The NYC Ferry is picking up a new side gig between rush hours.
Through a new partnership with Billion Oyster Project, ferries are being turned into floating classrooms that will take more than 10,000 NYC public school students a year out onto New York Harbor, according to NYCEDC.
Called the Floating Classroom, the program uses ferries during quieter off-peak weekday hours, when there’s “a little bit more capacity,” as NYC Ferry executive director James Wong told CBS New York.
How the floating classroom works
- 90-minute voyages on school days, from Labor Day through Memorial Day
- Up to two trips a day, with room for about 300 students and teachers daily
- Lessons on marine ecology, oyster restoration, climate resilience and careers on the water, led by Billion Oyster Project educators
- The bigger goal: reaching 1 million NYC students by 2030
The program was announced at the DUMBO ferry dock in Brooklyn Bridge Park, and it’s launching for the 2026-27 school year.
Teachers can join the interest list on Billion Oyster Project’s website for first access when class booking opens.
The high school where you take a boat to class
If anyone knows the harbor as a classroom, it’s the students at Urban Assembly New York Harbor School on Governors Island, Billion Oyster Project’s longtime partner.
More than 50 Harbor School graduates now work for NYC Ferry as captains and deckhands, according to NYCEDC.
Senior Jocsan Rojas, who grew up in Sunset Park, told CBS New York that people are “shocked when they hear you take a boat to school every day.”
Wait, there are oysters in the harbor?
Yes, and the goal is to bring back a lot more.
New York Harbor was once packed with oyster reefs, and since 2014, Billion Oyster Project has been working to restore 1 billion oysters by 2030.
Oysters filter water and their reefs give marine life a place to live.
So far, the group has collected 3.2 million pounds of oyster shells from city restaurants to help rebuild reefs.
How regular New Yorkers can get involved
The Floating Classroom is just for school groups, but grown-ups can still get their hands dirty:
- Volunteer: Billion Oyster Project hosts free waterfront volunteer days, from building reefs to shoreline cleanups.
- Recycle your shells: shells from partner restaurants go back into the harbor to help new oysters grow.
- Join an oyster social: the group hosts events throughout the year, many of them free.
See what’s coming up on Billion Oyster Project’s website.
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