The Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry route operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. It runs 5.2 miles (8.4Â km) in New York Harbor between the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island. The ferry operates 24/7, running every 15 to 20 minutes during peak hours and every 30 minutes at other times. Since 1997, the Staten Island Ferry has been fare-free, though historically, it has charged a relatively low fare compared to other modes of transit in the area. The Staten Island Ferry is one of several ferry systems in the New York City area, besides NYC Ferry, New York Water Taxi, and NY Waterway.
The Staten Island Ferry operates between Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan and St. George Terminal in St. George, Staten Island. At Whitehall Street, connections are available to the New York City Subway and several local New York City Bus routes. On the other end, passengers can take the Staten Island Railway, the only rapid transit service on the island, or one of many buses available at the St. George Bus Terminal, the main bus terminal on the island.
The Staten Island Ferry was formed in 1817 when the Richmond Turnpike Company started a steamboat service from Manhattan to Staten Island. Cornelius Vanderbilt bought the company in 1838, and it was merged with two competitors' companies in 1853. That company was in turn sold to the Staten Island Railroad Company in 1864. The Staten Island Ferry was then sold to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1884, and the City of New York assumed control of the ferry in 1905, buying five new ships for the service. Other publicly- and privately-operated ferry routes from Staten Island to Brooklyn were created in the early 20th century but were decommissioned by the mid-1960s. By 1967, the ferry was the only commuter ferry within the entire city, after the discontinuation of a ferry from Manhattan to Hoboken, New Jersey. A fast ferry route from Staten Island to Midtown Manhattan ran briefly from 1997 to 1998, with proposals to revive the route resurfacing in the 2010s.
The Staten Island Ferry remains popular due to the lack of transit connections between Staten Island and the other boroughs, including Manhattan. With 23.9 million riders as of fiscal year 2016, the Staten Island Ferry is the single busiest ferry route in the United States as of 2016, as well as the world's busiest passenger-only ferry system.
History
Predecessors
Before the New York City area was colonized, the indigenous Lenape Native Americans traversed the area's waterways using boat, traveling from Staten Island to present-day Manhattan and New Jersey. The area was then known as Lenapehoking, and the Lenape traveled along nearby waterways such as Arthur Kill, Kill Van Kull, and Raritan Bay.
In the 18th century, ferry service between Staten Island and the city of New York, then occupying only the southern tip of Manhattan, was conducted by private individuals with "periaugers". These shallow-draft, two-masted sailboats, used for local traffic in New York Harbor, were also used for other transport in the area.
Early years
Cornelius Vanderbilt, an entrepreneur from Stapleton, Staten Island, who would become one of the world's richest people, started a ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan in 1810. Cornelius was 16 years old at the time and had sailed extensively enough in his father's periauger that he could easily navigate the New York Harbor Estuary on his own. He earned $100 for his birthday in May 1810, which he used to purchase a periauger called the Swiftsure that he then used to transport passengers from Staten Island to the Battery at Manhattan's tip. Vanderbilt competed against other boatmen providing service in the harbor, who jokingly called "Commodore" because of his youthful eagerness; that nickname applied to him for the rest of his life. After the War of 1812 limited access to New York Harbor from elsewhere along the East Coast, Vanderbilt made profits from carrying cargo along the Hudson River; he bought extra boats with these profits. After the war, he transported cargo in the harbor, earning even more money and buying more boats.
Also during the War of 1812, U.S. Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins secured a charter for the Richmond Turnpike Company as part of his efforts to develop the village of Tompkinsville, which would become Staten Island's first European settlement. The company was incorporated in 1815, and Tompkinsville was created in 1816. Though the company built a highway across Staten Island, it also received the right to run a ferry to New York. The Richmond Turnpike Company began to run the first motorized ferry between New York and Staten Island in 1817. The Nautilus was commanded by Captain John DeForest, the brother-in-law of Cornelius Vanderbilt. This new ferry broke the short monopoly on steamboat operations that the Fulton Ferry from Manhattan to Brooklyn had held since its opening in 1814. As a direct result of the steamboat route's inauguration, Vanderbilt sold all his schooners to his father in 1818, since the steamboats provided much faster means of transportation across the harbor. He subsequently started working for Thomas Gibbons, a small-steamboat operator, operating steamboat lines for Gibbons in New Jersey before later operating his own lines in New York.
When Tompkins died in 1825, the company's stocks were put in a trust at the Fulton Bank in lower Manhattan. As per an act passed in 1824, the bank was to be incorporated only if it also accepted the Richmond Turnpike Company's stock, and if the company were to end operations in 1844. Vanderbilt, who had grown wealthy in the steamboat business in New York waters, bought control of the Richmond Turnpike Company in 1838. The company's original charter expired in 1844, and Vanderbilt transferred the former company's leases and titles to himself and the company's other chief officer, Oroondates Mauran, as private citizens rather than as chief officers. Vanderbilt bought Mauran's share of the company upon the latter's death in 1848.
By the mid-18th century, there were three separate ferry companies offering services between lower Manhattan and the eastern shore of Staten Island. The Tompkins and Staples Ferry, operated by Vice President Tompkins's son Minthorne, ran from a pier at the Tompkinsville end of the highway to Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan. The New York and Staten Island Steam Ferry Company, or "People's Ferry", was operated by George Law and ran from Stapleton, Staten Island, to Liberty Street, Manhattan. Finally, the Richmond Turnpike Ferry, also the "Staten Island Ferry", ran from Vanderbilt's Landing, on Clifton, Staten Island, to Manhattan. All of these companies merged in 1853 after Vanderbilt, who was focused on business ventures elsewhere, convinced Law and Tompkins to buy out his ferry company for $600,000. Vanderbilt remained a dominant figure in the ferry until the Civil War in the early 1860s.
