Comptroller Scott Stringer demanded Wednesday that the Department of Transportation take over the city’s ferry system following reports of ballooning costs.
“The Economic Development Corporation’s contract with NYC Ferry operator Hornblower raises serious questions about the exploding costs and liabilities,” Stringer said, “all while handing over millions in revenue to a private contractor — questions that to-date have not been sufficiently answered.”
He said DOT, which already runs Staten Island Ferry, could eliminate administrative redundancies and run the operation more efficiently.
The move would allow the city to keep all of the farebox revenues, instead of splitting them with Hornblower under a complex formula that allows the company to keep the bulk of the money.
The San Francisco-based firm’s current deal with EDC also allows it to claim all concession and advertising revenue.
Stringer’s office blocked EDC’s plan to shell out $84.5 million to purchase 19 ferries the company was operating as part of the city ferry fleet.
All told, City Hall has budgeted $582 million — including the multimillion dollar boat buy — for the NYC ferry system, which carried just 13,400 passengers a day last year.
Those revelations were followed by a Post investigation that found 45 percent of the NYC Ferry ridership came from its East River line, where only one of seven stops serves a poor community.