Cornelius Vanderbilt, an entrepreneur from Stapleton, Staten Island, who would become one of the world's richest people, started a ferry service from Staten Island to Manhattan in 1810. Although Cornelius was only 16 years old at the time, he had sailed extensively enough in his father's periauger that he could easily navigate the New York Harbor Estuary on his own. He was given $100 for his birthday in May 1810, which he used to purchase a periauger called "Swiftsure". Vanderbilt then used the periauger to transport passengers from Staten Island to the Battery at Manhattan's tip. He competed against other boatmen providing service in the harbor, who called him "Commodore" because of his youthful eagerness; although the nickname was intended to be jocular, it applied to him for the rest of his life.
Early years
Staten Island Ferry
Staten Island Ferry | Early years
1810 1817. The Staten Island Ferry originated in 1817 1817
how long is the staton island ferry ride
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Approximately 25 minutes
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where is this located?
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The ferry's single route runs through New York Harbor between the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island
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when it started its service?
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George. Conversely, passengers from Staten Island can freely transfer to a subway or bus in Manhattan after riding the ferry. The Staten Island Ferry originated in 1817, when the Richmond Turnpike Company started a steamboat service from Manhattan to Staten Island. Cornelius Vanderbilt bought the Richmond Turnpike Company in 1838, and it was merged with two competitors in 1853. The combined 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.
Staten Island Ferry | Introduction
A subway tunnel called the Staten Island Tunnel started construction in 1923, but was abandoned two years later; the completed portion lies dormant beneath Owl's Head Park in Brooklyn. Today, express bus service is provided by NYC Transit throughout Staten Island to Lower Manhattan, Union Square, and Midtown Manhattan. A right of way exists along the north shore of Staten Island. This North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway was built, owned, and operated by the B&O, which used it for passenger service until 1953. It then became a B&O freight line until the 1980s, when service was stopped.
Staten Island | Trains
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 operate the first motorized ferry between New York and Staten Island in 1817, "Nautilus", which was commanded by Captain John DeForest, the brother-in-law of Cornelius Vanderbilt. This new ferry broke the short monopoly on steamboat operations that had been held by the Fulton Ferry, which had connected Manhattan and Brooklyn since it began operation in 1814. Since the steamboats provided much faster means of transportation across the harbor, Vanderbilt sold all his ships to his father in 1818.
Staten Island Ferry | Early years
By 1967, all other ferries in New York City had closed due to competition from 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 mid-1970s New York City fiscal 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 off-peak and night voyages.
Staten Island Ferry | Decline and recovery
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 a competing ferry service called the New York and Staten Island Steam Ferry. Afterwards, Vanderbilt tried to operate a ferry service between Manhattan and Staten Island that would rival Law's ferry service. 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.
Staten Island Ferry | Staten Island Railway era
At the time, ferry service along New York Harbor between Staten Island and Manhattan was conducted by private individuals in "periaugers". These shallow-draft, two-masted sailboats, used for local traffic in New York Harbor, were also used for other transport in the area.
Staten Island Ferry | Predecessors
The ferry began operating under the municipal authority of the Department of Docks and Ferries on October 25, 1905, seven years after the five boroughs were consolidated into New York City. The "Municipal Ferry Terminal" was erected in 1906–9, during the administration of Mayor George McClellan, and designed by the architectural firm of Walker and Morris. Two primary ferry terminal buildings were designed in a Beaux-Arts style. One set was opened in 1906 for the two slips of the Staten Island Ferry with direct links to the Manhattan Elevated terminal platforms. The adjoining terminal was completed by 1909 in an identical style for the South Brooklyn Ferry routes and would become the Battery Maritime Building.
Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal | Original terminal
However, the construction of the Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, Hudson & Manhattan Railroad, and George Washington Bridge between Manhattan and New Jersey, as well as the growth of car ownership in the United States, meant that these ferries were no longer needed by the mid-20th century. As a result, in 1967, the last cross-Hudson ferry (between Hoboken and Battery Park City) ceased operations.
NYC Ferry | Early ferries
After going through the valley, the line would curve toward Amboy Road before curving southward, passing Billop House, and ending near Biddle's Grove and the Amboy ferries. The second route would start at Vanderbilt's Landing and run through Clifton to New Dorp.
