The NYC Ferry officially debuted this morning with its first two routes, one between Far Rockaway, Sunset Park, and Wall Street; and another route connecting stops along the East River in Brooklyn in Manhattan.
The new city-subsidized ferry service will eventually expand to six routes, with a South Brooklyn route (featuring stops in Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Red Hook, Brooklyn Bridge Park and Wall Street) launching June 1st. An Astoria route will begin in August, with Lower East Side and the Bronx routes coming in 2018. The new ferry system is operated by Hornblower.
In total, 19 vessels were built by industry leaders Metal Shark (Jeanerette, LA) and Horizon Shipbuilding (Bayou La Batre, AL). Continuing efforts to include American-made products, Freedman Seating (Chicago, IL) was chosen to design, engineer, and manufacture passenger seats for the project. Delivery of the vessels took place from December 2016 to May 2017. These vessels include a total of 3,000 passenger placements with a mix of interior and exterior seats Gemini seats by Freedman Seating. Most of the seats include cosmetic inserts, which are preferred for easy maintenance and a clean, fresh design.
Freedman Seating’s Gemini seat is engineered for maximum seating capacity, safety and longevity. Its space saving design is ergonomically efficient and ultra lightweight. Ultimately, Freedman passenger seats give boat builders more passenger load capacity and seating options, making the Gemini seat a perfect fit for NYC Ferry.