Saturday, January 18, 2020

The Great NYC Ferry Subsidy Robbery and city bus austerity

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NY Post

Ferries help the poor? That’s rich.
 
Mayor Bill de Blasio has insisted that his administration’s heavily-subsidized ferry service would help poor New Yorkers get around, but newly revealed data shows it’s been a plaything of the rich almost from the jump — figures the city sat on for months.
 
An internal survey taken in July 2017 — two months after the service’s inception — found that the median rider’s income ranges between $100,000 and $150,000, a trend that held as of another poll conducted in the winter of 2018.
 
The results of the surveys were obtained by The Post through an eight-month Freedom of Information 

Law battle with the Economic Development Corporation, the city-controlled non-profit that manages the ferry service and solicited the data.
 
The EDC for months rebuffed The Post’s requests as it claimed it was still searching for the records — but City Councilman Antonio Reynoso had a different explanation for it.
 
“The city was being misleading about what information they had, and also didn’t want to give the information because it would prove a point that many of us were already making,” said Reynoso (D-Brooklyn/Queens).

Impunity City

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”
                                                                                                S’chn T’gai Spock.

The NY Post reported the other day that the prime demographic that frequently uses the NYC Ferry are upper class people making six figures.

But we all knew it.

The fucking New York City Economic Development Corporation knew it.

The goddamn New York City Mayor knew it.

And both of them fucking spent every second of city time trying to hide it for two years.

The NYC Ferry is mostly used by the wealthiest commuters by the river towers that are owned and run by all of Mayor deFaustio’s developer overlord donors. Notably at the ports on the west Brooklyn coast line where it’s a leisure walk away from them (plus Hunter’s Point in Queens).


The current cost for each taxpayer for each $2.75 ride across the rivers and under the bridges is currently at $9.75. A seven dollar loss for each ride millions of people don’t take or don’t bother to take because they don’t live near the ports. And because they probably have no need and use for the boats because they are just plain inconvenient for where they are located and where they need to go.

If they are not the overvalued rental market rate rent paying tower people, it’s tourists and hipsters going to Rockaway Beach. Which is probably the most popular destination of the city gentrification yachts. Which is where some of this profligate spending on this boondoggle is located.


Because whats constantly overlooked about this obscene and overtly useless and consistently vacant aqua transit service is that there is a free shuttle bus service when you get off the ferry. Although ever since this started, you have to pay another fare to get on a city bus. 

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 Now above is the Rockaway port, the picture was taken in 2017 late in the summer when it first started. It should be noted that these stylish shuttle buses weren’t available until late August and the city was actually using big ass charter buses to transport upper class denizens to the beach.

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Above is the city bus stop for the Q22, now why are free ferry shuttle buses necessary when you can just set up a free transfer from the city bus to go to your desired destination, because both buses go to the same places east and west of the peninsula. Why clearly spend money irresponsibly on some private company buses when you got a long time city transit service right there in front of your face?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Crapie, How much money do you need to be considered "Rich" ?
They look middle class to me when I see the ferry line.
Don't these "Rich" people have a right to common ownership ?
In class conflict the poor can't win all the time.

JQ LLC said...

Anon:

The issue isn't about what's considered rich or poor, it's about the city favoring one service as it starves another and more useful one.

I and nobody is looking to deny transit options for the "rich" they take the train with the poor people don't they? Why can't they ride the bus too? It's there for them.

Hell, this article and the FOILs where done by the NY Post, not exactly your average socialism sympathizing news source.

Apologies for being persnickety but when you see posts by me, address me by JQ and not the Crapper. I have been getting a lot of shit on social media with some shady folks claiming that me and QC are the same person.

And if you noticed, Crapper has been posting a lot more frequently lately, which is a very good thing.

Anonymous said...

No problem JQ you are doing a great job.
Just looking out for the Middle-class workers that are overlooked !

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-class_squeeze

JQ LLC said...

I brought up the middle class, in fact they represented themselves really well crashing that rumpus room in Jackson heights a few nights ago.

And thank you very much.

Anonymous said...

That is a brand news stop for the Q22. The stop is on Rockaway Beach Boulevard and runs down to Fort Tilden, last stop. I would think they only put that stop on in late 2019. The ferry didn't work for me because I had to take the Q22 which is packed with school children, including the ones who are thrown out of other schools and go to the one on Beach 110th Street. there would be so many incidents with school police coming on the bus it was horrible.

JQ LLC said...

You're actually right last anon. In fact, when I searched the map for that line that stop wasn't there, the nearest one was on B101st. That picture I took was around August, so it may have been there for a few months.

And you know what, these well-to-do leisure seekers and tourists can ride the city bus like the rest of us. The city is broke and mass transit is getting creamed.

Anonymous said...

The Rockaway Ferry is being used by daily commuters going to work, and makes much more sense than the ones that just cross the East River between rich people's apartment buildings.

Anonymous said...

Lots of the people going to the beaches in Rockaway are members of the working class too

JQ LLC said...

Last 2 anons.

I apologize for overlooking that. I am going by what I saw on the weekends, and also that we are subsidizing hornblower when a free city transfer to the 22 would have saved a lot more.

I'm really surprised Rockaway citizens use that ferry, especially in the cold weather.

Anonymous said...

The Ferry is a good thing for Rockaway as it brings riders from Manhattan in the Summer months and makes use of the waterways which are far too underutilized.
Rockaway has suffered for decades as the dumping ground for the city, it's time it got something back.

Your post lacks perspective in that regard because Rockaway is full of low income households, housing projects and has a large percentage of the lowest performing schools in Queens. Why not bring the tourist and hipster dollars there?

Rockaway also has the longest commutes in the city by many counts.
So what if there are some wealthier taxpayers taking the ferry, why shouldn't they.
They're actually paying the taxes that are subsidizing the real drains on the city budget:
education boondoggles
housing boondoggles
homelessness boondoggles
construction boondoggles
Why not concentrate on the things that add up to the billions and billions being wasted?
Stop dumping on Rockaway and let that Peninsula have a win for once.
It's the one thing this democrat debacle city government got right;
using the waterways to decrease congestion on the highways and streets,
making the commute easier for many,
fostering tourist movement throughout the city, especially getting people to the only Ocean beach in the city.

How about we stop voting Democrat and promoting a sanctuary city where ex-patriot criminals come to hide.
That would be a great start to saving money on crime prevention.

Harry Haller

Anonymous said...

>I'm really surprised Rockaway citizens use that ferry, especially in the cold weather.

It's worth bundling up to save an hour off the subway commute to Manhattan. And even in the cold, it's beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Next the Mayor is going to offer subsidized helicopter rides to the Hamptons each weekend.