LIRR ferries running empty

LIRR commuter Joan Hernandez got a private ferry ride across the East River from Long Island City to East 34th Street Monday morning. And it was not the first time. The evening rush is equally quiet. The 3:40 p.m. and 4:11 p.m. boats left 34th Street without a single passenger Monday afternoon. The often-empty boats, one all the way from Plymouth, Massachusetts, have been chartered by the MTA exclusively as an alternative option during the so-called Summer of Hell.