 All right, good morning, everyone. My name is Maria Torres-Springer, I'm the Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development. I'd like to welcome all of you to today's exciting announcement. I in particular want to give a shout out and welcome our young people who are here with us today. Give yourselves a round of applause. So thank you again for joining us this morning. The New York City Ferry System has really come a long way since it launched over five years ago. We are really proud of the team for building the system across all five boroughs and across 25 landings. Faster really than anyone thought was possible. I'd like to thank them for offering safe, dependable, affordable and accessible transit to millions of New Yorkers, including waterfront communities, long underserved by mass transit. Now a few months ago at the beginning of Mayor Eric Adams' administration, he shared with us his vision for how the ferry system could work even better for New Yorkers and charged my team with developing a clear action plan. Now that team took their collective experiences and lessons learned from the last few years to develop the plan that you will hear more about today. So many thanks to the New York City Economic Development Corporation, that entire team for all of the work that they've put into this plan and the work that they will continue to put into it to make sure that the Mayor's vision becomes a reality. Today, we are writing the next chapter for NYC Ferry as we continue to evolve the system and make sure that it is as equitable, accessible and financially sustainable as possible. And so with that, I'm thrilled to introduce to all of you Mayor Eric Adams who will share more about the NYC Ferry Forward Plan. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. And it may be lost on a lot of people who are attending this and don't have the historical connection, but today I'm wearing my Obama suit. You know, really exciting. I was here on 4th of July and I was talking to some of the residents and tenants as we moved around and notice how significant this ferry is. This is a transportation desert and although we have a waterway here, we did not have real access to moving about and we have to figure that out. And these residents deserved a way to get to work, play, recreation, and really just be inviting to other parts of the city. And this ferry is a way to do so and we're specifically targeting ways to encourage people to use the system more. And so Deputy Mayor Torres is right. New York City Ferry Forward is the plan. I want to thank my good friend, Andrew Kimball, who put together the energy with his team to look at what we needed to do right and continue to build on that and just being joined with our amazing Borough President, Donovan Richards, who continue to move this Borough Queens my partial home borough in the right direction. And so where would we be without our water? New York is what it is because of the East River, the Huston River, all the waterways. It is what makes this city special, access to the city through our waterways. And more and more New Yorkers are using New York City ferry. But too many are not aware of the great benefits from it. They think it's out of reach and they think that it's not something that they can utilize. So when we utilize the ferry, it helps us revitalize our waterfront communities, large or small, for those who say it's just for the affluent New Yorkers, it's just wrong. It is for every New Yorker. And the more we introduce New Yorkers to utilizing it, they're going to see how possible it is to move about this city. And our goal has always been to solve the big problems with a single solution. For champion solutions that will use the resources that we have already to address the major concerns. And so the ferry system, taking cars off the road, going to those areas where we're dealing with the inaccessibility of buses and others of transportation deserts, one ferry is going to deal with a multiple of solutions. So I'm proud to support our ferry system. I believe in it. I see other countries really looking at their waterways. I'm supported as the president and I continue to do so now. And now that I'm mayor, I said, let's look at what's working in the system. Let's dismantle what's not working and let's build on it. So welcome on board to this new concept of New York City ferry forward, the Adams administration vision on how to utilize our waterway. And at the heart of this program is making sure that the system is equitable. Equal is not equitable. It's about being equitable, and that's what we're doing. And being accessible and affordable for all New Yorkers. And right here at New York City Ferries Astoria Landing, you see just proud people who are rich in energy, that are proud to be able to have a ferry system right here at the foot of their waterway. This is right besides NYTHA Astoria houses, and it's about our overall plan of how we invest in NYTHA and not disinvest in NYTHA. The New Yorkers who live here aren't conveniently located to the subways. It's a serious commute on how far they have to get to the subway system. The New Yorkers who live here have the abilities to carry out the jobs throughout our city, but the transportation needs are not there. But you can walk to the ferry. It's right here, right here on the pier of this great facility. The East River 90th Street, they can go to Midtown, to other parts of Manhattan, and out to other parts of the city. We're starting on September 12th. If you're a lower income New Yorker in the MTA Fairfares program, or a senior, or have a disability under our New York City Ferry Discount Program, you can ride the ferry for just $1.35. That's a real win. You can apply also to be part of the New York City Ferry Discount Program online or by mail, and then by tickets on the New York City Ferry app or in person at period 11 in lower Manhattan. The benefit could reach up to a million New Yorkers, we're also providing two free rides to all NYCHA household within a mile of a ferry's landings. Our goal is, we believe if you try it, like Mikey, you'll like it. You all just age yourself. So the goal is to try it. When you try it and see the open air, when you try it to see the convenience, we know you're going to like it. We're sending you mailers out today. We'd like you to give the system a try. And from September 12th onwards, we're eliminating the dollar bike fee, because we want people to get off their bikes right to their destination and final destination. Get around New York City, shouldn't feel like you're running a 5K marathon. It should feel as though you are getting the support that you need. So wherever you live in the five boroughs, we want to give you choices for frequent flyers or families. You can still buy a 10 pack for $27.50, that's the same as a subway ride. So each trip will equal the same thing as a subway ride. To offset our lower cost fares and help fund the