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U.S. NEWS Monday 3 July 2017
All aboard: New NYC ferry fleet puts out call for deckhands

system. Three routes are up position.” Hornblower is the group is, ‘How many peo-
and running now, with the San Francisco-based com- ple want to become a
one more to be added in pany that operates the captain?’ said Rich Paine,
August and two more by New York ferries and plans NYC Ferry’s head of train-
next summer, with a goal to employ at least 100 ing. “And almost every time
of at least 4.6 million rides a deckhands by next year. ... 99 percent of the entire
year. On Edwards’ first day The company was looking class puts their hands up.”
in May, he boarded a ferry specifically for people with Weeks of hands-on training
at 5:30 a.m. on a Manhat- ambition, noting that some on the decks of the cata-
tan pier for the East River of the company’s top ex- marans include lessons on
route to Brooklyn. ecutives were people who how to dock and undock
“I was hand in hand with rose up from the humblest at ferry, ensure passenger
Deckhand Pierce Collazo, left, helps a passenger secure his the captain, signaling that of jobs. In orientations for and crew safety, including
bicycle to the bike rack the NYC Ferry South Brooklyn route in the coast was clear,” he new deckhands, “the first responding if someone falls
New York. said. “It was an exhilarating question I always ask the overboard.q
(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
By VERENA DOBNIK
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Winslo
Edwards’ new office is on
the shimmering waterways
around New York City, his
backdrop its sweeping sky-
line, his job title: deckhand.
Edwards, a 55-year-old
Brooklyn man who had
been struggling since he
was laid off as a transit
worker five years ago, was
lured by the chance to
work on the city’s new fleet
of high-tech ferries, espe-
cially since it required no
maritime experience, only
a high-school diploma,
people skills and ambition
for advancement.
“This is my second chance
in life,” Edwards said. “I
knew I was able to meet
the requirements. I’m
young at heart, and young
in mind. And I’m in good
shape.”
Also among the novices is
Pierce Collazo, a 28-year-
old Army veteran of Iraq
from Jacksonville, Flori-
da, who had been kick-
ing around odd jobs for
years until he heard about
the call for deckhands.
It wasn’t the $15-an-hour
pay or the steady health
insurance that drew him in,
but the chance to move
up in the ranks.
“Finally, I decided to come
to New York and look for a
real opportunity,” he said.
About 80 deckhands will
be working by August for
the first wave of a 20-boat,
six-route fleet linking Man-
hattan and waterfront
neighborhoods in Brooklyn,
Queens and the Bronx.
NYC Ferry is Democrat-
ic Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
$335-million attempt to
ease New York’s over-
crowded and deteriorat-
ing public transportation