Ferry to Fairway

Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges

Brooklyn Gantries

Forlorn Staten Island Ferry

Back of Fairway

Fairway shoppers

The obstacle course

Late last week I happened across an announcement from New York Water Taxi that they would be starting a free Saturday morning shuttle to the new Fairway grocery store in Red Hook.  The water taxi would leave the Fulton Ferry Landing at 9:00, go across the East River to the South Sea Seaport and then head to Red Hook, arriving at 9:20.  The ride to Red Hook is free, as is the ride back if you buy $100 of groceries.  If you don't spend that much the return trip is $7.  Although it meant waking up and getting to Dumbo early on Saturday, I hadn't been to the new Fairway and hadn't been to Red Hook since last fall.

At a little before 9:00 there were four eager Fairway shoppers waiting on the Fulton Ferry Landing.  No water taxi.  Five minutes later the taxi is leaving the South Street Seaport and heading toward us.  This is the reverse of the published schedule.  We were off to Red Hook.  Had it not been so foggy and misty we might have had nice views.

I presumed we would dock at the Van Brunt Pier, but Fairway had their own dock.  Even though it was a short walk from the dock into the store via their café, the café doors were closed.  We were directed around the building to the front entrance.  There was no sidewalk or walkway, we had to make our way around old trolley cars, construction debris, and other obstacles before hopping over a short wall and onto Van Brunt.

The new Fairway is larger than the one in Manhattanville, with a greater selection and more of each item.  I didn't notice any walk-in refrigerated rooms, however.  While I enjoyed the new store, I was hungry, so it was up Van Brunt to Baked for a second breakfast.