East River Ferry to Expand Service for Summer

By Matthew Hampton

Starting Memorial Day, you can ride the East River Ferry a little further — all the way to Red Hook.

The city is adding two boats as part of a Red Hook Summer Ferry, which will start in Manhattan, and stop at Van Brunt Street and IKEA in Brooklyn.

The IKEA stop will also allow a transfer to the existing East River Ferry. The best part? The Red Hook Summer Ferry will be free. 

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the change, which will be in effect on weekends this summer, will help get the storm-addled south Brooklyn community back on its feet.

“Hurricane Sandy hit the Red Hook community hard, and that’s why we’re making it easier than ever for New Yorkers to get to small businesses in the area in order to help the community continue to recover,” said Bloomberg. “By expanding the already successful free IKEA ferry to another stop in the heart of Red Hook, and by connecting it to the East River Ferry that is celebrating its two millionth ride this week, the free Red Hook summer ferry will help boost the local economy.”

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is thrilled.

“With the East River Ferry having already ‘sailed’ by expectations for ridership and popularity, I have no doubt that the ‘launch’ of additional ferries to Red Hook will be a big 'splash' for tourists and a will bring a ‘wave’ of new business to Red Hook as Brooklyn's waterfront rebuilds, rebounds and recovers," Markowitz said.