This section the covers the latest news you need to know about getting around New York City -- walking, taxis, subways, buses and (if you must,) driving.
The wheels are hitting the road through Downtown Alliance’s free summer bikes program, which has found success this season, especially on weekends.
Since Bike Around Downtown started May 13, the program has been at capacity for every weekend. A total of 2,454 reservations had been made through June 30, according to numbers provided to NewYorkology by Downtown Alliance.
The 30 free bikes are available seven days a week during three time slots: 9:30 a.m. to noon; 12:30 to 3 p.m.; and 3:30 to 6 p.m. The bicycles are provided through Bike and Roll, which also rents bikes and offers bike tours of New York.
Once you reserve online, free bikes can be picked up at the Bike and Roll’s kiosk at the South Street Seaport and returned at the same location, or at the Bike and Roll kiosks at Pier A in Battery Park, or 12th Avenue and 43rd Street, or on Governors Island when it’s open on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays.
The trip takes 1 hour 15 minutes, with three departure daily from Pier 11 (near Wall Street on the East River.) The NY Water Taxi departs at 9:15 a.m., 11:45 a.m. and 3:45 p.m.
Return departures are scheduled for 2:30 and 5 p.m. Most trips also include a stop at Brooklyn Army Terminal.
The Water Taxi docks at the former U.S. Coast Guard Station just north of Marine Park Bridge at 169 Street, and offers nearby access to Fort Tilden and Jacob Riis Park, (which was the scene-of-the-crime beach in this week’s Law & Order Criminal Intent with Raul Esparza.)
The subsidized summer service is offered in partnership with Gateway National Recreation Area and the NYC Economic Development Corporation.
Car-free Summer Streets to return Aug. 8, 15 and 22
Almost 7 miles of Manhattan roads will be closed to traffic again this summer as Summer Streets will return August 8, 15 and 22 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The 6.9-mile route will give way to bikers, skaters, walkers and others from the Brooklyn Bridge, up Lafayette/Centre Streets, along 4th Avenue and Park Avenue up to 72nd streets, map.
However, main cross-town streets will remain open to vehicles crossing the car-free zone.
“This is only its second year, but Summer Streets is already a New York tradition,” Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said at the news conference announcing the dates.
In addition the city has creating 13 extra car-free street events in other neighborhoods in all five boroughs, ranging from one to seven blocks long. Here are the dates of the remaining dates for those events:
MetroCard fare rises to $2.25 today for subway, bus
Effective today, the basic fare to ride the subway or bus in New York City is $2.25, up from $2.
The monthly 30-day MetroCard is now $89, up from $81; the 14-day MetroCards is $51.50, up from $47; a 7-day unlimited card is now $27,up from $25; and a one-day pass is $8.25, up from $7.50.
The full chart of fee hikes shows the MTA has spread the joy far and wide. Bridge and tunnel tolls have gone up at most crossings and commuter fares have hiked up as well.
The $2 base MetroCard fare had been in place since May 4, 2003 (when it jumped from $1.50.)
The new Brooklyn ferry, operated by NY Waterway, makes a circuit between Governors Island and the base of the Brooklyn Bridge at Fulton Ferry landing. The Brooklyn ferry is added on weekend days when there is special programming, which usually falls on Saturdays.
Manhattan service, which is also free, runs every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through the summer. For more details see the Governors Island ferry schedule, which changes from week to week.
Governors Island has already racked up 30,000 visitors in its first three weekends of 2009. By comparison, in 2006, only 26,000 people visited during the entire summer season, a Governors Island spokeswoman told NewYorkology.
Video: 'Taking of Pelham One Two Three' 1974 trailer
Today marks the official release date for the remake of one of the most classic NYC transit movies, “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.” The original — with the MTA employee quote: “Screw the goddamn passengers! What the hell did they expect for their lousy 35 cents - to live forever?” — was made in 1974.
Governors Island adds free ferry service to Brooklyn
The Lost City blog is the first with the news that the free ferry to Governors Island will add Brooklyn service starting this Saturday.
The ferry will dock in Brooklyn at the Fulton Ferry Landing, near the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.
“Ferry schedule for Brooklyn service will vary throughout the summer,” according to the official ferry schedule page maintained by the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corp., which operates the island with the National Park Service.
So while the island is open this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Brooklyn gets the ferry Saturday only. Service is offered all three days to Lower Manhattan at the Battery Maritime Terminal.
This Saturday only (as times may change through the season,) the ferry will depart Brooklyn at 11:20 and 11:40 a.m., 12:20 p.m., 1, 1:20, 1:40, 2, 2:20, 2:40, 3, 3:20, 3:40, 4, 4:40 and 5 p.m. (NOTE: Those times are different than the ones originally posted as GIPEC on Friday afternoon added extra service. Those times, like the ones for Manhattan service, can change weekly.)
Update: The Brooklyn service will be only on Saturdays, and even then, only on the Saturdays that have scheduled programming on Governors Island, Elizabeth Rapuano, the director of marketing and communications for GIPEC told NewYorkology. Manhattan will continue to be serviced by the Lt. Samuel S. Coursen ferry, while Brooklyn will get a supplemental boat hired by GIPEC. (And no, it’s not the ferry sold on eBay this past winter.) The Brooklyn ferry will not stop in Manhattan, Rapuano said.
The Roosevelt Island blog today has the news that the iconic red-and-white tram will likely run through the summer, pushing back its modernization project until fall.
“My best guess is a shutdown in September and a reopening in February,” RIOC President Steve Shane writes in an update reprinted on the Roosevelt Islander site, which has more details about the delay and renovation project.
Earlier, the tram had been scheduled to go out of service on July 6.
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation’s tram connects Midtown Manhattan to Roosevelt Island, which is technically part of the borough of Manhattan. You can ride the tram for the cost of a swipe of a regular MetroCard, which will rise to $2.25 from the current $2 on June 28.
