Ikea bringing free ferry to Red Hook

Ikea is launching a free water taxi that will run during store hours between its new Red Hook store and Lower Manhattan. The ferries will dock along a 6.5-acre public esplanade that IKEA built behind the store to gain public support for the contentious new furniture store, which opens June 18. Other transit improvements for the isolated area include better bus service and a free shuttle service connecting the store to the three closest subway stops, which are over a mile away. Red Hook residents have long feared traffic congestion that Ikea would bring to the neighborhood’s quiet streets. In March, The Real Deal looked at the impact the Swedish store could have on Red Hook.