system, we're raising the prices for occasion riders. So those who come from outside the city who are tourists, we're raising that amount to $4 per ride. That will offset the cost of those who are everyday New Yorkers that need to use the system. We're also launching a new direct to beach service to the Rockaways. Call the Rockaway rocket for which you can pre-book seats. This will also help offset the low cost that we're given to other New Yorkers who need it as a necessity. We're going to reduce the crowded on the ferries, take cars off the road, and have people take a nice smooth ride to the beach out in the Rockaways to help our economy out there. And really stop the overcrowding on our A-line and subway system. We're exploring public-private partnerships to help generate additional revenues and finding creative uses for underutilized vessels. Thinking outside the box, in fact, we're going to destroy the box and have a new approach to dealing with our ferry system. So I want to thank the team at New York City EDC. We're just amazing forward thinkers on how we get this right and developing this plan. Again, Andrew, thank you so much for what you continue to do for our city. And I want to also thank Hornblower, the operator of New York City's ferry, for helping launch the system and their commitment to implementing these steps. There's a reason that visitors in New York is like the ferry. You can see our skyline. You can enjoy the water. You can see the beauty of the city. I rode around during 4th of July and I'm just amazed at the development that is taking place on our waterfront. But we want to continue to allow everyday New Yorkers to enjoy the city that they helped build and made possible. So hooray for our team. Great job, Deputy Mayor Maria Torres Springer. We just have a host of smart, innovative thinkers as we move forward. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor, as always, for your vision, your leadership, and of course for today, the very dapper Obama suit. At this point, I would like to welcome the President of the Economic Development Corporation, Andrew Kimball. So I'd say even before Andrew's first day, he was already thinking about ways that we can ensure that NYC ferry was more equitable, more efficient, and more forward-looking. And that is really the work that he has done from day one, and so with great thanks to him, I would like to welcome him to the podium. Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor and Mayor. I can't imagine two better leaders to come to work for every day. It really is a pleasure. NYC ferry is safe, affordable, and accessible transit system, serving millions of New Yorkers across all five boroughs. Since I joined EDC in March, I cannot tell you how many New Yorkers come up to me. Almost every day to tell me how much they love the ferry, how the ferry has changed their commute times, and how it's improved their overall quality of life. The first time I met Councilmember Faria, she told me about her mother, who commutes from the sound view stop, cut out significant time on her commute. That's not just good public policy, that's good economic development policy. And we built the landing here to benefit the tenants of the Astoria houses, as the Mayor said. And thank you to the Association's former president for being here today and always being an advocate for our system. Today, New York City has in just five years built a ferry system that opened 25 landings and a system spanning 70 nautical miles, built a fleet of 38 vessels, and now offers six routes that touch every borough across the city. The system served over 24 million riders to date, and more than half a million riders in just the last three weeks. It blew past our original projection of 4.6 million riders in the first year, and we're on track in 2022 for a record year of ridership. In the years leading up to the pandemic, we saw almost a 15% ridership increase every single year. And now we run the largest passenger-only fleet in the nation. More than twice as large is any other ferry system. NYC Ferry has become a very important tool in EDC's economic development tool kit. And our fleet of vessels, you see right behind me, were built at lower cost than any other publicly procured ferry fleet in the country over the last 15 years. That's astonishing and a true testament to the public-private partnership we have with our operator. NYC Ferries' unit costs are also incredibly competitive. If you look at our per-hour operations costs, we're on par with or far better than any other ferry service in the United States. NYC Ferry has further proven to be amongst New York City's most resilient transit networks. It offered critical transport for our frontline workers during the pandemic, and as people began to return to work. It had the fastest return to ridership recovery after the pandemic than any other form of public transit. Now we're on target to meet or exceed our pre-pandemic ridership numbers of more than 6 million riders a year. One reason that it's affordable, second, it's convenient. NYC Ferry was created to serve neighborhoods that weren't included in the city's original transit plan, as the Mayor mentioned, and have long travel times to subway or bus. NYC Ferry also contributes to our city climate goals, moving people out of cars and on to ferries to reduce our carbon footprint. Activating our waterways and creating the nation's largest ferry system also has proven valuable in times of crisis. For instance, when the subways were suspended as a result of the subway attack in Sunset Park, our city's Office of Emergency Management called on NYC Ferry as an alternative transit option to get commuters home safely. For some that day, that was the only accessible option. Our increased ridership is also due to our NYC Ferry team here today, who stood up this expansive and complex system quickly and then made it through the challenges of the pandemic. I just want to pause for a second to applaud that team. The system employs about 468 people and we couldn't be more thrilled if students from the New York Harbor School here who are learning about the maritime industry and are helping it grow and who someday will be running these boats behind us. The Mayor says to us regularly in city government that we must constantly be looking for ways to provide more efficient, equitable, and improved services for New Yorkers. And that's why we're implementing NYC Ferry Forward today. We're turning a new page on what it means to connect New Yorkers to schools, jobs, small businesses, and our waterfront communities. Thanks to the Mayor's vision, we will make NYC Ferry more equitable, accessible, and fiscally sustainable. NYC Ferry Forward was informed by ridership surveys, careful ridership analysis, and the past five years of experience in learning what works and what does not. In addition to consulting our riders, we've also benefited from input from transit advocates and the Citizens