East 34th Street Ferry Landing

The East 34th Street Ferry Landing provides slips to ferries and excursion boats in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located on the East River in New York City east of the FDR Drive just north of East 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The facility, owned by the city,^[1] received Federal Highway Administration funding for improvements for docking facilities and upgrading the adjacent East River Greenway in 2008.^[2] A new terminal building was built and opened in 2016.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

East 34th Street Ferry Landing
Ferry terminal
SeaStreak New Jersey docked at the landing, with the Empire State Building in the background (2011)
General information
Coordinates	40°44′38″N 73°58′15″W / 40.74389°N 73.97083°W / 40.74389; -73.97083Coordinates: 40°44′38″N 73°58′15″W / 40.74389°N 73.97083°W / 40.74389; -73.97083
Owned by	New York City Department of Transportation
Connections	NYC Ferry SeaStreak New York Water Taxi New York City Subway: 4, ​6, and <6> trains at 33rd Street NYCT Bus: M15, M15 SBS, M34 SBS, M34A SBS, M101, M102, M103 MTA Bus: BxM1, QM12, QM15, QM16, QM17, QM18, QM24
Construction
Parking	No
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	1986
Services
Preceding station NYC Ferry Following station North Williamsburg toward Pier 11/Wall Street East River Hunters Point South Terminus Brooklyn Navy Yard toward Pier 11/Wall Street Astoria Long Island City toward East 90th Street Stuyvesant Town toward Pier 11/Wall Street Soundview East 90th Street toward Ferry Point Park
Location
East 34th Street Ferry Landing Location within New York City Show map of New York City East 34th Street Ferry Landing East 34th Street Ferry Landing (New York) Show map of New York East 34th Street Ferry Landing East 34th Street Ferry Landing (the United States) Show map of the United States

Service is provided by SeaStreak,^[8][9] which signs the landing as East 35th Street, and by NYC Ferry, which signs it as East 34th Street/Midtown. There is a M34 Select Bus Service bus stop adjacent to the ferry landing; the M15 local, M15 Select Bus Service and the M34A Select Bus Service have stops in the immediate vicinity at the intersection of First Avenue and East 34th Street. The East 34th Street Heliport is also on the waterfront south of the ferry landing.

History

A ferry crossing between Hunter's Point and 34th Street was established circa 1858^[10] and later came under the control of Long Island Rail Road (LIRR).^[11] In 1905, the LIRR expanded the terminal between 33rd and 34th Streets which had five slips ^[12] and was able to accommodate automobiles, and is now the site of the heliport. Service was discontinued in 1925 after numerous tunnel and bridge crossings had been built.^[11] Connecting mass transit service was provided by the 34th Street Ferry elevated station which was located east of First Avenue and operated from 1880 to 1930.

In the 1990s several proposals and various attempts were made to restore service to landings in the vicinity of 34th Street, among them an Upper East Side – Wall Street commuter service,^[13] a short-lived shuttle to La Guardia Airport^[14][15][16] and a fast ferry to Staten Island.^[17] Restoration of the traditional Hunters Point crossing was initiated and soon abandoned by NY Waterway.^[18]

By the mid-2000s New York Water Taxi was regularly serving East 34th Street landings on the Hunters Point crossing and other routes.^[19][20][21] After a request for bids, the New York City Economic Development Corporation in 2011 awarded NY Waterway (which also operated a free transfer bus loop in Midtown East)^[22] a three-year contract and a $3 million annual subsidy to operate ferry service on the East River including 34th Street.^[23]

In the aftermath of infrastructure damage and service disruptions to the New York City Subway system in Queens and Brooklyn caused by Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012, SeaStreak began running weekday ferry service between East 34th Street and Rockaway Park, Queens, with additional stops at Pier 11 and Brooklyn Army Terminal.^[24] Although the service proved popular, it was ultimately discontinued on October 31, 2014 when the city government declined to continue subsidizing it.^[25]

Service

SeaStreak

 

Seastreak Wall Street docked at the East 34th Street Ferry Landing.

SeaStreak catamarans operate daily to the Raritan Bayshore in Monmouth County, New Jersey. After calling at Pier 11/Wall Street boats continue through The Narrows to terminals at Atlantic Highlands or Highlands. Seasonal excursions includes service to Sandy Hook, West Point, NY, Cold Spring, NY, and Martha's Vineyard.

