By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday announced that the NYC Ferry system shattered daily, weekly, and monthly ridership records in the summer of 2025.
NYC Ferry set records for the:
- Highest ridership in a single month in August 2025 with 1,014,317 total boardings — a 17-percent increase over August 2024 and the first time NYC Ferry has had more than 1 million boardings in a single month ever.
- Highest ridership in a single week from Aug. 4 through Aug. 10 with 240,264 total boardings.
- Highest ridership in a single day on Saturday, Aug. 2 with 52,923 boardings.
The Rockaway Rocket — which connects passengers from Long Island City and Greenpoint to the Rockaways — also saw average daily ticket sales increase by 19 percent compared to its inaugural year in summer 2024. The historic summer records come as NYC Ferry looks to bolster the system even further.
This summer’s record-breaking ridership builds on the steadily growing popularity of the NYC Ferry system. NYC Ferry saw more than 7.4 million passengers in 2024 — the highest yearly ridership in its history — and is already experiencing a two percent increase in ridership in 2025. This growth is thanks, in large part, to a loyal commuter base as well as the popular “Rockaway Reserve” and “Rockaway Rocket,” which help accommodate increased passenger traffic to City beaches during the summer season.
The Rockaway Rocket, in its second year connecting Long Island City and Greenpoint to the Rockaways, sold more than 17,000 tickets and generated more than $200,000 in additional revenue for the NYC Ferry system. Average daily ‘Rocket’ ticket sales increased 19 percent from 2024. The Rockaway Reserve, which offers commuters an opportunity to reserve seats on vessels along the Rockaway Route, sold 30,000 tickets and generated more than $360,000 in revenue.
NYC Ferry’s record summer ridership follows the announcement earlier this summer of a proposed system-wide optimization and reconfiguration of routes, the first in the history of the NYC Ferry. The proposed optimization of the system follows a comprehensive and holistic review of how the NYC Ferry routes operate as a system, as well as years of rider feedback, ridership data, operational analyses, and existing infrastructure. The planned optimization will seek to address known issues, improve the rider experience, and ensure the long-term sustainability of the system.
This September also marks the return of NYC Ferry Student Discount Program, which offers $1.45 NYC Ferry tickets for all New York City high school students on weekdays during the school year. NYC Ferry also offers access to $1.45 ferry tickets for seniors 65-years and older, people with disabilities, and participants in the Fair Fares NYC program.
Spanning 70 nautical miles, the NYC Ferry system operates 38 vessels across six routes and 25 landings — the largest passenger-only ferry fleet in the United States. NYC Ferry is not only a major transit option for New Yorkers’ daily commutes — providing a link between job centers, schools, parks, and cultural destinations in all five boroughs — it is a fixture of the city’s waterfront and is seen daily by millions of New Yorkers and tourists on the water and from New York’s shoreline, buildings, bridges, and more.
