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Old-timers recall that the Barberis were funded, in part, by Federal grants intend- ed to promote mass transit. For that rea- son, they're the first boats in the system without vehicle accommodations. This doubles their cargo capacity - from an official 3000 riders aboard the Kennedys to 6000 on the Barberis - but while we're being practical, why stop there?

The boats run all year, and New York gets chilly in winter. Only a few fresh-air lovers would congregate outside at that time, even fewer during storms, and mass transit cannot consider the few; it consid- ers the masses. If the camel is a horse designed by committee, the Barberis are ferryboats designed by grant applications.

The planners of the Molinari class won- dered, if besides the usual sources, the new boats should be designed by their users. "I had written a piece for the arts coun- cil newsletter," recounts Tamara Coombs, a member of the St. George Civic Associ- ation who holds a degree in architecture, "about the fact that the quality of a ride on a Staten Island ferry was largely deter- mined before the boat ever left the boat- yard, that it was mostly a matter of design. Because of that piece, I was asked to help form a ferry committee," which became known as the Ferry Riders Com- mittee. " I became the chair and have been so almost ever since (another member chaired for a couple of years). "

The first task undertaken by the Com- mittee was to persuade the Department of

Transportation to allocate funds for air- conditioning of the St. George ferry ter- minal, then proposed for renovation (and now nearly completed). New York may be bitter in the winter, but it swelters in the summer. Despite this, air-conditioning was not budgeted into the rebuilding plans until the Ferry Riders Committee collected a thousand signatures on a peti- tion.

From this experience, Ms. Coombs concluded that "within the bureaucracy of

DOT there were civic-minded individuals who wanted to do the right thing, but needed the support of the public."

Added Jack Larson, about a time when the design considerations of the proposed ferries - not even "the New Kennedys yet" - were first being aired, "I was very con- cerned that we were bringing the project to the public far too late, that people would think our plans were set in con- crete."

In a sense, it's an oddity that a commit- tee of the St. George Civic Association would become the liaison between "the people" and "the city." While always hav- ing its influence upon public matters - St.

George is Staten Island's "downtown," its "capitol" - the Civic Association has nei- ther the semi-governmental authority of the local Community Board, nor the quasi-legal stature of the Local Develop- ment Corporations that sprouted around

Staten Island in the eighties. It is almost an oddity that a thousand signatures - out of the 70,000 riders of the ferry each day - would be taken as representing the com- monweal. Nevertheless, "In our commit- tee meetings and discussions at the larger civic meetings, it became apparent that most regular riders preferred the Kennedy class boats. We did not want new boats to be modeled after the Barberi class in terms of outside space, seating, window operation (padlocked according to calen- dar, not weather), etc. We decided to con- duct an informal survey to find out how other ferry riders felt, in hopes that ferry riders' opinions would be taken into account." The "informal survey" yielded "about 325 completed forms out of 400 we passed out. We then wrote up a 19 page report, with lots of quotes."

In a town as complex and convoluted as

New York, it's not always so clear when push produces shove. "I don't really know how large a role the survey/report played in terms of the decision for 'old style' boats. I think it was important," Ms.

Coombs recalls. "At the least, we got a discussion going about design. Although

DOT may not have been aware of how strongly ferry riders felt about the design of the boats, I believe it is likely that the report provided support for some within

DOT who wanted the return of certain

Kennedy class features."

Said Jack Larson, "People expressed their opinions. I think there's a strong con- tingent who would like to perambulate around the boat. The question came up, can we bring people up there to the Hurri- cane deck? I think it was a real coup to be able to pull that off. "

February, 2005 • MarineNews 33

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