Budget Commission. Here are some of the details of the plan. First, we will increase access and equity. As the Mayor said, make the ferry even more affordable for New Yorkers who could use it most. Meaning that starting on September 12th, we'll offer a fare of $1.35 for our seniors, people with disabilities, and New Yorkers who participate in the city's fair fairs program. This is something we've never done before and stands to benefit one million New Yorkers, a remarkable number. And to make sure all our neighbors know about NYC Ferry and what it is and how they can use it, we'll offer free trip vouchers for every NYCHA residents living within a mile of our landings, reaching 60,000 New Yorkers. This expanded outreach to NYCHA residents will start this summer. As the Mayor mentioned, NYC Ferry app already accommodates Google and Apple Pay and we're adding new payment methods, including cash app alternatives for un- and under-banked New Yorkers. And next, we'll focus on generating additional revenue and ridership by establishing a dynamic and progressive fare structure to reduce costs to the city. This means keeping our costs low for frequent riders and commuters while increasing fares for the occasional riders. Meeting on September 12th, we'll bump a single ride from $275 to $4, the same cost as a single ride on city bike. The $4 fare decision was informed by ridership surveys, ridership demand modeling, and past experience with the East River Ferry Service, NYC Ferry's predecessor service. We'll also maintain the $275 price for frequent riders, offering a 10 trip tax for $2750, which ensures our regular commuters who make the ferry even just a few times a month can still pay the low cost of $275. For all NYC Ferry riders, we will eliminate the $1 bike fee to help encourage multimodal connections. And starting Saturday, July 23rd, as the Mayor mentioned, we're introducing the Rockaway Rocket. This is a premium, reservation-based pilot program that will offer riders the ability to reserve their trip in advance for direct service from Pier 11 to the Rockaways. Rockway Rocket will operate on summer weekends and holidays until the end of the summer schedule on September 11th and cost $8 in each direction. These changes, though, can only be successful if our loyal riders continue to use NYC ferries. In addition to the broad outreach I just mentioned and to further build trust, we've made the important decision to increase our reporting of financial and ridership data. We know it's important for New Yorkers to understand exactly how much it takes to run a complex transit system, in particular the New York City ferry system. Effective today, you'll be able to visit NYC Open Data and find all historical ridership information. And in the coming days, you can go to EDC's website and find our historical financial information. These exciting changes to our system we believe will attract new riders, reduce our subsidy, and make our system more financially sustainable. Looking out further, we plan to seek new partnerships and sponsorship opportunities to help generate more revenue for NYC ferry. And finally, we'll initiate a competitive, open, transparent bidding process for new ferry operations contracts starting this summer. This new contract will further allow us to take the last five years of learning and ensure a clear, transparent, and effective contract that allows NYC ferry to remain a permanent fixture in the New York City landscape. These are a lot of positive changes for New Yorkers who love their ferries and those who have yet to experience it. We'll continue to carefully monitor the outcomes and improve where we can in the months and years ahead. And we're going to get it done because we work for the man who gets stuff done. Thank you. Thank you, Andrew. And again, as you can see, really Andrew and his team turned over every stone to find ways to one build off of the strength of the system. But also make the types of changes that are necessary so that the ferry system is as equitable and sustainable as possible. At the core of NYC ferry has always been transit equity and making sure that we are reaching communities across the five boroughs that have historically been underserved by transit. And so it is my great pleasure to introduce our next speaker, Astoria Houses Tenants Association President, Claudia Koger, and also a legend in this area. Claudia, please. Thank you. Good afternoon to each and every one. I give honor to all of those in their most respected places. Mayor, God bless, and most certainly our Queensborough president. I just want to make a correction. I am not the president now, I am the former president of Astoria Houses. But I am still an activist for the community. And I've spent a lifetime here in Astoria Houses on behalf of the residents of Astoria Houses over the years. And for a long time, the peninsula was neglected and became a desolate. But between some connections between our former councilman, Costa Coronete, and we stand here today with this ferry sitting here to serve it's not just Astoria Houses, but the in-south part of Northwestern Queens. And we appreciate him for that. And also with the activities of the Urban Upbound Program here with Mr. Taylor, and the Astoria Tenants Association over the many years who stood firmly together. And we fought firmly together. And we stand here today with the success of connecting Astoria, this forgotten peninsula to the city of New York with the ferry. And we are grateful, eternally grateful for everybody that served us here. And now we can go and take this ferry over to Manhattan in a matter of five, ten minutes in areas that would take us hours to get there. And I'm just overwhelmed with that. And also we can get to Wall Street within a half an hour or so, which would take us forever going through Manhattan all the way down and coming into Wall Street. So I just want to encourage the people to use the ferry. Because if you don't use it, you're going to lose it. And that's one of the things that I learned as a child. That's why we have standing here with us, our children here from the Urban Upbound. Because charity begins at home and it spreads aboard. So we want them to see how this community works and how it grows and where they fit in. So that's why they're all standing here today in our presence to learn something that's going to take them through their future. I stand here at 87 years old and I remember when I was a child, when black people could not vote. I remember that. So this is the things I want you to understand that sticks in the minds of children. I never forgot that. In high school, I made it my promise that I was fight for the right to vote for my parents. And I saw my parents cast their first vote. So this is what I'm saying is that make your moves on behalf of others. And the benefits will grow with you in your life. