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THE PAINS OF STATEN ISLAND COMMUTERS
Last week I read a headline article on the Staten Island Advance http://www.silive.com/advance , which detailed how the new ferries (which will replace the ageing car-carrying boats used today) will look like. The page-long piece also gave a tentative schedule of when those boats are expected be launched, according to information released to that local paper by the MTA. As I read the article, I couldn't help but wonder if the upcoming ferries will improve, in any way, the quality of the service - specially the incredibly ridiculous ferry schedule http://www.si-web.com/SI-Ferry.html Staten Island commuters have to face every day. As it is today, we only have a speedy, reliable service on rush hour during weekdays, when boats run every fifteen minutes or so. At those selected times, the ferry runs like clockwork, the only exceptions being when there is an emergency or a breakdown.
In case of an emergency, the boat is simply canceled - and not substituted. The night and weekend schedule is the one that is completely ridiculous. On weekends, the boats run only every hour, and at night the last car-carrying boat is at 10:00 PM . After 11:00, there is only the Alice Austen, a half-sized, uncomfortable boat, is available on an hourly basis for those who depend on the Staten Island Ferry for transportation. There are many of us who like to enjoy the nightlife in the town. There were quite a few occasions when my wife and I had to uncomfortably sit in the less than pleasant South Ferry (previously mentioned in an earlier article) terminal for a long time simply because there was no boat back home. In the meantime, other commuters were comfortably on their way, for example, to Flushing on their reliable subway trains. Things don't change even during important holidays. On New Year's day, the ferry schedule was not altered even when there were thousands of people that had gone to Times Square for that important day. Acquaintances of mine often ask me why I do not opt for the express or regular priced buses that come into Staten Island through the Verrazzano-Narrows bridge. Of course, none of those live on Staten Island, but on subway-served Queens and Brooklyn. First of all, the buses aren't reliable at all. They are often late, and on weekends they run on a schedule that runs very similarly to the ferry. In fact, everything on Staten Island seems to run according to the boats' schedules, including the local railway. Secondly, the cost of the express buses would be very prohibitive if one thinks of relying on them for everyday commute. It is very clear that this situation has to change. Residents of Staten Island cannot be treated as second-class New Yorkers just because the rest of the city is simply not aware of the existence of this borough (in fact, I have heard from a friend that many think that our island is part of New Jersey). It is bad enough that there is no subway into this island, which to me does not seem like an impossible thing. Having a more frequent ferry schedule is not impossible. There are six boats which could easily be going back and forth more frequently. The residents of Staten Island (and the people from other boroughs who need to come here for professional and personal reasons) should demand changes on the way the MTA manages the Staten Island Ferry system. After all, we are all tax-paying citizens- just like everyone else in town. Ernest Barteldes Staten Island ,NY A writer needs feedback in order to write properly.
Please send feedback to: ebarteldes@nycny.net
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richard e. schiff,
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At certain other times, the boats
run every half hour. 