The combined company, the Staten Island and New York Ferry Company, ran services from Whitehall Street to Tompkinsville, Stapleton, and Clifton. It originally ran single-ended boats but eventually expanded its fleet to include double-ended boats. The Staten Island and New York Ferry's vessel Hunchback was built in 1852, becoming the first double-decked boat to operate in the harbor. To accommodate growing ridership, three double-ended boats (Southfield I, Westfield I, and Clifton I) were purchased for the ferry between 1857 and 1861. The Westfield and Clifton were purchased by the Union Army in September 1861, almost immediately after they had been delivered. The army also purchased the Hunchback and Southfield in December of that year. The Union then used the ships as blockades against the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Of the four boats, only the Hunchback survived; after the war, it was redocumented and bought by someone in Boston; it was abandoned by 1880. Another three boats (Westfield II, Northfield, and Middletown) were obtained in 1862â€"1863 due to the loss of the other boats. A fourth boat, Clifton II, was also built, but it was purchased by the U.S. shortly after completion; the vessel was then redocumented, and by 1868 it had been destroyed.
Staten Island Railway era
The Staten Island Railway (SIR) opened in stages in 1860. It was necessary to have a direct connection between the new railroad trains and the infrequent ferries to and from Manhattan, but this turned out to be difficult during the beginning of operation. The ferries serving Vanderbilt's Landing were owned by George Law, who operated the rival New York and Staten Island Steam Ferry. Afterwards, Vanderbilt tried to operate a ferry service between Manhattan and Staten Island that would compete with the ferry service owned by Law. Vanderbilt started construction on his plan for a central dock on the island, but he abandoned the scheme after a storm destroyed the timber work. Only the large stone foundation remained; this was still visible in 1900 at low tide.
A long franchise battle ensued, resulting in Vanderbilt selling his ferry service to Law in 1862. Vanderbilt subsequently lost interest in the transit operations on Staten Island and he handed the operations of the ferry and railroad over to his brother, Jacob Vanderbilt, who was the president of the company until 1883. In March 1864, Vanderbilt bought Law's ferries, bringing both the railroad and the ferries under the same company. The railway assumed the Staten Island and New York Ferry Company's operations in 1865.
On the afternoon of July 30, 1871, Westfield II was damaged when its boiler exploded while sitting in its slip at South Ferry. Within days of the disaster, between 45 and 91 were identified as dead, and from 78 to 208 were injured, although figures varied widely between the Times, Herald, Tribune, and World. Jacob Vanderbilt was arrested for murder, though he escaped conviction. This had an adverse effect on the railroad's finances, and on March 28, 1872, the railway and the ferry went into receivership as a result of the disaster. On September 17, 1872, the property of the company was sold to George Law in foreclosure, with the exception of the ferryboat Westfield II, which was purchased by Horace Theall.
Erastus Wiman, a Canadian enterpreneur who had become one of Staten Island's most notable figures since moving to New York in 1867, planned to develop Staten Island by adding transit. Wiman built an amusement area on the island to help develop it. He incorporated the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad Company on March 25, 1880, and the incorporation of the company was made official on April 14, 1880. Two years later, Wiman applied to build a ferry dock in Manhattan in order to serve his new ferry routes. Also among Wiman's proposals was combining the six to eight separate ferry operations into one terminal. This became the St. George ferry landing, which opened in March 1886. A new boat, Southfield II, was delivered in 1883.
On April 3, 1883, the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad Company gained control of the SIR and its boats. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) obtained control of the Staten Island Railway Ferry Company's operations the next year. A controlling interest in the Railway Ferry Company was obtained by the B&O in 1885 through purchases of stock. On November 21, 1885, Robert Garrett, President of the B&O, leased the Railway Ferry Company to the B&O for 99 years. The B&O could now provide service to a ferry terminal that was closer to Manhattan public transit. Rather than having passengers transfer to the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ)'s ferries from the Jersey City Terminal to the Liberty Street Ferry Terminal in Manhattan, which was not close to any elevated rail stations in the area, the B&O could now operate to the Whitehall Street terminal, where there was a direct transfer to an elevated station. During this time, two 225-foot (69Â m) steel-hulled ferryboats, the Erastus Wiman and Robert Garrett, were built and delivered in 1888. The boats were the first in the Staten Island Railway Ferry fleet to be powered by multi-cylinder inclined steam engines, which pumped steam more efficiently than the single-cylinder vertical engines on previous boats. The Erastus Wiman would be renamed the Castleton in 1894.
Garrett resigned from his position at the B&O in 1887, and his successors did not show as much interest in Staten Island transit operations. Wiman lost a lot of money in the Panic of 1893, and two years later, much of his property was auctioned to pay off debts. In 1893, the B&O commenced plans to divert some CNJ ferries from Jersey City to Whitehall Street, with the latter ordering the Easton and Mauch Chunk ferries for the Whitehall Street service. The boats started service in 1897. Construction of a new ferry terminal at St. George commenced in 1895.
In 1899, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and the New York Central Railroad (NYCRR) formed a partnership in which they were to buy smaller freight railroad companies. PRR president Alexander Cassatt devised the plan because he thought that two large freight-shipping companies, Standard Oil and Carnegie Steel, were artificially depressing freight-shipping rates by cajoling smaller companies for rebates. Among the PRR's acquisitions was the B&O, which in turn owned the Staten Island Railway and Ferry. Cassatt started buying B&O stock in 1899 and owned much of the B&O stock two years later.
End of Staten Island Railway era
By the 1900s, Staten Islanders were becoming unsatisfied with the railway-operated ferry service to Manhattan, which they felt was unsafe. The turning point came on June 14, 1901, when the CNJ ferry Mauch Chunk struck the B&O ferryboat Northfield II as the latter was leaving the ferry port at Whitehall, tearing a 10-by-20-foot (3.0 by 6.1Â m) hole through the middle of Northfield. Damaged beyond repair, Northfield II sank within ten minutes, ending up near the modern South Street Seaport. Out of 995 passengers aboard, only four or five were killed. The dead were not recovered for several days, and one man's body drifted around the southern tip of Manhattan and across the Hudson River. An investigation into the crash found that Northfield II had sunk because of the extent of the damage rather than because of its 38-year age. Despite this, the captains of both ships were vindicated of criminal charges, although the Mauch Chunk's captain was "censured" for speeding as well as for not helping the passengers aboard Northfield. In the meantime, the B&O borrowed the paddle-wheeler John Englis from the Williamsburg Ferry Company.
