Mayor De Blasio takes ceremonial first ride on New York City's new ferry service

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Mayor De Blasio took the first ride on New York City's new ferry service Sunday.

He traveled from the Rockaways to lower Manhattan.

Starting Monday, the first commuter ferry will take off from the new Rockaway route at 5:30 a.m. and then pick up more passengers at Sunset Park before arriving in lower Manhattan before 6:30.

The ferry will service Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

According to De Blasio, the new ferry service could reduce some commutes by almost an hour.

Renovated ferries will also launch Monday on the existing East River route.

The city is making a $335 million bet that the service will attract millions of passengers traveling between Manhattan and waterfront neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx that are now a distant walk from overcrowded subways.