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The increased temps are coming in the next few weeks, which means New Yorkers will be looking for some much-needed reprieve at local beaches—luckily for us, the NYC Ferry just announced it's making it easier to get to one of the city's most popular ones.
Starting Saturday, July 1, NYC Ferry will expand weekend and holiday service to Rockaway Beach, including adding an extra vessel along the busy route to increase rider capacity by 25%. (Use the NYC Ferry app to view updated schedules.)
And if you've taken the ferry in recent years, you know how long and winding those queues can get when boarding at Wall Street's Pier 11, so you can secure your place on the beach-bound boat by purchasing reserved tickets on any weekend Rockaway trips from 9am to 2pm, with a return to Manhattan between 3pm and 8pm.
Reserved tickets can be bought in the NYC Ferry app for up to 2 weeks before the date of your departure, and cost $10 as opposed to the ferry's regular fares: $4 single trip, $2.75 as part of the 10-pack or the $1.35 discount for seniors, people with disabilities, and New Yorkers living at or below the federal poverty line. The Rockaway Reserve option will run until Monday, September 4.
“There’s no better place to be than Rockaway in the summertime,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said in a statement. “Better utilizing our waterways is both smart, climate-friendly policy and the most enjoyable trip our transit system can offer.”
This summer will also see the return of the convenient "Rockaway Rocket," a reservations-only express ferry that goes straight to the Rockaways, though this year it has a new departure point. The limited-time route will run between Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 6 (Atlantic Avenue) and the Beach 108th dock in Rockaway, Queens, for four weekends from Saturday, August 12 through Labor Day. Tickets will cost ten bucks and a final schedule will be released in the coming weeks.
“After the success of last year’s Rockaway Rocket, we are excited to be bringing new and additional improvements for beachgoers and regular riders this summer,” said New York City Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Andrew Kimball said in a statement. “These two new pilot programs are designed to make the entire NYC Ferry system more enjoyable, accessible, and efficient. As ridership continues to break records, it’s clear New Yorkers are endorsing the NYC Ferry Forward vision to create a more accessible, equitable and fiscally sustainable ferry system.”