My Thoughts on the East River Ferry as a Human Powered Boater


The 2011 warm-weather paddling season is drawing to an end. It was a challenging year for recreational boaters on the Hudson & East Rivers alike. Massive sewage discharges, Superfund sites (Newtown Creek & Gowanus Canal), launch site restrictions, and, for the brave souls who regularly paddle the East River — the East River Ferry. Early in the season I made the decision to refrain from publically voicing my concerns over the new ferry service. After-all, with any new service there are bound to be some growing pains. I’ve given the East River Ferry service several months to get their operations sorted out and I’m ready to publicly voice my opinion; the East River Ferry service presents a very real and serious threat to human powered boaters on the East River. Below is a list of observations and concerns I have with regard to the East River Ferry service and it’s impact on human powered boating (in my opinion of course). East River Ferry has been abbreviated ERF.

I think most East River boaters understand that these ferries are a natural progression as the city deindustrializes the waterfront and creates parks and greenways on the land where industry once flourished. So why am I voicing these concerns? I would like to see East River Ferries and human powered boaters reach a point of mutual respect for one another — maintaining an open line of communication and establishing official channels to voice concerns. Most importantly, I hope to prevent a loss of life or any major incident from occurring. All too often meaningful actions are delayed until a death occurs. Lets not let that happen on the East River. Have something you’d like to contribute on this subject? Sound off in the comments!

«Steve Jobs; The quotes that touched me Install Windows 8 Developer Preview in VirtualBox »

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

3 Responses to My Thoughts on the East River Ferry as a Human Powered Boater

  1. Chris
    I signed up for mail a couple of years ago but never received any in inbox. That is not the reason for my mailing you.
    NYC Dept of Parks is asking me to find out the current name of the club that stored kayaks on the PLAXALL dock next to the 44 Dr pier. Is that your group?

    Burr Evans