Running from Long Island City in Queens, through four stops in Brooklyn—DUMBO, Williamsburg and Greenpoint—and to East 34th Street and Pier 11 near Wall Street in Manhattan, the new East River Ferry has everyone talking, but will anyone be riding?

Though the charming Grey’s Anatomy-style commute is a familiar option in cities like San Francisco and Seattle, it hasn’t fared quite as well among jaded New Yorkers. When the new route first surfaced in June, the water shuttle was packed, though free rides for the first month helped. The ferry is on the map for families—it reportedly has been running out of kids’ life vests—and sightseers get another way to make the rounds without having to spend too much time underground (NY Daily News). But now that fares have been set at a fairly steep $4 each way ($140 for a monthly pass; add an extra buck and bring your bike), daily commuter traffic has slowed (NY Post).

The addition of an IKEA ferry—which runs free service to the Red Hook store from downtown Manhattan on weekends ($5 on weekdays) brought us an easy way to get to Red Hook and which may have taken the first step to putting ferry travel on the radar: The Red Hook neighborhood has become increasingly popular, but getting there was limited to complicated bus routes and long walks from the subway.

The new ferry route, buoyed by a city subsidy of $9.3 million, was added to help increase business growth in areas near the river’s edge (NYTimes). Its midtown dock is only 20 minutes from Greenpoint, which may best illustrate the new ferry’s biggest gift to the city. Williamsburg and Greenpoint were tough to get to for many—accessible only by the G line and the increasingly crowded L. With the ferry, Greenpoint’s recently exploding rep as a destination spot has nowhere to go but up, and it’s now much easier for LIC, Manhattan and DUMBO residents to make a quick trip to the ‘Burg-based Brooklyn Flea.

Ferry info and interactive map.