On February 21, 1902, two hundred people held discussions with MacDougal Hawkes, the head of the New York City Department of Docks and Ferries, to demand that Whitehall-to-St. George ferry service be improved. In summer 1902, as the B&O fought to retain its ownership of the ferry, Henry Huttleston Rogers demonstrated that his steam-powered yacht was faster than the SIR's vessels, and argued that he should thus be allowed to operate the ferry route. Throughout the rest of the year, Rogers's Standard Oil-affiliated transit venture, which also operated streetcar routes on Staten Island, competed with the B&O over the rights to the ferry. The locations of the Staten Island terminal were also debated, with the terminal proposed to be built in West Brighton, Tompkinsville, Stapleton, and Port Richmond. The B&O wanted to offer service to St. George and at least one other terminal, while Rogers wanted to use the Tompkinsville and West Brighton terminals only. The two groups submitted their proposals in November 1902, and by February 1903, the Sinking Fund Commission announced their decision to give B&O the operating license. This decision proved controversial: Hawkes made a recommendation to Mayor Seth Low on February 21, and dissatisfied Staten Islanders showed up to the commission's February 25 meeting, voicing their dissent and causing Hawkes's proposal to be rejected.
Shortly after, the government of New York City made a series of decisions announcing its intent to acquire ownership of the ferry. Instead of offering the franchise to either the B&O or Rogers, the Sinking Fund Commission decided in March 1903 that the city could run a route from Staten Island to any North River port between 23rd Street and Battery Park, as well as operate a service from Staten Island to Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The bill authorizing the city to acquire ferry operations was passed by the 126th New York State Legislature, and it was signed into law by Governor Benjamin B. Odell in May 1903. The city would pay $3.2 million to take over operations of the ferry, including $2 million for five new screw-propelled ships, one named for each of the five boroughs. The city began soliciting tenders for ferryboats, ultimately deciding to pay $1.7 million for four of the five boats from the Maryland Steel Company. The contract was signed on June 20, 1904, coincidentally a few days after the sinking of the steamer PS General Slocum in the East River, somewhat due northeast of the ferry route. The fifth boat, the Richmond, was built on Staten Island by the Burlee Dry Dock Company.
From 1902 to 1903, there were debates on where to put the new Whitehall terminal; the location at Whitehall Street was decided as the best location. In 1904, after the Staten Island Railway Company refused the city's offer of $500,000 for the two terminals, the city started a process to condemn the land around the terminals. Although the B&O had been set to give up the Staten Island Ferry franchise in early 1904, the new borough-class ferryboats were not ready, so the B&O was granted a two-year contract extension, on the condition that the contract could be canceled with 30 days' notice. In return, the city could purchase the B&O's ownership share in the terminals and the five existing ships from B&O, namely the Westfield II, Middletown, Southfield II, Robert Garrett, and Castleton, for a set price. A new St. George Terminal was built by the city for $2,318,720, replacing the existing terminal.
All of the ships except for the Richmond were finished by April 1905 and delivered up north during the late summer and early fall of that year. The Richmond was ready by May 20, and as it had been built in Port Richmond, there was no need to transport the boat. On October 25, 1905, the Department of Docks and Ferries assumed ownership of the ferry and terminals, and the borough ferryboats started their maiden voyages. The five B&O ships were also acquired in 1906.
City ownership and other ferries
The ferry service from St. George to 39th Street, Brooklyn, became city-operated on November 1, 1906, as provided for by the 1903 law transferring ownership of that route to the city. Its Brooklyn terminus was located near the Brooklyn, Bath and West End Railroad's former 39th Street terminal, but as that railroad had been converted into the West End subway line, the Brooklyn ferry now primarily served industrial interests in Sunset Park. Mayor George McClellan, elected as Low's successor in 1903, and Docks Commissioner Maurice Featherson were initially skeptical of the acquisition, but despite their objections, the Sinking Funds Commission approved the private line's acquisition in 1905. The new boats Gowanus, Bay Ridge, and Nassau, which were smaller than the borough-class boats, were also commissioned for the 39th Street route and delivered by 1907; in the interim, the route used three ferryboats from the Union Ferry Company of Brooklyn. The Bay Ridge was the first to arrive, in July 1907, followed by the Gowanus in August and the Bay Ridge in September. A second route from St. George to Brooklyn started operating on July 4, 1912, with the privately operated Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company providing service to 69th Street in Bay Ridge.
New York City started operating a line from Battery Park to Stapleton in May 1909. This service ran every 90 minutes between 4 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily. It was discontinued at the end of 1913 due to low ridership. Staten Islanders protested against the city's discontinuance of the Stapleton ferry, to no avail.
Mayor McClellan's successor, William Jay Gaynor, was opposed to what he saw as a hasty purchase of the 39th Street line. Upon becoming mayor in 1910, Gaynor communicated to his administration's Docks Commissioner, Calvin Tompkins, that the operating costs of that route needed to be reduced; in response, Tompkins replaced the superintendent of ferries. Neither of the city's Staten Island ferries made profits until 1915, under John Purroy Mitchel's mayoral administration. The city's purchase of the two Staten Island ferry routes was intended to be temporary until profitable private operators could be found, but it never happened. These were the only two routes the city operated at the time, but the city continued to award ferry franchises elsewhere.
The ferryboat Mayor Gaynor was delivered in 1914, during Mitchel's administration, to boost service on the Whitehall route, although it had originally been intended for the Sunset Park route. It was not as efficient as the Borough-class boats (see § Former), so it was relegated to supplementary service. Another vessel in the fleet, the Castleton, was sold to a private owner in 1915; its classmate, the Robert Garrett (renamed Stapleton in 1906) would remain in city ownership until 1922.
