Ferry Foul Play?

IKEA’s new store on the Brooklyn waterfront offers free ferry service (courtesy of New York Water Taxi) between its store in Red Hook and Pier 11 in lower Manhattan. However, some Red Hook residents claim IKEA customers are being "hand-stamped" for priority boarding while local residents are denied service or forced to miss rides. As IKEA originally announced that ferry service would be complimentary and made no mention of purchase requirements, hand-stamping stories seem a bit odd. Let’s hope IKEA is being a good neighbor and isn’t caught red-handed, red-handing customer/ferry riders.