State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli recently released an audit that identified the City of Glen Cove as a fiscally stressed local government and warned that the situation could grow even worse.
The city has an annual budget of $50 million with only $2.2 million in reserves. A new ferry service was promised to begin many years ago.
Failure to implement this new transportation option could result in the City of Glen Cove having to pay back the Federal Highway Administration for $16.6 million in grant funding.
These dollars were approved 20 years ago back in 2003. They were to pay for the construction of a new ferry terminal. It was to support a new ferry service from Glen Cove to the downtown Manhattan financial district.
The latest project recovery schedule called for service to begin before the end of 2023.
Based upon my previous experience in the management of Federal Transit Administration capital grants for similar ferry capital projects, it should have taken several years to complete the construction of any ferry terminal.
Ferry service should have been up and running many years ago.
Commuters frequently make decisions based on the frequency of service options, time of trip required to reach the final destination and farebox costs.
If the new Glen Cove ferry service offers far fewer trips to select from, transfers are inconvenient, travel time is too long and the price is not competitive with the Long Island Rail Road, it may be doomed to failure due to poor ridership, just like previous private operators
Larry Penner
Great Neck
Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously served as a former Director for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office of Operations and Program Management.