Mayor Mitchel's successor, John Francis Hylan, was elected in 1917, and he immediately commissioned a series of new boats. The result was President Roosevelt (also known as T.R.), delivered in 1921, and American Legion I, delivered five years later. The names of both boats triggered some controversyâ€"the President Roosevelt due to resentment of Theodore Roosevelt, and the American Legion I due to the fact that it was named after the American Legion, which was only one of the various veterans' organizations in existence. At the same time, Hylan also ordered three more boats for the 39th Street route, and he ordered 11 boats for other city-operated routes. This brought the number of boats ordered by Hylan's administration to 16. After Hylan's electoral defeat to Jimmy Walker in 1925, the George W. Loft and William Randolph Hearst were respectively renamed to West Brighton and Whitehall II. The white paint scheme of the boats was discontinued in April 1926 and replaced by a maroon scheme that was better at hiding the accumulations of grime on the boats' exteriors.
In March 1924, New York City Plant and Structures Commissioner Grover A. Whalen suggested that the infrequent 69th Street service be placed under city operation, a request that ultimately went unfulfilled, as the Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry would continue to operate the route until 1939. However, in June 1924, the route to 39th Street was taken over by the New York Bay Ferry. By the end of that summer, the three ferry routes were advertised as the most convenient way to get to Staten Island until a tunnel between Staten Island and Brooklyn could be completed, although the tunnel never was finished because its construction was halted a year later. The Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company found it increasingly difficult to maintain its aging fleet, especially with the competition from the 39th Street ferry's new, problem-free ferryboats. This resulted in infrequent service on the Bay Ridge ferry to 69th Street, which lead to a decline in patronage and fare revenues. In February 1939, the United States Department of Commerce ordered the Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company to cease all operations after finding that one of its 40-year-old boats was in a severely deteriorated condition. The Bay Ridge operation was subsequently taken over by the Electric Ferries company on March 1, 1939. Electric Ferries, which also operated other routes in the area, bought three secondhand ferryboats from other companies to supplement seven new boats.
In 1940, the Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company asked the city to stop its municipal operation to 39th Street so the 69th Street ferry could carry all Staten Island-to-Brooklyn traffic, thus enabling them to lower rates. The 39th Street ferry was suspended in June 1946 after a fire destroyed the Whitehall ferry slips at St. George, which forced the Whitehall ferries to stop at the slips formerly used by the 39th Street ferry. The suspension of ferry service was supposed to be temporary, but even after a year had elapsed, merchants at Brooklyn's Bush Terminal near 39th Street were petitioning the city to resume service. However, this service was apparently never restored. Around this time, ferry services in the area were being discontinued and replaced by bridges and tunnels, leading to the eventual demise of the 69th Street ferry. The exception was the ferry directly from Manhattan to Staten Island, which was not expected to see a significant decrease in ridership because it provided the only direct link between the two boroughs.
Electric Ferries' franchise expired on March 31, 1954, and the city contracted the 69th Street ferry's operation to Henry Shanks in order to keep the ferry running. The 69th Street ferry ceased operation in 1964 due to the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge a short distance south. At the time of discontinuation, 7,000 daily passengers paid five cents each to cross, while 8,000 vehicles per day paid a toll of 75 cents to use the ferry. Each boat could fit from 500 to 750 passengers as well as 42 vehicles, which caused traffic jams at both of the ferry's slips due to the boats' low capacity. However, the route between St. George and Whitehall Streets was kept since the bridge's opening was expected to spur an influx of residents to Staten Island, potentially increasing ridership on the ferry to Manhattan.
Later history
By 1967, all other ferries in New York City had closed due to competition by automobile traffic, and the St. George to Whitehall route was the only ferry in the city. It remained as such until the 1980s, when other ferry routes were restarted. Off-peak service was reduced in 1967, but two months later that service was restored. However, due to the city's mid-1970s financial crisis, night service ended on July 1, 1975, with alternate service being provided by the Fourth Avenue subway. Night service was restored in the 1980s after two boats, comprising the current Austen class, were ordered specifically for overnight voyages. These boats entered service in 1986.
By the late 1980s, ferries had again become a popular mode of transport in the area. In 1991, seventy companies expressed interest in bidding for the rights to operate new ferries across the city. This list of potential bidders was reduced to three companies by 1993. One of these ferries was to be a ferry from Staten Island to midtown Manhattan; this new ferry would travel at top speeds of 35 knots (65Â km/h; 40Â mph) as opposed to the existing Whitehall-to-St. George ferry's 15 knots (28Â km/h; 17Â mph). New York Fast Ferry was ultimately selected to run a ferry from St. George to East 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, starting service in January 1997 with about 1,650 commuters a day using the service.
In July 1997, however, the fare was eliminated on the ferry between St. George and Whitehall Street. This allowed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to institute a "one-city, one-fare" transfer scheme, where Staten Island transit riders could pay a single $1.50 fare with a MetroCard on a Staten Island bus or train and get a free transfer to a Manhattan bus or subway by taking the free St. Georgeâ€"Whitehall ferry, or vice versa. This decreased daily ridership on the $5-per-ticket Midtown ferry to 400 passengers, and as a result, New York Fast Ferry was unable to make a profit on the Midtown ferry route. New York Fast Ferry went out of business at the end of 1997, at which point NY Waterway took over the route. After NY Waterway failed to break even on the Midtown route, it was eliminated on July 31, 1998.
Immediately after the September 11, 2001, attacks, the ferry was used to evacuate victims of the attacks at the World Trade Center before being temporarily closed for a week. Ferry service was restored by September 18. When it reopened, some ferries were diverted to Bay Ridge due to subway and road closures across the East River. This continued into 2002, with some 2,200 passengers per day using the ferry even though the subways and highways had been reopened. Also in 2002, the city proposed eliminating night service again and outsourcing nighttime operations to other ferry companies in the area.
