New York City Council Members Shaun Abreu, Carmen De La Rosa and Althea Stevens recently called for connecting their constituents in Upper Manhattan and the West Bronx to the NYC Ferry System by adding ferry landings at 125th Street, Dyckman and Morris Heights. We applaud this call to expand access to public transportation and challenge the City Council and New York State to take action not only to bring ferries to these new stops, but to bring zero-emission ferries to these new stops.
All New Yorkers deserve to breathe clean air while the transportation systems they rely on ferry them to their jobs, schools, activities and errands. As the Council Members state, transportation is an opportunity for a “public health, safety and resiliency strategy.” We need to broaden the strategy to include breathing clean air and addressing climate vulnerability by transitioning to zero-emission ferries.
NYC Ferry alone emits the equivalent of 116,000 cars worth of nitrogen oxides per year, contributing to hundreds of premature deaths annually in New York City. The communities of Upper Manhattan and the West Bronx deserve fast, accessible and reliable public transportation. Clean air is a matter of environmental justice, and these neighborhoods should not be further burdened with the health costs associated with fossil-fuel burning ferry engines such as higher asthma rates and higher numbers of cardiovascular disease cases.
We should “plug ferry passengers directly into the rest of [NYC’s] transit system” as the Council Members argue, but we should also be plugging the ferries themselves into the NYC electrical grid to power their rechargeable batteries, or be transitioning to ferries powered by hydrogen fuel cells or zero-emissions fuels. All of these are alternatives to the dirty diesel engines NYC Ferry currently uses, polluting the passengers’ lungs, the air and the waters they operate in.
The technology to transition ferries away from dirty fossil fuel engines is here, tested, proven and could save NYC Ferry nearly $250 million over 15 years, thereby keeping fares affordable, which aligns with the Council Members’ priorities. The technology is already in use here in New York. SeaStreak, a ferry company providing services between Monmouth County in New Jersey and Manhattan, received a $55M EPA grant to deploy three zero-emission ferries and two high-speed shoreside charging systems. In August 2025, New York City launched its first hybrid-electric ferry — the Harbor Charger — offering its passengers a cleaner ride to Governors Island. The ferry is expected to save the city more than $200,000 per year in fuel costs and remove hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year from the environment.
Washington state is also in the midst of converting its ferries to hybrid-electric, with a completion goal of 2040. Norway now has 180 battery electric ferries in regular service after passing zero-emission regulations. Bangkok is regularly running 30 electric ferries and the Republic of Korea is in the process of replacing 140 state-owned diesel-fueled ferries with electric alternatives. New York City must now meet this unique moment and deliver clean air for its residents as it expands accessible ferry transportation.
The New York State Clean Ferries Act, which Pacific Environment has been advocating for along with Sierra Club New York City Group, Protect the Adirondacks! and Waterfront Alliance, can make this happen. Sponsored by NY Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon and retiring State Senator Brian Kavanagh (A11303/S10381), the bill requires publicly funded ferries to purchase zero-emission vessels starting in 2028 and achieve full zero-emission operation by 2042. The bill is currently endorsed by Artemis Technologies, GreenLatinos, Ocean Conservancy, Protect the Adirondacks!, Sierra Club, Third Act Upstate New York, Earthjustice, International Electric Maritime Association, Pacific Environment, Resilient Red Hook, Third Act NYC and Waterfront Alliance.
The demand for zero-emission ferries exists, the opportunity is now and the communities most impacted cannot wait a moment longer for accessible, clean transportation. We strongly support Council Members Shaun Abreu, Carmen De La Rosa and Althea Stevens’ demand to add NYC Ferry routes in Upper Manhattan and the West Bronx, and we urge the state legislature to pass the NYS Clean Ferries Act in 2027 to usher in an era of cleaner air for all New Yorkers.
