New NYC Ferry Costs $100 Million – Sits Docked and Unused

New York City has spent $100 million on a new passenger ferry to service Staten Island and Manhattan, and while a ceremony several weeks ago honored the late military hero for whom it is named, it sits unused because the city hasn’t hired a pilot.

Named after Army Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis, a 24-year-old Staten Island native who was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan in 2013, the ferry can hold 4,500 passengers.

Ollis was on his third tour of duty during Operation Enduring Freedom when he was killed saving the life of a wounded Polish officer during the attack.

The Ollis boat is the first new vessel in the Staten Island ferry fleet in 16 years and was received with much fanfare but it’s docked and dormant, The New York Post reported.

There are not enough ferry staffers to train for the new boat while keeping the current boats running at the same time.

A labor dispute with the 160-member union that represents captains and engineers who navigate the ferry has contributed to the staffing woes, the Post reported.

The union has been without a new contract since 2010 due to an impasse with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. The city Department of Transportation, which operates the ferry service, pays starting ship captains $70,000, which isn’t enough to attract mariners who can make more working in the private sector.

Both for the $100 million cost of the new boat and to honor the man for whom it is named, NYC officials should get their act together and staff the new ferry.

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