In 2003, both terminals' lower levels were closed and all vehicular traffic on the ferry was banned due to the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002. Under this act, passengers would have to board and depart from different sections of the ferry, and since the lower levels of each ferry were used for departing, they could not be used for boarding. This made boarding the ferry inconvenient for park-and-ride users at the St. George Terminal. The lower levels of each terminal were reopened in 2017 to reduce passenger crowding on the ships' upper levels. The St. George Terminal's lower level was opened during morning rush, and the Whitehall Terminal's lower level was opened during middays and the evening rush.
Night and weekend service was increased in 2004 due to growing ridership during these times. Before the 2004 increase in night service, boats only ran once an hour between midnight and 7 a.m. The ferry had not added more trips during nights and weekends even though Staten Island's population had increased since 1990. In November 2006, additional ferries running every 30 minutes were provided during the weekend morning hours. In 2015, weekend-morning and late-night frequencies were increased to every thirty minutes.
In 2013, city councilman James Oddo advocated for a revival of fast ferry service to Staten Island as part of his campaign to become that borough's president. After Oddo's election as borough president, he pushed New York City mayor Bill de Blasio to consider a Staten Island fast ferry as part of de Blasio's proposed Citywide Ferry Service (later renamed NYC Ferry). At the time, the new system's only proposed ferry stop on Staten Island was at Stapleton, which was already well-served by the Whitehallâ€"St. George route; the transit-deprived South Shore was not planned to be served by the citywide ferry. Later, the citywide ferry's Stapleton route was relegated to an unfunded plan, leaving Staten Island with no stops on the new system. With the opening of NYC Ferry in 2017, politicians and Staten Island residents again advocated bringing more ferry service to Staten Island, including one ferry each to Manhattan and Brooklyn; a stop on the South Shore; and extra stops on the Whitehallâ€"St. George ferry. In April 2017, Oddo announced a tentative agreement with NY Waterway to possibly implement a fast route from St. George to Midtown Manhattan in 2018. The ferry would go to West Midtown Ferry Terminal as opposed to East 34th Street. Unlike NYC Ferry, the Staten Island-to-Midtown route would not receive any per-passenger subsidies from the city. In September 2017, private developers on the South Shore also negotiated with SeaStreak to run a separate fast ferry route from the South Shore to Lower Manhattan.
Operations
Service is provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year along its 5.2-mile (8.4Â km) run. which carried 23.9 million passengers in fiscal year 2016. While trips take 25 minutes, service usually runs every 30 minutes most hours of the day and night, with more frequent service during peak times. The Staten Island Ferry is administered separately from NYC Ferry.
Route
The ferry's single route departs Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal at South Ferry, at the southernmost tip of Manhattan near the Battery. On Staten Island, the ferry arrives and departs from the St. George Ferry Terminal on Richmond Terrace, near Richmond County's Borough Hall and Supreme Court. The ferry ride provides views of the Lower Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty, and as such, is a popular place for film shoots. It is a popular place to go on Saturday nights, as beer and food items are served at the snack bar.
In the past, ferries were equipped for vehicle transport, at a charge of $3 per automobile. A vehicle ban was approved in 1992, after the Whitehall Terminal was destroyed and subsequently rebuilt without vehicle loading areas, but the September 11 attacks ended vehicle crossings at the temporary terminal as well. It has been proposed to bring car boarding back due to rising tolls on the Verrazano Bridge, but the plan was seen as unlikely due to the amount of effort needed to screen every car.
While the ferries no longer transport motor vehicles, they do transport bicycles. There are two bicycle entrances to the ferry from either borough. The bike entrance is always on the first floor so bicyclists can enter the ferry from the ground without needing to enter the building. The ground entrance is also reserved exclusively for bike riders (everyone else must use the 2nd floor entrance). Cyclists must dismount and walk their bicycles to the waiting area and onto the boat and bicycles must be stored in the designated bicycle storage area on each boat. Cyclists are subject to screening upon arrival at the ferry terminals. Bicycles may also be taken on the lowest deck of the ferry without charge.
During rush hours, ferries usually run at 15-to-20-minute intervals, decreasing to 30 minutes during the mid-days and evenings. For a few hours during the early morning, usually 12 a.m. to 6 a,m., a ferry is provided once every 30 minutes. During the weekends ferries run every 30 minutes.
Terminals
Whitehall Terminal
There have been at least two terminals on the site of the current terminal. When the original Whitehall Terminal opened in 1903, its Beaux-Arts design was identical to the Battery Maritime Building, which still exists. A fire at the South Ferry elevated station in 1919 damaged the building. A $3 million renovation to the terminal was announced in 1953, and it opened on July 24, 1956. The old terminal burned down in a fire on September 8, 1991. A new design was announced the next year, while a temporary terminal was opened at the site to accommodate passengers in the meantime.
On February 7, 2005, a completely renovated and modernized terminal, designed by architect Frederic Schwartz, was dedicated, along with the new two-acre Peter Minuit Plaza in the Battery. The terminal contains connections to the New York City Subway's South Ferry/Whitehall Street station complex, as well as to buses and taxis. A "gateway to the city", set against the backdrop of Manhattan's greatest buildings on one side and the river on the other, the design was created to imbue the terminal "with a strong sense of civic presence" In his remarks at the terminal's dedication, Mayor Michael Bloomberg stated that "You can walk into this spectacular terminal day or night and feel like you're part of the city ... [the terminal] is a continuation of what you feel on the ferry ... in a sense you are suspended over the water." Described as "an elegant addition to [the] city's architecture," the transit hub was described by a Newsday editor as so beautiful that it had become a tourist attraction in its own right.
St. George Terminal
A new ferry and rail terminal at St. George's Landing and an extension of the Staten Island Railway north from Vanderbilt's Landing had been proposed in the 1870s by the owners of the railroad (George Law, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Erastus Wiman) to replace the various ferry sites on the north and east shores Staten Island. St. George was selected due to it being the closest point from Staten Island to Manhattan, approximately a 5 miles (8.0Â km) distance. The name of the terminal and the local neighborhood were renamed to St. George in honor of Law, allegedly as a concession by Wiman in order to build the terminal and connecting tunnel on land owned by Law. The ferry terminal was opened in early 1886.
