$46.7M in stimulus funds will free up city money for much needed improvements
Originally published in the Staten Island Advance
August 03, 2009
By Deborah Young
Some $46.7 million in federal stimulus funds have been directed to the Staten Island Ferry to assure the upkeep of its fleet of boats, lawmakers announced yesterday.
Nine million dollars will pay for maintenance programs, sparing possible ill effects of budget cuts down the road and ensuring the continuance 21 jobs which otherwise could have been in jeopardy, according to city Department of Transportation officials.
The stimulus funds account for more than 10 percent of an $82-million, 3-year maintenance budget that lets ferry workers to perform such preventative care as changing engine oil, readying boilers for heating during the winter and changing out pump components on schedule. Another $38 million allocated by the Transit Capital Assistance Grant funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will go toward assuring an already-funded dry-dock maintenance program will not be diminished.
By using federal stimulus funds to pay for the dry-dock project, the city freed up $38 million for other much-needed ferry infrastructure upgrades in the city, lawmakers said.
"This new funding will provide for upgrades to our ferry boats and piers so that all those who live and visit our city can travel safely," said Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), noting maintenance suffered during the 1980s fiscal crisis and with the city facing a potential $5 billion deficit next year, it could have been in jeopardy again.
"That is good news for Staten Island Ferries. There is certainty the boats will be running and there will also be safer conditions."
The decision to direct federal dollars toward maintenance of the boats comes after an awkward landing July 1 of the Sen. John J. Marchi jolted riders and caused damage to the vessel, prompting the borough's trio of councilmen to ask the Council's Transportation Committee to take a closer look at ferry service.
Before this most recent allocation, the Staten Island Ferry had already received more than $180 million in stimulus funds, including $6 million for upgrades to the retail space and $175 million for the rehabilitation of the bus ramps at the St. George terminal -- representing the largest single slice of stimulus funding in the state.
Several other city projects benefited from the redirection of the $38 million in federal transportation funds that had been previously earmarked as part of an $71.5-million program that brings Staten Island Ferry ships in the Colonna's Shipyard in Norfolk, Va. for regular, dry-dock check-ups.
Access for people with disabilities will be increased at the ferry landings at East 90th Street, East 34th Street, Pier 11 (Wall Street), Brooklyn Army Terminal Pier 4, St. George Slip 7, Battery Maritime Building Slip 5, Yankee Stadium, and Pier 79 (West 39th Street).
"The city's ferry system is a vital link in our mass transit system, and the stimulus dollars will allow us to move four ferry projects forward that would have otherwise suffered due to funding shortfalls," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