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It matters only when we make the steps that we need to make because charity begins at home and it spreads abroad. So I just want to say that. And I'm just, I'm overwhelmed because this ferry has connected us to Manhattan in 10 minutes where we are medical facilities from here, from our hospital, they go over to Manhattan. And they can be the services from here instead of going downtown and coming back uptown, you can go right across the river. And we are grateful for that. We just have to make sure that we get this information out to the people and make sure from this day, take this message to your neighbors, your neighbors, your friends, and your enemies as well. And we are thankful for you and it's my pleasure to be able to stand here. I've met so many people that I've met down through the years today. And if I'm seeming excitedly and without words to speak, et cetera, it's because I've seen so many people that's worked on behalf of Astoria Houses for the last many, many years. Thank you all. Thank you so much, Ms. Koger. I'd like to invite, would you like to say a couple of words? Thank you. Good day, everyone. My name is Vanessa Jones-Hull. I am the Story Attendant Association Organization President of Astoria Houses. I'm so overwhelmed as well, as Ms. Koger said, because my family was one of the first 10 families to move into Astoria Houses in 1951. So we have watched this community grow and expand and seen the greatness come through this community. And even through this past time when we was shut down, we had so many people who contributed to making sure that this community was remaining functional. And I want to say thank you to all of those who came out to help us. That included HANIC, as well as Zone 126 Urban Abound, and all of those. But mainly even the multiple restaurants who came out to support us, giving us food to our families, and all of those other organizations that participated. All the people like you have made it possible why we are standing here, given thanks to our Mayor, our Borough President, and all of the others that are standing here. But mainly for our children to see this great thing that's going on in our community. Our association is bent on definitely looking into uplifting our children in this community. As a member of the NYPD, I'm the community ambassador. I used to be for the Queens North now with Manhattan South. My position is to bridge the gap between misunderstanding and miscommunication between the community and the police department. And this is why I love what I do. I have gone into my 30th year of community outreach, and all of my outreach has been in my beloved community of Astoria. I left and I came back for a purpose because I wanted to see my community rise. I wanted to see my community be represented of the greatness that it is. I wanted my community to be shown. By that being where we get this ferry for people to come and see us, because they're going to see the beautification of where we live. That I had the privilege since 1963 of my birth and since 1951 with my parents and grandparents moved here, the privilege to enjoy this community. And watching all of my people who have grown and move on and come back to pay homage to the community. I say thank you to them because every single year at Astoria Family Day, which is August 13th. They always come back to give back to the community. So this is where we stand strong always and together. And going forward, we want to represent to these young people standing right behind us, the strength that we have in us to pass the baton over to them, because that is our duty. And I appreciate you all coming out today. Thank you. Thank you so much. Very well said. I'd like to call on Bishop Mitchell Taylor, but before that also want to acknowledge the representatives from Carolyn Maloney's office who are here with us today. So thank you for being here. A lot of the ferry, of course, the New York City ferry system is built on transit equities I mentioned before. But it's also about economic development. And there's really no one who can speak better to the ties between equity and economic development as our next speaker, Bishop Mitchell Taylor. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm not going to be long. I want to echo the sentiments of all the speakers that came before me. But I do want to first of all congratulate our great mayor. One of the greatest mayors that New York has ever seen. Come on, let's put our hands together for Eric Adams. And I say that with all seriousness and of course to our borough president, Donovan Richards, the best borough president that we ever had in Queens. Let's give him a big hand. And of course to our deputy mayor, Springer, and to everyone that has made this day possible to our president of the Soria Houses, resident association to our former president, my boss, Ms. Claudia Koger, the legend, and to the Harbor School. Thank you, Ms. Claudia Koger for giving Urban Upbound that credit. But that's the Harbor School back there standing in this shot today. Well, listen, there's no secret that we've all advocated and success has many fathers. And I just want to say that if one voice cries, it could easily be ignored. But if a thousand voices cry together, it can never be ignored. This is the result of voices coming together, advocating, and creating something in the most appropriate place in New York City. Astoria Houses is what I would call the transportation desert. In this regard, it took us years to get a bus from here to the subway and then the subway to other parts of the city. So it's appropriate now that we have mitigated that commute to a short walk, right from many of our apartments, right to this ferry stop, right to the rest of New York City. So I applaud it, I'm grateful for the fair fairs adjustment and expansion. That's going to be a game changer. I know my sister-in-law that works for ACS takes this ferry every single day to her job. That means something for New Yorkers. So this is an important thing that we're doing with the waterways. