Bonus #1: Electric Scooters

Bird electric scooter
A Bird scooter at City Hall 

The electric scooter company Bird launched their services in New York City in the East Bronx in 2021.

Bonus #2: Barge Rail

This isn’t a passenger transportation option, but it’s one of our favorites. Just south of the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park is one of New York City’s infrastructure survivors: a floating barge freight train line that runs from the 65th Street Rail Yard to the Greenville Yard in Jersey City across the Hudson River. The New York New Jersey Rail, founded in 2005, is operated now by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Although the line is only four miles long, it serves as a small, but growing critical link for freight in the New York region, and cements the city’s commitment to bringing industry back to the waterfront. The ride takes 35 to 40 minutes and by crossing the Hudson River, the floats take trucks off the highways and give freight a more direct route between New York and New Jersey.

New York and New Jersey Rail transports a large amount of local lumber and building materials, as well as food products like soybean oil and Washington state apples, separated recycled materials from the SIMS Municipal Recycling Facility nearby and other solid waste like scrap metal. Special cargo have included New York City transit subway cars and oversize pieces for the Willis Avenue Bridge, which spans the Harlem River

In 2018, it was announced that Cross Harbor Partners will carry out an environmental impact statement (EIS) looking at two alternatives for the expansion of freight movement here in New York: the construction of a cross harbor freight tunnel under New York Harbor and the expansion of this existing railcar float operation.

Next, check out the Top 10 Secrets of the NYC Subway.