NY Water Taxi to provide service to SI commuters Monday - Los Angeles Local News, Weather, and Traffic

The New York City Department of Transportation announced Saturday that New York Water Taxi will run a temporary eight-week ferry service to help Staten Islanders get around in the wake of Superstorm Sandy beginning on Monday. 

The ferry schedule will include six half-hourly departures traveling between a temporary landing at Staten Island's Great Kills Park between 6:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. bound for Pier 11 at Wall Street and continuing on to 35th Street in Midtown. The ferries will make six return trips in the afternoon, arriving in Great Kills every half hour between 5:40 p.m. and 8:10 p.m. 

Vessels will leave from a newly-installed temporary landing near the marina in Great Kills Park along Buffalo Street, and three parking areas within Great Kills Park will be available to ferry riders arriving by car. DOT has placed signs directing motorists to the ferry landing and electronic variable message signs announcing the service along key routes on the South Shore. 

The MTA will provide a shuttle bus that will link the ferry landing with the S78 and SBS S79 bus stop at Buffalo Street and Hylan Boulevard and parking areas. 

The one-way fare is $2. Schedules are on the DOT's website. 

New York Water Taxi says it hope to help some of the people hardest hit by the storm. Many are contending with storm-damaged cars and other transportation problems.

The city has established a similar temporary ferry to the badly damaged Rockaways in Queens.