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Andrew. Thank you, everyone that had a part in making this magic happen today. Thank you again. Thank you, Bishop. Now I'd like to introduce the amazing borough president of this amazing borough, Donovan Richards. I'm just upset with the mayor because he didn't give me the memo on the Obama suit today. I got the Andrew Kimball memo today. Not as exciting, definitely. But good morning, Astoria. Whoa, what a great morning to be here. And I must admit, getting on the ferry in Manhattan was cool. But this side of the river is so much better if you ask me. I want to thank Mayor Adams, of course, Andrew Kimball, of course, the amazing Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer. I want to thank you and everyone else who's here today to help strengthen our NYC ferry system. And as many of you know, I'm a big proponent, and I see Katie Honen here. I remember many early days in the Rockaways fighting to keep the NYC ferry going in the Rockaways. And we were able to save that working with the prior administration. But they are more environmentally friendly than sitting in traffic on the Grand Central or on the BQE, certainly. And as we think about the environment and the impacts of climate change, certainly important that we are maximizing opportunities and utilizing our waterways. Ferries are ways to utilize our historically underutilized waterways, which I've never understood, where a city surrounded on all sides by water. We must take advantage of that. And in a city that's famous for having a transportation system that can be painfully inefficient at times, ferries are ways to connect communities across borrowed borders that have previously never been connected before. And my running story is always, it's probably easier to get to Florida by plane than it is to get to Manhattan by bus and train from parts of Queens. So this is a mode of transportation that needs to be expanded and supported as much as possible. I thank the mayor and thank him for this plan because this is a critical step forward in achieving that. The only thing left to do, Mr. Mayor, is to get those boats to LaGuardia and give travelers another option of getting to the airport. But that's another story for another day. We're going to take it one step at a time. All right, Andrew's losing is here. Ferry service is absolutely critical to our city and we need to make it an easier, more attractive option. One way to do that is to expand the discount program to those eligible for the MTA Fears Program, which this plan does. Another way is by doing real community first outreach in our NYCHA developments. More than 60 of which are within a 15 minute walk of a ferry stop, which this plan does. And I often say your socioeconomic status or your zip code should not be a determinant on if you have access to quality, affordable housing, but also transportation as well. Eliminating the $1 bike fee to further encourage both ferry and bicycle use is another important method, which this plan does as we try to get people out of their cars. And of course, when it comes to the Rockaway rocket, I'm ready for this thing to blast off. The mayor named after me, going back to my days as a council member for the Rockaways, one of them. We're making sure people can get to the beach quickly without overloading the regular ferry route, which is a win-win. I'm also excited about this plan because I think a new RFP is a good idea as well. And I'm excited to see what comes of that as the city renegotiates and ensures that we're maximizing on the subsidy and making sure that folks understand that they should also be a part of this as well. And if we're talking about naming rights as a way to generate revenue, there better be a boat called GSD. And that is get ship done, or else what's the point? But seriously, thank you again, Mr. Mayor, and to all of our partners who've made this. And most importantly to the residents and our young people, I met some young people from the Harbor School who are going to be training. There's one who's going to be training to actually drive these boats one day, and this is what this is all about. Making sure that the next generation has an opportunity. So congratulations, I look forward to working with all of you to expand ferry service in Queens, and of course across this city. God bless you all, congratulations. Thank you, Mr. Borough President. Now I'd like to invite council member Amanda Farias, who's also the chair of the Economic Development Committee. I'm mourning a story, or good afternoon at this point. I didn't come with my dad jokes prepared, but I did come with something brief. I'm council member Amanda Farias, and I'm the chair of the Committee on Economic Development. I get to represent District 18 in the Bronx, home to the best ferry landing in New York City, the Soundview Ferry Landing. Today we're taking a much needed and innovative, but also very intentional step towards a more equitable, accessible, and fiscally sustainable New York City ferry system. We are a city surrounded by water, and the New York City ferry is leveraging our waterways to help increase mobility in some of the hardest to reach corners of the city. Not only can these vessels move hundreds of people at one time, but the New York City ferry is environmentally friendly as previously mentioned. It takes countless cars off of our bridges and roads and creates direct connections between communities that otherwise are difficult to access via bus or subway. The Bronx South District 18 definitely understands the story of problems with those connections. In the coming months, EDC will be implementing many multi-pronged solutions that will not only expand its affordability, but will also increase ridership and lower the subsidies that we've been present since its creation in 2017. This is the vision we've been working towards. And I know I've been talking a lot about this for months to this great team here. My mom loves getting a shout out from Andrew Kimball. And I'm excited to see the new discounted tickets for seniors, people with disabilities, and those enrolled in fair fairs rolled out by the end of this summer. I'm also looking forward to the addition of the Rockaway Rocket, also known as RBP, which capitalizes on the high ridership level of this route and frees up more space on the ferries for commuters and daily riders. I have a ferry stop in my district that's adjacent to three different NYCHA complexes, where many of those hardworking families need to head to work in the city. Those two free tickets could be just the incentive that's needed for my neighbors to use a relatively new transit option that could get them to Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens on the best scenic route we have. I see bike riders riding down to the stop every day. I see women in scrubs going to their health care jobs. I see people in wheelchairs getting with their families and friends on to the stop. This is why these improvements are essential to the success of our ferry system. Because the New York City ferry has become essential to many of our black and brown and immigrant communities just like mine. I've worked closely with President Andrew Kimball and the team at EDC to make sure that we're keeping what was already great, while also thinking creatively and proactively to have lower cost, increase ridership, and keep the ferry affordable for everyone in New York City, whether they are a visitor or a resident. Thank you to Mayor Eric Adams for prioritizing affordability for riders while protecting the city's investment. And a huge thank you to President Andrew Kimball, Deputy Mayor Maria Torres Springer for their commitment to improving our ferry system throughout the last seven months. I look forward to continuing to work together on the success of our New York City ferry system. And maybe soon being able to