Dept of Transportation Takes 7 Years To Deliver a Few Ferries to Staten Island

The NYC Department of Transportation has yet to make public the most recent revised date when the next three new Staten Island Ferry boats are going to be delivered including the first New Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis vessel (Source: “NY: Looking ahead: Key transportation projects for Staten Island in 2021” by Eric Bascome in the January 5 edition of the Staten Island Advance). 

The most recent promised delivery date for the first boat of November 2020 has come and gone. NYCDOT has yet to release the next recovery schedule to support a delivery date for the first boat in 2021. 

After NYC DOT awarded a contract to the Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc., they had to submit a detailed project construction schedule for all three new boats.  This would include detailed interim milestones for weekly construction activities.  Progress reports should have been submitted to NYC DOT on a monthly basis. 

NYC DOT Staten Island Ferry should have assigned a resident engineer to monitor project progress  They may have been supported by an independent third party engineering firm to assist in oversight. One or both should have been on site at the shipyard on a daily basis to monitor construction progress first hand.

When project delays occur, it is customary to ask the vendor for a detailed recovery schedule.  Funding for two of the three boats were part of a $191 million Federal Transit Administration Super Storm Sandy grant approved to NYCDOT in September 2014. 

It now appears that completion of all three new boats  including delivery and going into passenger service may not occur until the end of 2021 or later.  NYC DOT is legally required by FTA to submit Quarterly Financial and Progress Milestone reports.  Delays have to be explained and recovery schedules provided. 

It is fair to write off some delays due to damage to the shipyard by a Hurricane in 2018 and the ongoing effects of COVID-19 to staffing levels and delivery of materials necessary for construction of vessels. That still does not explain why it will take seven or more years before the first new boat arrives. Contract change orders over $100,000 have to be documented as fair and reasonable. 

What is the dollar value and number of contract change orders approved to date?  What is the dollar value and number of contract change orders still being negotiated between the contractor and NYCDOT? Are there sufficient grant funds to cover any additional unanticipated project costs?  If not, what is the source for additional funding?  

All parties have known about the adverse impacts of COVID-19 since March. How could NYC DOT not hold the vendor accountable for all this time? They should have insisted on an updated construction recovery schedule and firm new delivery dates for each new vessel. 

Not knowing when these boats are going to be delivered is a dereliction of duty on the part of NYC DOT. It is a disservice to commuters, taxpayers and elected officials who count on a reliable safe Staten Island Ferry. Ditto for Staten Island Ferry employees who continue maintaining older boats that should have been replaced years ago. 

There is also the cost of additional maintenance for older boats that went into revenue service including the John F. Kennedy (1965), Andrew J. Barberi (1981) and Samuel I Newhouse (1982) to keep them in passenger service.  The cost over the past years up until retirement could easily be in the millions.  Taxpayers are stuck with the bill.