is only served by one subway stop, the L train’s southern terminus at Rockaway Parkway, which is located far away from many residents’ homes, and locals consider the area a “transit desert” ripe for a ferry stop. As Brooklyn Borough President, Adams repeatedly lent his support to yearslong calls to add ferry service to Canarsie, but since arriving at City Hall as mayor in 2022, he has not considered it a priority, to the chagrin of local residents.
A spokesperson for the Economic Development Corporation, the quasi-public city agency which runs the NYC Ferry system, said the Adams Administration presently has no plans to expand ferry service, instead seeking to make the existing service more “accessible, equitable, and financially sustainable.”
“NYC Ferry plays an important role as a transit option, and we welcome New Yorkers’ advocacy and excitement about NYC Ferry and the recognition about the critical part it plays in our communities,” said the EDC spokesperson, Adrien Lesser. “While we are not actively pursuing expansion options, our focus is on making our current service more accessible, equitable, and financially sustainable through the Adams administration’s Ferry Forward plan.”
City Hall did not return a request for comment.
Locals who have long pushed for a ferry stop at Canarsie Pier say they feel betrayed, with the neighborhood doomed to remain a transit desert for the foreseeable future.
And so, residents gathered at Canarsie Pier on Sunday to rally for a stop, the latest in a series of protests before and during Adams’ tenure calling for the mayor’s support, which locals say they’ll continue until they get an…
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