look at some expansion. I know the BP and I keep pushing, but thank you all so much. I know it's hot, thanks for being patient with us. Thank you, Council Member. And finally, a number of our speakers have talked about the need to reconnect New Yorkers to our waterways and to really reimagine the water's edge. So someone who knows a lot about this is Courtney Worrell, the President of the Waterfront Alliance. Welcome, Courtney. All right, I'm the last speaker, and I want everyone to thank the children for being here, the youth, the next generation, the next users, owners, leaders, drivers, captains of the ferry system. Thank you all. I know you guys are hot. I just used my pen. I cut down my remarks, so I want to go fast. So I'm Courtney Worrell, I'm the President and CEO of the Waterfront Alliance. This is our 15th year anniversary. We were established to advocate for the hundreds of miles of coastline that make up the five boroughs. We also wrote the book on the campaign for ferry service for New York City, and we consider the five borough ferry system to be one of our major civic accomplishments. I also, though, want to thank all of the hundreds of New Yorkers that came out for the public meetings in 2012, 13, and 14, including people in Astoria. To lead your voices to this process, and for that reason, there is a ferry service right here. So thank you all for all of your civic participation. So we are so excited about the ferry system and the city's recommitment, and I want to make a few points. Worldwide, ferries are part and parcel of almost every major metropolitan urban area surrounded by water. New York City should not be different. This system was established to provide affordable low infrastructure investment to transportation deserts. A few facts. The four NYC ferry, and a few people have mentioned this, going from the Bronx to Wall Street was really difficult. Now it's 45 minutes with no transfers, and this was unimaginable to Bronx residents who have not had ferry service since the 1930s. And we've all heard Astoria to Manhattan, the east side, in under ten minutes. How remarkable. We urge the city, transportation advocates, planning organizations to comprehensively understand the benefits of this system. And analyze those benefits, comparing it to all other forms of transit, including the staffing, the infrastructure. All of what goes into mass transit, so that we can still understand how affordable and important. And how this is not a very different service when it is compared financially to the other services that we receive from mass transit. And the borough president mentioned the ferry service from LaGuardia. This is critical, not including ferry service as part of the solution for the difficult transportation options to and from the new LaGuardia would be a huge missed opportunity. We urge the city, the state, and the Port Authority to include this ferry service from LaGuardia. It will reduce car traffic and it will continue to put New York City on the map as a world class waterfront city. We applaud the measures that the Adams administration is taking today to strengthen revenue generation and to recommit to the ferry service, and let's not forget the ferry system is new. And for that reason, it deserves to be evolved and supported and invested in for the future of all New Yorkers. So thank you so much, and I look forward to working with Mayor Adams and the whole team here at EDC and Andrew Kimball. Thank you so much. Thank you to all the youth here as well. A few questions. Yeah, y'all want to get out the sun? Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. I wanted to ask, I guess two things. Do you think there's ever any hope of fare integration between the ferry and the MTA bus and subway? And can you talk a little bit more about the data behind the Rockaway rocket? Because it seems like to think that it's going to alleviate A train crowds when so much of the A train goes to Brooklyn. It doesn't seem to provide an alternative to that, but it seems like it's sort of like an elite boat ride from Manhattan people to take some pressure off the other boats. Well, Andrew, we're going to the integration, but during the summer months, there is a heavy flow of traffic on the A train during the summer months. And so the goal is to always find out how we can alleviate that. And so if we have those who want to pay a higher fare to do so so we can supplement the others, that's a real win for me. Andrew, want to talk about the integration? Sure. Yeah, look, transit integration is always the goal, and that would be ideal. It is complex. It requires coordination with the MTA. It requires administrative costs. It's definitely something we're looking at. And as I said at the end, this is not the end. This is a major step forward. We're going to continue to look at various different locations in terms of stops. We're going to continue to look at our pricing and monitor the impact. We're going to continue to talk to the MTA about things like fare integration, but that's not happening today. Kevin? Yeah, I've got two. One for the mayor and one for Andrew afterwards. Mary, you mentioned fare fares is one of the big ones that can get this discount. The fare fares program is tied to the federal poverty line, which is very low. It uses the same metric for Mississippi as it does for Manhattan. There's many people who make minimum wage and don't apply for that. They can't get fare fares. So are you interested in raising that at all? I know you baseline that in this year's budget, but are you interested in raising the capital to get fare fares? Yes, that's something we're looking into. We're looking into, I spoke with Jack over at the budget office, and that's something we're looking into. I'm going to start for Andrew. In the comptroller's report from last week, one of the standout items to me was a hornblower delivered the wrong class boat to the city, and the city just never asked for the 2.8 million difference back. What happened there? And how will you make sure that doesn't happen again? Sure. I think we're very clear in our response to the controller's audit. Let me be very clear on that issue where you're talking about the $8.4 million expenditure. We received a $5.6 million boat. We paid $5.6 million for that boat. The additional monies were for expenditures fully contemplated under the contract and appropriate. I wanted to ask, you said that this is not a fare service for the affluent, and the former mayor said the same thing. But the math doesn't essentially add up if raising the fare to $4 is going to help the economics of the boat, if nobody's paying that $4,000 fare. So technically the data must show that you have, if not a majority, a significant number of people currently and willing to pay that top fare. Who's riding this boat? Okay, you want to know the proportion of what? What I'm getting at is, isn't it right now that more affluent riders are using the GoPro? What