On June 25, 1946, a large fire destroyed both the wooden ferry and rail terminals, killing 3 people and injuring more than 200. Full service was restored in July of that year. A new facility was built by the city, opening on June 8, 1951. The new facility cost $21 million. Plans for a renovation of the terminal were announced in March 1997, and it received renovations in the 2000s as part of a $300 million renovation of several ferry terminals in the area, including the St. George and Whitehall Terminals. As of 2013, St. George's direct rail-sea connection is one of a few left in the United States.
Fares
The ferry is free of charge, though riders must disembark at each terminal and reenter through the terminal building for a round trip to comply with Coast Guard regulations regarding vessel capacity. The turnstiles were dismantled when fares were removed in 1997, so there is no official way to count the number of passengers aboard the ferry, though the crew of each boat can estimate the number of passengers aboard the vessel. The state's per-passenger expenditure in 2012 was $4.86, paid for through taxes. This subsidy rose to $5.87 in 2016 before dropping to $5.16 in 2017. For comparison, the city's per-passenger subsidy for NYC Ferry in 2017 was $6.50, calculated after all passengers had paid their $2.75 fare.
For most of the 20th century, the ferry was famed as the biggest bargain in New York City, as it charged the same one-nickel fare as the New York City Subway. In 1882, riders protested against a proposed fare increase to 10 cents per ride, but were unsuccessful in obtaining a fare reduction. The fare-reduction movement resurfaced in 1894, with multiple petitions being submitted to the New-York Sinking Fund Commissioners. However, these petitions were all denied. By 1898, the fare had been reduced to a nickel, or five cents.
The ferry fare remained a nickel when the subway fare increased to 10 cents in 1948. Despite the ferry's growing operational shortfalls in the 1950s, the five-cent fare remained static regardless of inflation. By 1968, the Citizens Budget Commission was proposing to hike fares to close the deficits, with Staten Island commuters paying 20 cents and others paying 50 cents for a one-way trip. In May 1970, then-Mayor John V. Lindsay proposed that the fare be raised to 25 cents, pointing out that the cost for each ride was 50 cents, or ten times what the fare brought in. As part of a city budget passed in June of that year, the nickel fare was kept. Due to the city's financial crisis in the mid-1970s, Mayor Abraham Beame submitted a proposal to increase the fare in July 1975. On August 4, 1975, the nickel fare ended and the charge became 25 cents for a round trip, with the quarter being collected in one direction only. The fare increase was intended to earn the ferry service an extra $1.35 million in annual revenue.
In 1990 the charge for a round trip was increased to 50 cents, provoking a backlash among Staten Islanders, and sparking calls for its complete abolition. Grievances over the fare partly contributed to Staten Island voting in 1993 to secede from New York City in a non-binding referendum. Rudy Giuliani's three-percent margin of victory in the concurrent mayoral elections was in considerable part due to the support of 80% of Staten Island voters, whose concerns he had pledged to address. The passenger fare was subsequently eliminated altogether in July 1997 as part of the implementation of the MTA's "one-city, one-fare" system, which allowed for more free transfers between different modes of transit in New York City. The separate $3 car fares were unaffected. The new MetroCard had been configured to allow one free transfer between buses and subways or other buses within 2 hours of the first payment, and eliminating the ferry fare was seen as an action to equalize Staten Islanders' MetroCard fares with those of commuters in other boroughs. Despite the fact that the ferry fare had netted $6 million in annual revenue for the city, its abolition only cost the city about $1 million, due to the savings from removing the turnstiles as well as the revenue from MetroCard fares. Some riders disliked the removal of the fares, as they felt that free service might result in lower-quality rides.
In 2014, the city's Independent Budget Office conducted a study investigating the viability of charging fares to everyone except Staten Island residents. The study found that a $4 charge to these passengers would garner $35.5 million in fifteen years, while a $2 fare would bring in only $804,000 during the same time. Approximately 4 million annual passengers would be subject to the fare, based on the 2013 ridership figure of 21.9 million.
Ridership
Detailed ridership figures for many fiscal years are not widely available. A 1958 New York Times article cited a figure of 24 million annual riders. Ridership on the ferry peaked in 1964, with 27.5 million passengers, but the figure dropped by five million in 1965 after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened. In the early 2000s, ridership fluctuated around 18 or 19 million, rising to 21.8 million in 2006 before dropping to 18.5 million the next year. Afterward, ridership started rising again, reaching over 21 million in fiscal year 2011.
In fiscal 2012, the ferry carried 22.18 million passengers, the highest figure in several decades. The figure in fiscal 2013 declined slightly to 21.4 million and ridership for fiscal 2014 declined again to 21.25 million, while ridership on private ferry service continuously increased during that time period. Ridership then began rising in subsequent years, especially after the 2015 expansion of service frequencies, when ridership reached 21.9 million. In fiscal 2016, ridership on the ferry increased to 23.1 million passengers, and in fiscal 2017, ridership increased further to 23.9 million passengers, breaking the previous year's record.
The Staten Island Ferry is the single busiest ferry route in the United States as of 2016, as well as the world's busiest passenger-only ferry. However, it is not the busiest ferry system in the United States overall; that distinction is held by Washington State Ferries, which carried 24.2 million passengers in 2016, compared to Staten Island Ferry's 23.9 million in fiscal 2017.
Fleet
Current
There are eight ferry boats in four classes (the Kennedy, Barberi, Austen, and Molinari classes) that are currently in service.
Kennedy class
The MV John F. Kennedy, the MV American Legion II, and the MV Governor Herbert H. Lehman, known as the "Kennedy class", were built in 1965. Each boat can carry 3,055 passengers and up to 40 vehicles, is 297 feet (91Â m) long, 69Â feet 10Â inches (21.29Â m) wide, with a draft of 13Â feet 6Â inches (4.11Â m), tonnage of 2,109 gross tons, service speed of 16 knots (30Â km/h), and engines of 6,500 horsepower (4.8 MW). These boats have a crew of 15 each. They were built by the Levingston Shipbuilding Company in Orange, Texas.
