In its usual style, NYC Ferry has announced schedule changes at the last minute, with a blog post Monday and a Facebook post this morning. These changes, affecting the Astoria (AST) and South Brooklyn (SB) routes, will take effect tomorrow, Wednesday 15 August 2018.
What isn’t changing
The good news is that neither route will see a drop in the number of departures or in the frequency of service, and AST and SB weekend schedules remain unchanged. Timetables for the East River (ER) and Rockaway (RW) routes also remain unchanged, though a new Soundview (SV) route, connecting the Bronx to Manhattan, also launches tomorrow. (I analyzed its schedule in a blog post yesterday.)
Astoria changes
On the Astoria route (PDF), passengers will need to arrive at their ferry landings at least a couple of minutes earlier — and in one case at least 6 minutes earlier — for most, but not all, weekday trips in both directions during morning and afternoon rush hours and in the evening. (AST midday schedules remain the same.)
South Brooklyn changes
On the South Brooklyn route (PDF), only one weekday journey in each direction seems to be changing, with departure times 8 minutes earlier at all stops:
| To Wall Street/Pier 11 | Old schedule | New schedule |
| Bay Ridge | 16.58 | 16.50 |
| Sunset Park/Brooklyn Army Terminal | 17.07 | 16.59 |
| Red Hook/Atlantic Basin | 17.18 | 17.10 |
| Atlantic Avenue/Brooklyn Bridge Park—Pier 6 | 17.26 | 17.18 |
| DUMBO/Brooklyn Bridge Park—Pier 1 | 17.35 | 17.27 |
| Wall Street/Pier 11 | 17.39 | 17.31 |
| To Bay Ridge | Old schedule | New schedule |
| Wall Street/Pier 11 | 16.13 | 16.05 |
| DUMBO/Brooklyn Bridge Park—Pier 1 | 16.20 | 16.12 |
| Atlantic Avenue/Brooklyn Bridge Park—Pier 6 | 16.27 | 16.19 |
| Red Hook/Atlantic Basin | 16.35 | 16.27 |
| Sunset Park/Brooklyn Army Terminal | 16.50 | 16.42 |
| Bay Ridge | 16.53 | 16.45 |
Governors Island service
For most of the summer, NYC Ferry service to Governors Island has been via a shuttle ferry from Wall Street, requiring passengers on the East River and South Brooklyn routes who expected direct service to Governors Island to change ferries at Pier 11. This seems to be due largely to repair work to one of the docks on Governors Island, which has reduced capacity for ferries on the island. But NYC Ferry has not done a good job communicating the change to passengers, beyond sporadic posts on social media. This has led to confusion and long wait times for Governors Island ferries.
Unfortunately, NYC Ferry does not appear to have improved the situation on the new timetable (PDF) for the South Brooklyn ferry, which is still showing direct service to Governors Island on Saturdays and Sundays. I have reached out to NYC Ferry for clarification; I’ll let you know if I hear back.
Midtown shuttle bus
Minor schedule changes for NYC Ferry’s shuttle bus in East Midtown, Manhattan, which connects passengers to ferries at East 34th Street, are also taking effect tomorrow (PDF).
