Battery Park City residents are not in love with the sounds of “Frank Sinatra.”
The “Frank Sinatra” and the “Yogi Berra” are just two of the ferry boats that illicit unending complaints from Battery Park City residents for nearly eight months. The vessels shuttle commuters from New Jersey to Battery Park City mostly for the service of Goldman Sachs employees who moved its corporate headquarters to our neighborhood almost a year ago.
According to a New York Times article, ‘The dispute about the boat noise has droned on for so long that Battery Park City officials have hinted that they might want to give the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the $50 million floating terminal, the heave-ho, saying the agency is violating the terms of its lease with the high noise levels.”
The public transportation nightmare has caused headaches for residents closest to the ferry terminal for some time. The ferries shuttle commuters more frequently than most other ferry services in the area during normal rush hours; however, the ferries also operate outside of those hours primarily for Goldman Sachs employees. The noise that emanates from the commuter ferries are due to older vessels being used to keep up with the increased commuter use as well as the siren signals heard when arriving and leaving the ferry terminal.
To alleviate the public problem, a private wallet has emerged — Goldman Sachs has agreed to spend $5 million dollars to provide updated ferries that would alleviate the noise pollution.
Goldman had been quick to “bridle at the complaints, suggesting that the neighbors were piling criticism on a firm that has already been faulted in the public eye,” as mentioned in the same article.
For those who don’t know, Goldman might be referencing our neighborhoods tested and fractured relationship that started with their construction woes nearly two years ago. Falling glass and debris from the construction site had been known to fall upon our community ball fields and sidewalks, injuring one of their own architects, as well as the community outcry for the recent closings of several retail and restaurants in our area.
How do you feel about Goldman Sachs’ offer to our community for new ferryboats? Does the ferry noise affect you?