you're saying is we'd like to create equity and make it much more available to folks in NYC and other parts of the city. But as of today, aren't the folks riding NYC ferry getting a discount at $275 when they could be paid? Well, and Andrew, we're going to that. The proportion number. That's why we're giving free rides to nitrogen residents to introduce. That is why we're using the reduced fare metro card program. That is why we are encouraging seniors, those with disabilities, and others above 35. We want to get those who are afraid of using the system, not believing the system is for them. That's what happens. Oftentimes, you see these new innovations and we don't go out and inform people of what the possibilities are. And if you would go to the typical nitrogen residents around the ferry system and ask them, you know about the ferry, how much it costs? You'll be surprised how many don't know about it. We have to meet people where they are and take them where they ought to be, not meet people where we are. That is how this administration is going to operate. This is a real win that we're going to. Now that we're starting to iron out the kinks, a new system, we're going to keep digging deeper into those who are not utilizing this ride. You want to do a picture? Yeah, thanks. I think we've been very clear on the equity side of the ledger. We're cutting the fare in half for potentially up to a million New Yorkers. That's not just folks who qualify for fair fares, but people with disabilities and seniors. That's a major step forward on the equity front. As we've expanded the service in recent years to places like Sound View and Astoria, you see the range of New Yorkers with incomes that more reflect our population using the service. So then your question goes to the increases. For folks like Amanda Farias' mother who commutes to work every day, cutting out time of her commute, increasing productivity, increasing her quality of life. She's a regular user. It should be the same as the bus in the subway. It's going to stay at 275. There are many people who use the service as a one-off. They want to get out on the weekend. They want to go for recreation. They want to try it out. They should be paying more, particularly tourists who take advantage of New York. So we did an enormous amount of modeling about what the right number is. We came out at four. Our analysis shows now somewhere between four and five dollars you start to lose ridership if you increase it too much. So we don't want to launch a new system with the ultimate goal of bringing down a subsidy at the same time shoot ourselves in the foot. With that modeling, what do we expect in terms of revenue go up? You talked about reducing the city subsidy. Can you quantify that? What is the subsidy? How much will the city subsidy go down? Yeah, look, I am going to be hesitant to give you an exact number. I think that is often a mistake. Everything we are doing is driving towards bringing that subsidy gap down, and we think it will come down. But we also live in the real world. We are rebidding this contract. We are in a hyperinflationary moment. I don't know what the outcome is going to be, right? But we need to keep moving in the direction of making it both a more accessible system, but one that is more financially viable for the long term. We are going to analyze where we are at the four dollar one time use in the next six months, in the next 12 months. We may adjust it, but we are going to be fully transparent about those numbers. And what the use of the service is. And if we do decide that is not the right number, then why? Pivot and shift. Pivot and shift. That is what we do. A couple more topics, but for any follow-ups, Andrew will be around. Thank you. A question for Andrew, just to follow up on what Bobby said. The Comptroller's report found that the city subsidy under the old program under DeBlasio was topping $14. I'm just wondering, can you give us an idea, the subsidy under the new structure? Is it going to be higher than that, lower than that, any sort of estimate? Yeah, so look, we can have a long conversation about auditing. We meet every gap standard there is. We meet every federal transportation administration standard there is. We're very proud of that. Some folks, including the Comptroller, CBC and others have asked for additional information. What's the depreciation on the boats? What are the expense internally at EDC to help run this? We're going to put all that information out in the light of day. That will be posted on our website in the next couple of days, so people can see that. Just to follow up on the Comptroller's report, and this is both for the Mayor and you. The Comptroller's report, as you know, found that the DeBlasio administration undercounted the cost of the ferry system by more than $200 million. Is there anything in this new plan, safeguards, to make sure an undercount like that doesn't happen again? Yeah, look, again, every expense that was made was made under the rules of the last contract and more appropriate. We are going to put out voluminous data as it relates to all of the costs of the system, well beyond what were required by the Federal Transportation Administration that monitors ferry service, not just in New York, but nationally. And look, we're proud of the steps we have taken, and we think we will bring the cost down that subsidy gap with some of these moves. But also, we have to be very clear on the goal here. The goal here is not only making sure that the subsidies come down. How do you put a price tag on the Councilwoman's mom being able to have the quality of life of commuting and not having gone through the crisis? How do you put a price tag on those who are living in transportation deserts and now can utilize this ferry system to get to their job in 10 minutes? I mean, you can't put a price tag on this. And so those of us who live in transit-rich areas, we may say to ourselves, okay, so we're so big of a deal. No, this is a transit desert. They are transit deserts in our city that people have been denied access to employment, up with mobility, access to health care. They've been denied access. If you don't have access to transportation, it's going to impact your overall quality of life. And so some people may look at the dollar line, the dollar amount. We have to get this done. This is an investment in these children and families and communities that have been historically ignored. And so we have to supplement if people are living in rich areas, high-rich transit areas, or other areas. We have to balance this transportation system. It's not fair right now. If you live in the center of Manhattan, you have access to buses, access to trains, access to ferries, access to everything you need. This community doesn't have that. And that is just not fair. That's not equitable. That is what we're talking about. And so if we just look at the supplement, we're missing, how do we supplement