History of the Staten Island Railway | Initial efforts: 1836–1860
After the company's original charter expired in 1844, Vanderbilt transferred the former company's leases and titles to himself and the company's other chief officer, Oroondates Mauran. This was done in their capacity as private citizens rather than as chief officers. When Mauran died in 1848, his share of the company was purchased by Vanderbilt.
Staten Island Ferry | Early years
The passenger ferry service was abandoned on March 3, 1925. A track spur split from the Montauk Branch east of the Long Island City station, running along the south border of the station before curving north to the North Shore Freight Branch running between 48th and 49th Avenues, where there were connections to car floats at what is today the Gantry Plaza State Park. These car floats carried freight trains to and from Manhattan and New Jersey until the mid-20th century. Today, ferry service is operated by NYC Ferry. The station house was torn down again in 1939 for construction of the Queens–Midtown Tunnel, but continued to operate as an active station throughout the tunnel's construction and opening.
Long Island City station | History
The Holland Tunnel from New Jersey to Manhattan, and the Staten Island Ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan, both saw decreased vehicle counts after the bridge opened. In summer 1965, Staten Island saw increased patronage at its beaches, facilitated by the opening of the new bridge. By the time of the bridge's first anniversary, 17million motorists had crossed the -Narrows Bridge, paying $9million in tolls. The bridge had seen 34% more trips than planners had projected. Conversely, 5.5million fewer passengers and 700,000 fewer vehicles rode the Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan.
Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge | Opening and early years
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 , as opposed to the existing Whitehall-to-St. George ferry's . 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.
Staten Island Ferry | Decline and recovery
Ferries along the Harlem River, between uptown Manhattan and the Bronx, started in 1667, and a ferry to Staten Island was started in 1712. The number of ferries would grow, and by 1904, there would be 147 ferry services operating in New York City waters. One of the first documented horse-powered "team" boats in commercial service in the United States was the Fulton Ferry Company, an East River ferry run that Robert Fulton implemented in 1814. The South Ferry Company, founded in 1836, merged with the Fulton Ferry Company three years later, and the combined companies underwent a series of acquisitions, eventually owning many of the East River ferries.
NYC Ferry | Early ferries
The New York and South Brooklyn Ferry operated a ferry from the Battery Maritime Building (formerly known as Municipal Ferry Pier) to the South Brooklyn/39th Street Ferry Terminal, where rail transfer (to the South Brooklyn Railway) was possible until 1935. Formerly, a Staten Island Ferry route ran between the ferry slip at 39th Street within Bush Terminal, and the St. George Terminal in Staten Island. The ferry route was discontinued in 1946 after a fire at St. George Terminal.
South Brooklyn Marine Terminal | Early ferry service
Originally, before the terminal was first built, ferry service was provided as early as the 1700s by individuals (and later private companies) with their own boats. A major ferry accident on June 14, 1901, which sunk one ferry and killed four passengers was used by the city as a justification for their acquisition of the Staten Island Ferry. The City subsequently banned other operators from using the Terminal, so ferries from Communipaw Terminal in Jersey City were re-routed to Liberty Street Ferry Terminal in lower Manhattan. The original Whitehall Terminal, called the "Whitehall Street Ferry Terminal," served Brooklyn, Governors Island, Staten Island, and Jersey City, for passengers who traveled mainly by a system of elevated trains (nicknamed "els").
Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal | Original terminal
The War of 1812 meant restricted access to New York Harbor from elsewhere along the East Coast. During the war, Vanderbilt profited from carrying cargo along the Hudson River, and he bought extra boats with these profits. After the war, he transported cargo in the harbor, earning even more money and buying more boats. Around the same time, 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 the land comprising Tompkinsville was purchased around this time.
Staten Island Ferry | Early years
Ferry service between Perth Amboy and Tottenville began in 1863, operated by the SIRR. It was necessary to have a direct connection between the trains and the infrequent ferries to and from Manhattan, but this was difficult during the beginning of operation. The ferries serving Vanderbilt's Landing were owned by the attorney George Law. Vanderbilt tried to operate a ferry service between Manhattan and Staten Island that would compete with Law's. He also started construction on a central dock on the island, but he abandoned the scheme after a storm destroyed the timber work. Only the large stone foundation remained; it was still visible at low tide in 1900.
