NYC Ferry riders will get direct boat rides between the Bronx and Rockaways, as well as Staten Island and Brooklyn, starting next month, the city Economic Development Corporation announced Monday.

Officials said the new routes will take effect on Dec. 8, filling in major gaps in the city’s budding ferry service.

Brooklyn and Staten Island politicians have for years called for a ferry connection between the two boroughs, providing a mass transit alternative to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, which is only accessible by car. The other new route, which will run from Throgs Neck to the Rockaways, will provide a two-hour connection between the Bronx and the Queens beachfront .

The EDC is also making changes to the ferry's East River route, which officials said would make the service more ef

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