Ricardo Garcia opposes City Island ferry, suggests Orchard Beach

Ricardo Garcia, followed by Stephen DiFiori.

You may begin.

Good afternoon, Chair Maloney, Chairs of Bru, Council Members.

I'd like to take the opportunity to discuss this intro 1032.

I am a member of the City Island Civic Association.

I'm the Vice President.

And as such, I wanted to note that we are not opposed

to a ferry coming to the Northeast Bronx were opposed to it being on City Island.

Currently, the infrastructure, the parking congestion, the parking availability and the congestion would not be alleviated and it just doesn't have the infrastructure for it to properly house

a waterfront ferry.

There were multiple studies that were done, and this had already notated that, plus the low ridership.

What we recommend and what we asked was that it be re-adopted for Orchard Beach.

And the reason why is there was a capital investment project that was recently completed that revitalized Orchard Beach.

In addition to that, there's a parking lot within Orchard Beach that can house approximately 5,000 vehicles.

Plus, there's public transportation access to Orchard Beach.

Which were the

alleviate some of the flow into City Island and the traffic issues that may arise as a ferry being placed on City Island.

So Orchard Beach by far is the most logical and comprehensive place to locate this potential ferry.

Secondly, it would consider if the study, if it's placed at Orchard Beach, it would

provide easier access for commuters from Country Club, City Island, Baychester, Echester, Co-op City, Pelham Bay, Pelham Parkway, and also potential clients from Pelham Manor, New Rochelle, and White Plains,

which would increase ridership and provide the...

The ridership needed to be able to have an ROI on this.

So my recommendation and my ask is that it be reconsidered and repurposed for Orchard Beach instead of City Island.

That would make more logical sense.

Thank you.

Thank you.