“No Telling” When the East River Ferry is Coming Back to Greenpoint, But Perturbing New Details Emerge About Its Collapsed Ramp
Better get used to those shuttle buses: in the wake of last week’s ramp collapse, officials are now saying there’s “no telling” when East River Ferry service will return to Greenpoint, as investigators work to figure out how the hell this happened in the first place. And what they’ve found out already isn’t exactly comforting.
According to a new report from the Brooklyn Paper, the East River Ferry’s parent company Billybey had determined the pier safe after an inspection just ten days prior to the collapse. They run weekly inspections but never perform underwater checks, as the equipment was too new to be considered a concern (the Daily News also points out that inspections by divers aren’t routine at any pier). Questions still remain about how, exactly, barge floats that were supposed to last over a decade gave way after just a couple of years. “Honestly, they need to look at every pier now and make sure that everything is safe and secure,” said Greenpoint Councilman Steve Levin.
So, it’s not shaping up to be a particularly positive day for news in the neighborhood, admittedly. Some minor consolation? Greenpointers reports that Mark Bar will be giving away free grilled cheeses to anyone who buys a drink after 8pm from Sunday through Thursday. Greenpoint giveth, and Greenpoint taketh away.
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.