Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
climate change

Ferry Good News: First Electric Boat to Governors Island to Launch Next Year

No more.

How about Mr. Clean?

The Adams administration announced on Wednesday that it will initiate battery-powered ferry service between Lower Manhattan and Governors Island next year — the first major effort to clean up a form of transportation that comprises a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution.

And the city wants you to name the new $30-million boat:

Same look, better engine. Graphic: Elliott Bay Design Group
Same look, better engine. Graphic: Elliott Bay Design Group
Same look, better engine. Graphic: Elliott Bay Design Group

This first vessel of its kind within New York Harbor will have a hybrid battery/diesel propulsion system that will start reducing pollution upon its launch in summer 2024 because pilots will be able to "toggle" between zero-emission battery power and the diesel backup, reducing emissions by 600 tons of carbon per year from the current 1,450 tons per year, according to the mayor's office.

Eventually, the city intends to install a "rapid vessel charging" port which will allow the ferry to run 100 percent on battery power, reducing its emissions down almost to zero.

Mayor Adams and Trust for Governors Island President and CEO Clare Newman want New Yorkers to suggest names for the new 1,200-person-capacity boat starting today through May 25. (Entries can be submitted at the Governors Island website.) Worth noting: the new ferry replaces the diesel-powered Lt. Samuel S. Coursen, which was commissioned by the U.S. Army in 1956 and has been in continuous use since.

The City Hall press release on the boat quoted a number of local environmental dignitaries, but not Ben Furnas, who was the director of the Office of Climate and Sustainability under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio administration, which struggled to clean up its ferry fleet. On Wednesday, Furnas called the announcement "very nice" because "emissions from nautical vessels can be quite dirty on both climate and asthma-causing particulate point of view."

"I’m particularly pleased to see the commitment to move forward with fast-charging shore power to get emissions even lower," said Furnas, who is now the executive director of The 2030 Project: A Cornell Climate Initiative.

Ferry electrocution, he added, was part of the prior administration's overall fleet electrification goals, but "was one of the more challenging aspects of that work, so it is very nice to see progress."

That progress is not of insignificant importance. According to the New York League of Conservation Voters, nitrogen dioxide pollution near New York City ferry terminals are 50 percent above federal standards. On the plus side, the ferry system does transport thousands of passengers daily, some of whom might otherwise have driven. But ferry pollution is often glossed over; for example, an exhaustive 2021 report on cleaning up the air and water in the port of Seattle did not mention ferries at all.

Earlier this month, San Francisco took delivery of its own zero-emission ferry, Mass Transit reported. But that boat uses a hydrogen fuel cell. That boat is significantly slower than conventional ferries.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

‘Treated and Streeted’: How The City’s Safety Net Fails Homeless People in the Subway

The Big Apple’s $30-billion social safety net cannot reliably get a homeless person in psychiatric crisis out of the subway and into a hospital bed, a Streetsblog investigation has found.

September 23, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: ‘Not In My Back Yard’? ‘Yes, In Your Back Yard’ Edition

Our editor-in-chief joins the expert panel at the popular Upright Citizens Brigade's political comedy roundtable on Wednesday night. Plus other news.

September 23, 2025

How Trump’s Latest Multimodal Clawbacks Are Different — But They Could Still Devastate Communities

The latest attack on multimodal transportation is more brazen and destructive than ever before; the Trump administration is no longer hiding its disdain for walking and biking projects.

September 22, 2025

Agency Needs More Funding To Expand Delivery Worker Protections

The agency tasked with protecting city workers needs more money to implement recent laws passed to expand protections for delivery workers.

September 22, 2025

Zohran Mamdani On E-Bike Safety: Regulate App Algorithms, Not Workers

The presumptive mayor is joining the war against e-bikes ... on the side of the e-bikes.

September 22, 2025
See all posts