New York Water Taxi (NYWT) has jaunty boats painted to evoke old-fashioned New York checker cabs, bright yellow with a trim of black and white checks. The company was founded in 2002 with backing from Douglas Durst. It was based from the start in Red Hook.

NYWT boats had their homeport and two ferry stops in Red Hook.

Their homeport is Erie Basin at the end of Van Brunt Street.

Their Red Hook stops are behind Fairway Market (now Food Bazaar and a stop that is usually inactive) and at IKEA.

They run a daily shuttle between Wall Street's Pier 11 and Brooklyn's IKEA. 

After years of NYWT route and schedule changes and changing business models, in January, 2017, the company was bought by Circle Line.