The American Legion II's inspection certificate lapsed in 2006, and it was retired with the acquisition of the Molinari class ferries. The Herbert H. Lehman retired on June 30, 2007, after the 10:30 p.m. run from Whitehall Street to St. George. The John F. Kennedy remains in regular service as of 2017, as captains considered the John F. Kennedy to be the most reliable vessel in the fleet, and riders preferred its abundant open-air deck space.
Barberi class
The MV Andrew J. Barberi and the MV Samuel I. Newhouse, known as the "Barberi class", were built in 1981 and 1982 respectively. Each boat carries 6,000 passengers and cannot load any cars. The boats are 310 feet (94Â m) long, 69Â feet 10Â inches (21.29Â m) wide, with a draft of 13Â feet 6Â inches (4.11Â m), tonnage of 3,335 gross tons, service speed of 16 knots (30Â km/h), and engines of 7,000 horsepower (5.2 MW). The boats are each manned by a crew of 15. The Barberi class was made at the Equitable Shipyard in Florida at a cost of $16.5 million each. At the time of construction, the ships' capacity was the largest of any licensed ferry in the world.
The Andrew J. Barberi was named after the longtime coach of Curtis High School's football team from the 1950s through the 1970s, while the Samuel I. Newhouse was named after the Staten Island Advance's publisher from 1922 to 1979.
Austen class
The MV Alice Austen and the MV John A. Noble, known as the "Austen class" and commonly referred to as "the Little Boats" or "Mini Barberis", were built in 1986. Each boat carries 1,280 passengers and also cannot load cars. The boats are 207 feet (63 m) long, 40 feet (12 m) wide, with a draft of 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m), tonnage of 499 gross tons, service speed of 16 knots (30 km/h), and engines of 3,200 horsepower (2.4 MW). There are nine crew members on each boat. Their namesakes are Alice Austen (1866â€"1952), a Staten Island photographer, and John A. Noble (1913â€"83), a Staten Island marine artist.
Austen class vessels usually operate late at night and into the early morning, when ridership is lower. Either the MV Alice Austen or the MV John A. Noble will convert its fuel from low-sulfur diesel to liquefied natural gas (LNG) in an effort to halve fuel consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent.
Molinari class
The MV Guy V. Molinari, MV Senator John J. Marchi, and MV Spirit of America, known as the "Molinari class", carry a maximum of 4,427 passengers and up to 30 vehicles. Each boat is 310 feet (94Â m) long by 70 feet (21Â m) wide and has a draft of 13Â feet 10Â inches (4.22Â m), tonnage of 2,794 gross tons, service speed of 16 knots (30Â km/h), and engines of 9,000 horsepower (6.7 MW). Built by the Manitowoc Marine Group in Marinette, Wisconsin, they are designed to have a look and ambiance reminiscent of the classic New York ferryboats.
One boat is named after Guy V. Molinari, a former member of the United States House of Representatives for Staten Island's district and later a Borough President of Staten Island. It arrived in September 2004. The second ferry was named for State Senator John Marchi, who represented Staten Island for fifty years. The third ferry, Spirit of America, was to be put into service on October 25, 2005, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the municipal takeover of the Staten Island Ferry from the B&O railroad.
Mechanical problems on the Molinari class ferries and legal proceedings kept it sidelined at the Staten Island Ferry's St. George maintenance facility until its maiden voyage on April 4, 2006. Since delivery, the ferries have been beset by frequent breakdowns, with 58 such incidents from 2008 to 2014; almost half of these breakdowns have been on the Guy V. Molinari.
Future
The John F. Kennedy, Samuel I. Newhouse, and Andrew J. Barberi are to be replaced in 2019 with three new 310 feet (94Â m) vessels, named the Ollis class after US Army Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis of Staten Island who was killed in action during the War in Afghanistan. Elliott Bay Design devised the plans for the new ferries. As part of the new order, city officials allowed passengers to vote on the types of seats that would be installed in the new fleet. In November 2016, Eastern Shipbuilding was confirmed as the low bidder for constructing the ships, and the shipyard was awarded the contract with a notice to proceed on March 1, 2017. Delivery of the new ships is planned to occur in 2019 and 2020.
A petition to name one of the Ollis-class ships after Staten Island firefighter John G. Chipura, who died in the September 11 attacks, reached 11,000 signatures by September 2017.
Former
Several ferry classes, purchased since the city assumed ownership of the ferry, have been retired. The ferries named after the five boroughs, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Richmond, were the first ones commissioned for the city line in 1905. The Manhattan went out of documentation by 1941, while the Bronx was the first of the remaining boats to be scrapped in 1941. The three remaining ferries were scrapped by 1947, although the Richmond was converted to a barge first, in 1944. In 1943, the Brooklyn was sent to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where it was used as a floating school for the United States Coast Guard.
Next to be added were the Gowanus, Bay Ridge, and Nassau, which were all delivered in 1907 and used for the Brooklyn line. They were all sold by 1940. The Bay Ridge was used as the barge Rappahannock River while the other two were scrapped.
The third class was Mayor Gaynor (1914), and then President Roosevelt (1922) and American Legion I (1926). The Mayor Gaynor had a different engine than its other two class mates, so it is sometimes considered as a different class. This is because the Mayor Gaynor's 4-cylinder triple-expansion engine was not as efficient as the 2-cylinder compression engines of the previous Borough-class boats, so the two vessels following it reverted to the more reliable Borough-class engine. The Mayor Gaynor was the first to be dismantled, in 1951, while the President Roosevelt and American Legion I were scrapped in 1956 and 1963, respectively. In 1923, the steam turbine-powered ferryboats William Randolph Hearst, Rodman Wanamaker, and George W. Loft, named after prominent New York City businessmen, were built, the name of each boat kept secret until its unveiling. The George W. Loft shared a name with another boat used up the Hudson River, and so the other boat had to be renamed. Used mostly on the 39th Street route, these boats went into service in June 1924 and were out of documentation by 1954.
