A Somber Sight at End of Ferry Ride

By Joshua Robin | STAFF WRITER

September 18, 2001

Following Walt Whitman's wake, ferry service from Brooklyn resumed yesterday for the first time in 13 years.

With the stars still shining, at 6 a.m. 93 people traversed the East River aboard the ship John A. Noble, in the same way the poet did two centuries earlier.

There were only hints of festivity yesterday on the 20-minute free ride from Sunset Park to the Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan.

"I'm getting kind of excited," said Kathie Keegan, the Department of Transportation's Brooklyn borough commissioner.

Keegan wants the service to be permanent, not just a temporary fix to the transportation problems caused by Tuesday's attack on the World Trade Center.

The commute peaked on the 8 a.m. departure, when 349 people piled onto the ship, which holds more than 1,000 and is named after a Staten Island maritime artist.

Some passengers said they took the ferry out of dread terrorists will strike the MTA next.

"I doubt if I'm the only one nervous about the subway," said Carol Chiarello, a financial adviser from Bay Ridge who took the 7 a.m. instead of the subway.

"I feel, overall, safer up here" on a boat, said Kevin Thornton, 39, who works at a finance firm in lower Manhattan. "I feel I have more of a handle on it than if I went below ground."

Keegan tried to keep upbeat. Her assistants told passengers about the free shuttle in Brooklyn that runs to the ferry, which leaves from 58th Street and First Avenue. Keegan contemplated another morning run, at 10. She hasn't ruled out charging a fare.

Now the ferry leaves Brooklyn at 6, 7, 8 and 9 a.m. and departs Manhattan at 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. The service will go on indefinitely.

No cars are allowed on the boats.

Command Bus shuttle service to the Brooklyn pier will operate every 15 minutes from 5 until 8 a.m. The buses will stop at all Transit Authority stops starting at Shore Road at Fourth Avenue to the 58th Street Pier. They will run along Shore Road between Fourth Avenue and 69th Street, along 69th Street between Shore Road and Ridge Avenue, and along Second Avenue to 58th Street, making stops at 65th and 60th streets.

Most passengers on the 7 a.m. ferry - many of whom hadn't been to their offices in a week - also seemed ready to move on.

"I'm confident. Happy. It's gonna be a good day," said Derric Bagarozza, a wire clerk on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Then the ferry pulled into New York Harbor, and Bagarozza joined dozens of others on deck to stare at the empty space on the horizon.

"How can you feel?" Thornton said. "You had two beautiful buildings."

For more information about the ferry service and the shuttle, check the New York City Department of

Transportation's Web site at http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/em/transport.html. For other DOT

questions, call 718-CALLDOT.