opportunities for people? And we're going to do that. Yes? Yes. So during weekends, places like Roosevelt and Illinois and the city, residents can't get on the ferry because it's so crowded, usually with tourists. Is there any plan to increase capacity on the boat so that residents can use the ferry as they want to do it on weekends? Yeah, and Andrew, you talk about that, but I want to be extremely clear. George Washington from tourists and George Washington from everywhere, I want them all. We want people to spend money. And I like my multi-billion dollar tourist industry that we have here. And we should look at, and I think that's what Andrew said, how do we look at those boats that are underutilized? And let's look at what the routes are. So we're going to continue to evolve. This is an administration that's not afraid to evolve. And if there are those locations where there's a high number of uses, then we've got to pivot and shift. We've got to evolve. We're going to continue to evolve. But I want my tourists here. I want to be clear. That's the multi-billion dollar industry. I love seeing them here, and I give them one piece of advice. Spend money. Okay, let's get some off-topics. I'm sorry? We're going to analyze where we are. And we would like to increase whether it's possible. So we're going to analyze where we are. And that's what this team is doing to see if we need to extend, expand. We're going to continue to pivot and shift to make sure that we can get as many people as possible utilizing the boats. Great, brother. Off-topics, I should say. Mr. Mayor? Yes, sir. 41 of the 51 city council members sent you a letter asking you to reconsider cuts to schools that you and they approved last month. How open are you to reconsidering those? I am so glad you said to centers correctly. We both approved. They read the bill. They sought a budget. They voted on it. Partnership. That's what we did. They got over 90% of the things they asked for. And so we're always open to figure out how do we sit down and figure out how to run the city better together. But you don't vote on a budget and then renegotiate a budget. That is just not how the system operates. We'll never get anything done. And so if they have some ideas, we're open to listen to. We have been communicating with the council members. We're always looking forward to doing so. But we have adjusted the class sizes. That's getting lost in this narrative. If you're giving people funding for 1,000 students and those students drop down to 600, that's not dysfunctional to keep giving them the dollar amount for 1,000 students. No, we have to adjust. And we're about to fall off a financial cliff once the stimulus dollars run out. And so we're open to sit down with our council persons. But let's be clear. They read the budget. They voted on the budget. You don't renegotiate after you voted on the budget. If I can follow up on a separate topic, you have two city agencies kind of in conflict with each other right now. The law department told the NYPD to stop doing random marijuana screenings. The NYPD came back and said, basically, we're going to keep doing it. What's the resolution here? I didn't know there was a conflict between two agencies. But all of those agencies that you mentioned, they fall under one mayor. And the mayor resolved the conflicts between agencies. Lawmakers make the laws. I make the policy. And so our team are all together. We're going to resolve this as a team. I will hear if there are conflicts. I'm not hearing that. I'm hearing just the opposite. The state passed a law. I don't agree with not carving out police firefighters, people who are doctors, those areas where you have to be clear. But they passed a law. The law states that we can still test if someone is, there's reasonable cost to believe that they're using marijuana. You can't test doing someone's private time, but you can't get high on the job. That has not changed. That has not changed. The NYPD is objecting to the dissolution of random screenings. Should those continue? I didn't hear the police commissioner state that. And once I speak with her, I find out what the issues are. And we'll sit down together and resolve it. We're going to move as one unified city. But we will follow the law. Like I said, over and over again. Bernadette, thank you. Bernadette. A follow-up on the education question. So quickly, did any of the council members bring up questions throughout budget negotiations? Were they disputing these paths to the budget? And then also have a follow-up from our education reporter who said, I want you to elaborate on comments you made Monday night about how you want Albany to fix the fair student funding. So that's a city formula. So what do you mean by that? Because the money comes from, we get money from education from the state, from the feds, and from the city allocation. We need more money coming from the state. We're not getting our fair share coming from the state. And we're going to have to, the city use that fair student funding based on the allocations of dollars we get from the feds, the allocations of dollars we get from the state, based on allocations of dollars that we put in the city. We need the state to increase that dollar amount that they're giving us to make sure that, number one, we've been denied from years until the campaign for fiscal equity, but we need help from them to increase the dollar amount that they're giving us. What percentage or what dollar amount would that be? That's my OMB guy to do so to tell us exactly what that dollar amount should be and the chancellor. And they're sitting down now talking about what our specific ask from Albany. Because in our mindset, we stated we have a drop in class and students. With those dropping students, we have to reallocate the funding based on what the fair student funding is. Chris, final question. Thank you. Circle back on Steve's question. Yes. I understand your administration is going to follow the law, no matter how it shakes out. So just more your personal opinion on the matter if you will. Do you think it's reasonable to random test police officers from marijuana? No, I'm not going to give my personal opinion because that's in conflict with the law. I'm going to follow the law. The law states what we can do and what we can't do. If we believe that we need to go back to Albany and ask for a carve out, we're going to do so. But right now, the law is telling us how we can carry out this procedure. I would carve out police officers. I would carve out firefighters. I would carve them out. Those areas of a profession that I think you need to determine if any drug use was done based on inaction, I think we should carve them out. But right now, the law is clear on what we must do, and we're going to always follow the law. Okay, thank you. Folks, the ferry is going to be departing in a few minutes, going to 34th Street and then down to Pier 11 if anybody wants to hop on it.