A subsequent class, delivered from 1929 through 1931, consisted of the Dongan Hills, Tompkinsville, and Knickerbocker in order of delivery. The Tompkinsville and Dongan Hills were out of documentation in 1967â€"1968, while the Knickerbocker was sold for scrap in 1965.
The fifth class, the Miss New York class comprising the Miss New York, Gold Star Mother, and Mary Murray, was delivered in 1938. The Gold Star Mother was decomissioned in 1969 to save money before being auctioned off in 1974. The Gold Star Mother's sister Mary Murray was retired in 1974 and sold at auction. From 1982 through the mid-2000s, it then sat as a floating wreck on the Raritan River within view of the New Jersey Turnpike, and was partially broken up for scrap in 2008. The third sister ship, the Miss New York, was decommissioned in 1975 and auctioned. The Miss New York was used as a restaurant for a while, but then sank.
The most recently retired class of steam boats for the current ferry, the Cornelius G. Kolff, Private Joseph F. Merrell, and Verrazzano, went into service in 1951. They were made on Staten Island at the Bethlehem Steel Company shipyard. The Verrazzano was decommissioned and sold at auction in the 1980s, with proposals to use the old ferry to a Japanese amusement park. The deal fell through, and it became a floating wreck at the Red Hook Container Terminal. Its two class mates, the Kolff (later Walter Keane) and the Merrell (later the Vernon C. Bain, then the Harold A. Wildstein) were shipped to Rikers Island in 1987 to deal with prison overcrowding there. The plan was adopted as a feasible interim option while new jail facilities were being built. The Keane and Wildstein, along with the retired British troop carriers Bibby Resolution and Bibby Venture, were used to house 1,000 inmates. The vessels were removed from prison use in 1997, after the Vernon C. Bain floating barge was built, and both vessels were scrapped in 2004.
The Kennedy-class American Legion II was retired in 2006 and sold for scrap. Its classmate Governor Herbert H. Lehman was retired in 2007 and sold at auction by the city in 2011. By 2012, it was being scrapped at Steelways Shipyard in Newburgh, New York. During the scrapping process, the boat started to leak.
Incidents
Early 20th century, after city takeover
In November 1910, the ferryboat Nassau ran aground on the seawall of Governors Island, but most passengers were able to jump off the boat safely. The boat only suffered minor damage to its propeller.
The ferryboat Mayor Gaynor ran aground near Robbins Reef Light in the middle of the harbor on October 31, 1921. This was a result of a heavy fog, which caused other transit accidents that injured a total of 20 people that day. The same boat was involved in another crash on February 24, 1929, when it ran into the Whitehall ferry slip and injured three people. Coincidentally, the Mayor Gaynor collided with the same spot a year and a day later, which injured seven people.
Late 20th century
A heavy fog across the East Coast on January 16, 1953, caused four ferry accidents in the New York Harbor. One of these accidents was when the Gold Star crashed into the United States Lines freighter American Veteran, injuring 13 people. In another heavy fog four days later, the Joseph F. Merrill crashed into an Ellis Island ferryboat, jolting several passengers but injuring no one.
On February 8, 1958, the Dongan Hills was hit by Norwegian tanker Tynefield, injuring 15 people.
On November 7, 1978, the American Legion II crashed into the concrete seawall near the Statue of Liberty ferry port during a dense fog, injuring 173 people on board.
On May 6, 1981, at 7:16Â am EDT, the American Legion II, en route from Staten Island to Manhattan with approximately 2,400 passengers aboard, was rammed in dense fog by the M/V Hoegh Orchid, a Norwegian freighter inbound from sea to a berth in Brooklyn. The ferry boat was damaged from below the main deck up to the bridge deck, and 71 passengers were treated for injuries, three of whom were hospitalized. The absence of a gyrocompass, which could have supplemented existing radar capabilities in helping the ferry master to avoid pending collisions, was noted in the February 2, 1982 report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
On July 7, 1986, a mentally ill man, Juan Gonzalez, attacked passengers with a sword on the Samuel I. Newhouse. He killed two and injured nine before being detained and sent to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
On April 12, 1995, the Andrew J. Barberi rammed its slip at St. George due to a mechanical malfunction. The doors on the saloon deck were crushed by the adjustable aprons, which a quick-thinking bridgeman lowered to help stop the oncoming ferryboat. Several people were injured.
On September 19, 1997, a car plunged off the John F. Kennedy as it was docking in Staten Island, causing minor injuries to the driver and a deckhand who was knocked overboard.
21st century
On October 15, 2003, at 3:21Â pm EDT, the Andrew J. Barberi collided with a pier on the eastern end of the St. George ferry terminal, killing eleven people, seriously injuring many others, and tearing a huge slash through the lowest of the three passenger decks. The incident spurred an investigation into the safety practices being conducted aboard the ferry, as well as an accident investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. The Barberi's captain at the time of the incident was fired, and the Barberi returned to service in 2004.
On March 7, 2004, the New York City medical examiner's office reported that the body of writer and monologist Spalding Gray was discovered by two men and pulled from the East River. It is believed that Gray committed suicide by jumping off the Staten Island Ferry.
On July 1, 2009, at 7:09Â pm EDT, the John J. Marchi lost power and hit a pier at the St. George Terminal at full speed, resulting in 15 minor injuries. The boat was cited as having a history of electrical problems since being put into service in 2005.
On May 8, 2010, at 9:20Â am EDT, the then-recently-rebuilt Andrew J. Barberi hit the dock at the St. George Terminal with 252 passengers aboard. As the ferry approached the dock, the reverse thrust failed to respond and the boat could not slow down. Thirty-seven people were injured.
See also
- Staten Island Ferry Disaster Memorial Museum, a memorial sculpture commemorating a fake giant-octopus attack on the Staten Island Ferry
References
Bibliography
External links
- Official website
- Ferry Schedule (PDF)
- Staten Island Ferry Rider's Guide (PDF) from the Staten Island Museum.