New York Water Taxi

New York Water Taxi operates a shuttle service for NYU Langone Health between 34th Street and the Brooklyn Army Terminal. This service is primarily for hospital employees only and provides a connection between its academic medical center in Manhattan and NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn.^[26]

NYC Ferry

NYC Ferry's East River Ferry (formerly operated by NY Waterway) operates in both directions to Pier 11 at Wall Street, stopping at Hunters Point South in Long Island City, Queens and multiple ferry landings in northern Brooklyn, with year-round service^[27] Additionally, the Astoria Ferry runs in both directions to Pier 11 or Astoria, Queens, with year-round service.^[28] The Lower East Side Ferry used to operate between Long Island City and Wall Street via eastern Manhattan year-round, but was then discontinued on May 18, 2020 due to extremely low ridership. ^[29] The Soundview Route runs in both directions to Wall Street or Soundview, Bronx, year-round.^[30]

See also

• List of ferries across the East River
• Battery Park City Ferry Terminal
• West Midtown Ferry Terminal
• Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal
• Weehawken Port Imperial
• Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn
• St. George Ferry Terminal
• Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal

References

1. . New York City Department of City Planning. Archived from the original on June 20, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
2. "FY 2008 Ferry Boat Discretionary (FBD) Awards (as of June 9, 2011)". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
3. Stoelker, Tom (May 2, 2011). . The Architect's Newspaper. Archived from the original on October 9, 2011. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
4. "KVA Mat". Kennedy and Viotech Architecture. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
5. "Sheila Kennedy honored for design innovation". MIT Energy Initiative. August 18, 2014. Archived from the original on September 17, 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
6. "Multitasking Infrastructures: A Conversation with Sheila Kennedy and Veit Kugel". Urban Omnibus. March 6, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
7. . Kennedy & Violich Architecture. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
8. "Seastreak". Retrieved June 6, 2011.
9. "Service from East 35th Street". Seastreak. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
10. Burrows, Edwin G.; Wallace, Mike (Michael L.) (1999). Gotham, A History of New York City to 1898. Vol. 1. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511634-8.
11. "34th Street Ferry Abandoned After 67 Years; Tunnels and Bridges Kill Off Famous Route". The New York Times. March 4, 1925. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
12. "New Ferryhouse for East 34th Street" (PDF). The New York Times. August 18, 1905. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
13. Pierre-Pierre, Garry (September 7, 1996). "Ferry Link to Wall Street Area and East Side". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
14. Levy, Clifford (October 20, 1995). "A Ferry to the Plane Port Authority Official Look into the Idea for Airports". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
15. Rhode, David (December 16, 1999). "The Transit Showdown:Opportunity Lost; Anticipated Ferry Boom founders". New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
16. McGeehan, Patrick (January 8, 2005). "New Ferry Line to La Guardia Is to Begin Service by Midyear". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
17. Newman, Andy (December 30, 1997). "Another Ferry Service to Take Over Staten Island Route". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
18. Lii, Jane (August 11, 1996). "Ferry operator cancels scenic and fast route to midtown". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
19. "Queens Commuters Can Travel in Comfort & Style; New York Water Taxi to Resume East River Service" (Press release). New York Water Taxi. April 20, 2008. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
20. Woodberry, Warren Jr. (April 26, 2006). "Ferry Service To Manhattan To Resume". Daily News. New York. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
21. Cheema, Umar (May 6, 2008). "New Ferry Service Will Begin Next Week". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
22. "East River Ferry". NY Waterway. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
23. Calder, Richard (February 2, 2011). "Water war capsizes ferry firm". New York Post. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
24. "Seastreak Ferries - Servicing New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts". Retrieved September 23, 2016.
25. Hickey, Magee (November 1, 2014). "End of ferry leaves Rockaway a 'transportation desert'". PIX11. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
26. Weiss, Lois (April 23, 2018). "NYU Langone hospital's dramatic revamp is nearly done". New York Post. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
27. "Routes and Schedules: East River". NYC Ferry.
28. "Routes and Schedules: Astoria". NYC Ferry.
29. . NYC Ferry. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
30. "Routes and Schedules: Soundview". NYC Ferry.

External links

• Flickr: East 34th Street Ferry Landing