History of the Staten Island Railway | Ferry conflicts: 1860–1884
A plan to reinstate car boarding, because of rising tolls on the Verrazzano Bridge, was seen as infeasible due to the effort needed to screen every car.
Staten Island Ferry | Route
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 placed in a trust at the Fulton Bank in lower Manhattan. Under an act passed in 1824, the bank was to be incorporated under two conditions: it had to acquire the Richmond Turnpike Company's stock, and it would cease 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.
Staten Island Ferry | Early years
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 meeting on February 25. These residents, voicing their dissent, helped cause the commissioners to reject Hawkes's proposal. Shortly after, the government of New York City announced 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 two ferry routes from Staten Island. One route would travel to Manhattan, terminating at any North River port between 23rd Street and Battery Park, while the other route would go from Staten Island to 39th Street, near Bush Terminal, in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Staten Island Ferry | End of Staten Island Railway era
The earliest portions of the Staten Island Railway were built in 1860 connecting the ferry landing at Tompkinsville with the village of Tottenville, New York. Looking to expand into the New York City area, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad purchased the line in 1885. The B&O financed the construction of new ferry terminals and slips at St. George, as well as a branch along the north shore of the island to connect to New Jersey via a bridge over the Arthur Kill. Known as the Staten Island Rapid Transit, the line provided freight and passenger service to the island, and the passenger service was electrified in 1925.
Delaware Otsego Corporation | Staten Island Railway
On January 16, 1953, a heavy fog across the East Coast caused four ferry accidents in New York Harbor. In one accident, the "Gold Star" crashed into the United States Lines freighter "American Veteran", injuring 13 people. In another heavy fog four days later, "Joseph F. Merrill" crashed into an Ellis Island ferryboat, jolting several passengers but injuring no one. Five years later, on February 8, 1958, "Dongan Hills" was hit by the Norwegian tanker "Tynefield", injuring 15 people. On November 7, 1978, "American Legion II" crashed into the concrete seawall near the Statue of Liberty ferry port during a dense fog, injuring 173 people on board.
Staten Island Ferry | Late 20th century
Before the New York City area was colonized by Europeans, the indigenous Lenape Native Americans used boats to traverse waterways—including present-day Arthur Kill, Kill Van Kull, and Raritan Bay—of the area then known as Lenapehoking, which included present-day Staten Island, Manhattan, and New Jersey. The area would first be colonized as part of Dutch New Netherland in 1624. New Netherland became the British Province of New York in 1664, and the British province finally became part of the United States in 1776. During the 18th century, the City of New York occupied only the southern tip of Manhattan, and Staten Island was not incorporated within the greater city.
Staten Island Ferry | Predecessors
NY Waterway briefly also operated a high-speed ferry from Staten Island to East 34th Street in 1998, but discontinued it due to low ridership. This marked the first time that NY Waterway discontinued a route.
NY Waterway | Founding and early years
The ferry service from St. George to 39th Street in Sunset Park, 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.
Staten Island Ferry | City ownership and ferries to other destinations
By the 1900s, Staten Islanders were becoming dissatisfied 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 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.
Staten Island Ferry | End of Staten Island Railway era
The route started with three ferryboats from the Union Ferry Company of Brooklyn. Three new boats were then commissioned for the 39th Street route. Named "Gowanus", "Bay Ridge", and "Nassau", they were smaller than the borough-class boats. "Bay Ridge" was the first to arrive, in July 1907, followed by "Gowanus" in August, and "Bay Ridge" in September. A second route from St. George to Brooklyn started operating on July 4, 1912. The privately operated Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company operated the service to 69th Street in Bay Ridge. New York City started operating a line from Battery Park to Stapleton in May 1909.
Staten Island Ferry | City ownership and ferries to other destinations
However, by 1918, the construction of bridges and New York City Subway tunnels across the East River resulted in some companies, such as the New York and East River Ferry Company between Yorkville and Astoria, operating at a loss. Even with city ownership, many of the East River ferries were superseded by bridges, road tunnels, and subway tunnels by the mid-20th century. The Yorkville–Astoria ferry, for instance, stopped in 1936 after being replaced by the Triborough Bridge. On the other side of Manhattan, there were a myriad of Hudson River ferries at one point, with boat routes running from New Jersey to twenty passenger docks in Manhattan.
