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Visitors to Little Italy's San Gennaro festival earlier this month included a group who came by boat. No, they weren't immigrants from the south of Italy, but New Jersey commuters taking advantage of the latest twist in ferry service in New York.
Direct Line, one of the fastest-growing ferry companies serving New York, has decided that its sleek fleet should do more than shuttle commuters to jobs in Manhattan from their homes in Brooklyn and New Jersey.
So Direct Line, which operates 15 boats, is cutting deals with Broadway producers, a local race track and private groups for recreational excursions. The move comes at a time when competition is heating up as new ferry services jockey for a share of the growing commuter business.
"We seem to have had a surfeit of applications," says Walter Thabit, director of ferry planning for New York City. "It's amazing, actually."
Ambitious approach
Direct Line's approach to the new business has been ambitious. Recently, for example, the ferry service bought 3,000 theater tickets for a number of Broadway shows. Charging anywhere between $50 and $75 -- depending...