STATEN ISLAND FERRY

A blog about riding the Staten Island Ferry

The Manhattan ferry terminal is sticking up for its Staten Island cousin these days: Borough President James P. Molinaro and his crew have produced a persuasive video highlighting the island's hidden treasures. It's been playing on a loop on a plasma screen TV screen mounted next to Aunt Butchie's coffee stand since Monday, aimed at luring tourists out of the St. George terminal.

Deputy Borough President Ed Burke told us that this is a "test run" of the brand-new video, with a final version set to debut in about two weeks. The current edition mentions the new "Discover Staten Island" Gray Line bus tour; the restored murals of Borough Hall; and the 9/11 "Postcard" memorial, among other things.

This morning, I was accosted by Gray Line representatives asking if I was interested in their tours of Staten Island--they stood in front of a poster which read, "Don't jump on the next ferry, come explore Staten Island on our bus!" Or something like that.

I don't know how successful these initiatives have been. The bus tour, I've heard, hasn't been as busy as it was the first week when they offered it free of charge to generate excitement (it now costs $15 a person).

As for the video, I'm sure this bit doesn't help: at the end, before the credits roll, an arrow points downwards to what is theoretically an information window filled with schedules, brochures, and advertisements for the island's cultural happenings. The window's hours of operation are so erratic, though, that the downwards arrow and the flashing words "more information here" are virtually ineffective. And kind of sad.

An SILive.com user just posted this image from the Staten Island Ferry ...

Anyone with any information about who this is or what this is, please leave a comment below. the rest of you, please post your Staten Island Ferry photos here. Make sure you tag them 'Staten Island Ferry.'

News of another boat party, via our very own newspaper.

The event, sponsored by the Marine and Aviation Anchor Club Branch 119 and geared toward mentally disabled children and adults, drew a crowd of about 3,300 (a considerably larger turn-out than the science fiction ferry filkfest last week). The group also had the pleasure of a longer, uninterrupted ride and an excess of food, games, and musical entertainment.

Continue reading "Must be Boat Party Season" »

Once a year the Staten Island ferry plays host to a relatively obscure science fiction club. Who would've thought?

NYUSFS, which translates into the New York [Insert your own word that starts with "U" here] Science Fiction Society, is a self-explanatory organization that has, apparently, been around for over three decades. Every year around the Fourth of July, the gang comes out in full force for a back-and-forth ferry party, where everyone eats different kinds of pizza and sings songs ("filksinging," to be exact, the act of performing of popular songs rewritten to reflect science fiction or fantasy themes--think Weird Al Yankovic).

Here's a YouTube video of this year's pilgrimage. If you listen carefully, you can hear the revised lyrics, particularly in "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."

Continue reading "All Aboard the Fantasy Island Ferry" »

Hey everybody have you heard, the Staten Island Ferry terminal has a mockingbird. Continue reading "Staten Island Ferry mockingbird" »

Word on the street is that the ferries are running mighty slow today. I did a little research on what the hold-up could be, and though my search was generally unsuccessful, this little tidbit on the Dept. of Transit's website might mean something:

"NOTE: Please note that there may be delays in scheduled boat runs because of additional security measures that have been implemented by direction of the U.S. Coast Guard. We apologize for any inconvenience.

July 4th: Ferry service will be suspended on Friday, July 4 from 8pm to 10:30pm due to harbor closure for fireworks. The last boat from both terminals will be at 7:30pm. The next boat will be at 10:30pm from Whitehall and 11pm from St. George. 30-minute service will be provided from 7am to 7:30pm."

Perhaps both terminals have heightened security as Independence Day nears. I didn't see a greater presence of bomb-sniffing dogs or police officers, and I'm not sure how this would relate to the smaller number of boats on rotation, but I guess it kind of makes sense...?

On the subject of Independence Day, I had the honor of riding the ferry this morning with some of our Nation's Finest: a whole crew of fireworks people. There were about 60 of them, all in red shirts boasting some variation of "Macy's 4th of July Fireworks" in white lettering, and draped with the relevant press credentials.

Continue reading "On Our Nation's Birthday, Ferry Delays and Fireworks" »

Well, first of all, the ferry was late AGAIN this morning and AGAIN I missed my 9:31 train by a measly minute. But a number of you say A) I shouldn't complain about the time I have to wake up, since I could be waking up a lot earlier, and B) the ferry is one of the most reliable modes of public transportation in New York City, so suck it up. Okay. You win. I'm willing to let this one go. Over. Period.

Also in yesterday's post, I asked readers their thoughts on the Waterfalls; in particular, I was interested in hearing what kind of reactions they've seen from commuters, what feedback they've heard along the way etc., given my own lack of positive observations from fellow ferry riders, tourists and commuters alike. I got lots of responses, via e-mail, comment, and forum posts. I discuss some of them after the cut.

Continue reading "We asked--you answered!" »

This morning, the 9 a.m. ferry was late to arrive and late to leave the Whitehall Street terminal. It pulled into St. George at exactly 9:31, the time at which the SIR is set to depart towards Tottenville. Needless to say, I couldn't make my way through the crowds quickly enough to catch the train--which I missed by ONE MINUTE--and I had to wait for the 10:01 to come through, making me late for work. Excuse me, but if I knew that I was going to miss the 9:31 train, I would have slept later and taken the 9:15 or 9:30 boat OR taken the time to get a cup of coffee at Whitehall, rather than running like a lunatic from the South Ferry subway platform up two flights of stairs to catch the boat that wouldn't even get me to work any faster.

I also had to sit in the waiting area for half an hour with a very angry gentleman who took to periodically kicking the doors, benches, and walls out of frustration. He swore under his breath and kept looking over at me, maybe trying to gauge whether I'd be interested in ranting about public transportation with him or possibly smashing the state. In any case, he made me pretty uncomfortable.

To say the least, I am pretty angry with the Staten Island Ferry this morning. But bloggers blog, and so I will march on, trying to put the past behind me: today, I am concerned with the Waterfalls.

Continue reading "Ferry Commuter/Blogger Gripes, Comments on Waterfalls" »