NYC Ferry | Early ferries
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. On October 31, 1921, the ferryboat "Mayor Gaynor" ran aground near Robbins Reef Light, in the middle of the harbor. This was a result of a heavy fog, which slowed shipping and caused a BRT train accident that injured 20 people. On February 24, 1929, the same boat was involved in another crash, when it ran into the Whitehall ferry slip and injured three people. Coincidentally, "Mayor Gaynor" collided with the same spot a year and a day later, injuring seven people.
Staten Island Ferry | Early 20th century, after city takeover
Several ferry classes, purchased since the city assumed ownership of the ferry, have been retired. The ferries named after the five boroughs, "Bronx", "Brooklyn", "Manhattan", "Queens", and "Richmond", were the first ones commissioned for the city line in 1905. All of the boats except "Richmond" were long and wide, with a draft of and a gross tonnage of 1,954. "Richmond" had the same width and draft as its classmates, but was long with a gross tonnage of 2,006. All of the borough-class boats were retired in the 1940s. "Manhattan" was out of documentation by 1941, when "Bronx" was the first of the remaining boats to be scrapped.
Staten Island Ferry | Former
Cornelius Vanderbilt, an entrepreneur from Stapleton, Staten Island, who would become one of the world's richest people, started a ferry service from Staten Island to Manhattan in 1810. Although Cornelius was only 16 years old at the time, he had sailed extensively enough in his father's periauger that he could easily navigate the New York Harbor Estuary on his own. He was given $100 for his birthday in May 1810, which he used to purchase a periauger called "Swiftsure". Vanderbilt then used the periauger to transport passengers from Staten Island to the Battery at Manhattan's tip. He competed against other boatmen providing service in the harbor, who called him "Commodore" because of his youthful eagerness; although the nickname was intended to be jocular, it applied to him for the rest of his life.
Staten Island Ferry | Early years
The schedules and the five-cent fare for the ferry were maintained. In 1963, Perth Amboy ferry service was discontinued.
History of the Staten Island Railway | Transfer of ferry service: 1947–1948
The three remaining ferries were scrapped by 1947, "Brooklyn" having served as a floating school for the United States Coast Guard in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, beginning in 1943, and "Richmond" having been converted to a barge in 1944. The city's next class, delivered two years after the borough-class boats, consisted of "Gowanus", "Bay Ridge", and "Nassau", which were used for the Brooklyn line. Each boat was long and wide, with a draft of and a gross tonnage of 862. These boats were all sold by 1940. "Bay Ridge" was used as the barge "Rappahannock River", while the other two were scrapped.
Staten Island Ferry | Former
By the 1960s, office space was being developed around Bay Street. The opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in 1964 created a connection between Staten Island and the rest of New York City that did not require passing through St. George, and led to the development of neighborhoods further inland. Furthermore, the Coast Guard complex closed in 1965, its operations being moved to Governors Island. By the 1970s, there was a decline in demand for St. George's residential stock. Only one project was completed on the North Shore waterfront in that decade, a 440-unit apartment building near the ferry terminal. Developer William Zeckendorf and materials company Alcoa had jointly proposed a 27-story residential complex on the waterfront about south of the terminal, replacing ten industrial buildings formerly used by the American Dock Company.
St. George, Staten Island | Later 20th century
An NYC Ferry route is planned to start operating in 2020 between the St. George Terminal and Manhattan's West Side. This route will be operated separately from the Staten Island Ferry and will charge a fare.
Staten Island | Ferry
There has been continuous ferry service between Staten Island and Lower Manhattan since the 18th century. Travelling across the Upper Bay between South Ferry and St. George Ferry Terminal, the free Staten Island Ferry transports on average 75,000 passengers per day. Service on the East River ended in the early 20th century and on the Hudson River in the 1960s. It has been restored and grown significantly since the 1980s providing regular service to points in Manhattan, mostly below 42nd Street. Major terminals are Hoboken Terminal, Battery Park City Ferry Terminal at World Financial Center, Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal, Weehawken Port Imperial, Pier 11/Wall Street, West Midtown Ferry Terminal, and the East 34th Street Ferry Landing.
