MTA urged to consider re-opening 'old' South Ferry subway station

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• Ken Paulsen | paulsen@siadvance.com

South Ferry Subway Update: January 2013

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(Gallery by Peter Kruse)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As the MTA prepares to spend $600 million and upwards of three years to restore service to the waterlogged South Ferry subway station, a possible temporary alternative sits just steps away: The "old" South Ferry station.

The MTA, however, says it's not interested in re-opening the old station, which was decommissioned in 2009 when the new one opened.

"Old South Ferry is completely decommissioned and no longer an entrance," MTA spokeswoman Deirdre Parker said. "We don't want to divert funds from rebuilding the new station in trying to recommission the old one."

But Staten Island's representative to the MTA board, Allen P. Cappelli, says the agency needs to take a closer look, especially in light of the long-term timeline for rebuilding the "new" station.

"I think it's an idea that needs to be considered in the short run, and I will certainly raise it" with MTA officials, including Interim Executive Director Thomas Prendergast.

Prendergast is a former Huguenot resident and mass-transit veteran. He supervised Staten Island's MTA bus service and the Staten Island Railway earlier in his career, and has earned a reputation for being sensitive to the borough's needs.

But for now, his agency is not even considering re-opening the old station to commuters. Thanks to the installation of a temporary signal system, the old station is now being used as the train turn around point -- just as it did for more than a century. But when the 1 train now rumbles through the old station on its way back to Rector Street -- the current terminus -- there are no commuters waiting to board.

They MTA says old entrance to the South Ferry is now property of the city Department of Transportation, which runs the adjacent Staten Island Ferry. Additionally, the only stairway to the station "was halved to allow for an employee facility," and the station is not compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

"None of these things is insurmountable," Cappelli countered. He added that House and Senate approval of the Hurricane Sandy relief package means that the MTA knows it will get the cash to make repairs that are needed to its system -- allowing it to seriously explore the feasibility of re-opening the old South Ferry station. "This is not a 'Where are we going to get the money' issue," he said.

As for the timeline on repairs to the new station, Cappelli said: "Three years is an unrealistic period of time to wait and I am going to be pressing agency officials to come up with a plan to get this done in shorter period of time."

The borough's elected officials had asked Prendergast earlier this month to consider re-opening the old station as one of the options to better serve Staten Island commuters.

For now, the MTA advises Staten Island Ferry commuters to instead use one of the subway stations within walking distance of the Staten Island Ferry terminal. The Rector Street station on the 1 line that used to terminate at South Ferry is just under a half mile away. Bus routes, including the M5 Limited, M15, SBS 15 and M20 are also available.