Port of New York and New Jersey | Ferries and sightseeing
Her Captain for the first crossing was Oren D. Relyea. Her normal run was from the Hoboken Terminal to Barclay Street, a twelve-minute journey of approximately 1 and 3/4 miles, a trip made continuously nearly every day for more than sixty years (on occasion she substituted on the Hoboken - 23rd Street run). As alternate methods of travel across the Harbor were implemented, ferry transport diminished. The opening of the Pennsylvania Railroad line to Penn Station in Manhattan (1907); the Hudson and Manhattan Rapid Transit Line (1907); the Holland and Lincoln tunnels (1927; 1937); and the George Washington Bridge (1931) all contributed to the decline of the ferries.
Binghamton (ferryboat) | History
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 fare was increased to 25 cents for a round trip, collected in one direction only. The fare increase was intended to earn the ferry service an extra $1.35 million in annual revenue.
Staten Island Ferry | Fares
The Communipaw ferry constituted the main ferry route from the terminal and was operated by four ferries that crossed the North River to Liberty Street Ferry Terminal in lower Manhattan. Additional service to 23rd Street was also operated until the CRNJ went bankrupt in 1945 and scrapped its ferry boats used on the 23rd street route in 1947. In the early 1900s the B&O Railroad requested the CRNJ operate ferries for its luxury Royal Blue service passengers to Whitehall Terminal and this was accomplished for several years until the City of New York purchased the Staten Island Ferry from the B&O's subsidiary, the Staten Island Railway, and ended the service in 1905.
Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal | Ferries and ships
The other two boats were approximately long by wide, and had a draft of and a gross tonnage of 2,029 (for "President Roosevelt") or 2,089 (for "American Legion I"). "Mayor Gaynor" was the first to be dismantled, in 1951, while "President Roosevelt" and "American Legion I" were scrapped in 1956 and 1963, respectively.
Staten Island Ferry | Former
The city-owned Staten Island Ferry remains a separate entity. In addition, the ferry service would add 155 jobs to the New York Harbor area. Due to the lack of concrete plans for any NYC Ferry routes to Staten Island, there have been tentative agreements with other ferry services to provide fast-ferry service between Staten Island and Manhattan, supplementing the city-owned route there. In April 2017, Staten Island Borough President James Oddo negotiated with NY Waterway to provide service between St. George Terminal and West Midtown Ferry Terminal. In September of the same year, private developers on the South Shore of Staten Island also negotiated with SeaStreak to run a separate fast ferry route from the South Shore to Lower Manhattan.
NYC Ferry | Other ferries
Only the large stone foundation remained; this was still visible in 1900 at low tide. A long franchise battle ensued; and as a result, Vanderbilt sold his ferry service to Law in 1862. Vanderbilt subsequently lost interest in Staten Island's transit operations, 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 July 30, 1871, "Westfield II" was damaged when its boiler exploded while sitting in its slip at South Ferry in Manhattan.
Staten Island Ferry | Staten Island Railway era
Staten Island Borough President Joseph A. Palma, in 1936, proposed to extend Staten Island Rapid Transit to Manhattan (via New Jersey) across the Bayonne Bridge, which had been built to accommodate two train tracks. The Port of New York Authority endorsed the second plan in 1937, with a terminal at 51st Street in Manhattan near Rockefeller Center to serve the trains of Erie, West Shore, Lackawanna, Jersey Central, and trains from Staten Island. This original proposal would be brought back in 1950, by Edward Corsi, a Republican candidate for Mayor of New York City. On February 4, 1932, the headway on trains was decreased to 15 minutes from 20 minutes between 9:29 p.m.
History of the Staten Island Railway | Expansion
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 showed a profit until 1915, under John Purroy Mitchel's mayoral administration.
Staten Island Ferry | City ownership and ferries to other destinations
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, neither captain was criminally charged, although "Mauch Chunk" 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, to demand that the 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.
Staten Island Ferry | End of Staten Island Railway era
The ferry was established by the Brooklyn Ferry Company on July 1, 1864, running over a similar route to the old Roosevelt Street Ferry, which ran to Bridge Street until 1859. The route was discontinued in early 1874, due to the failure of a bill to improve Bridge Street. Today, the site of the Bridge Street Ferry Pier is within a Con Ed substation. The site of the James Slip Ferry Pier is in the Alfred E. Smith Houses a NYCHA housing complex next to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Bridge Street Ferry | History
Unlike NYC Ferry, the Staten Island-to-Midtown route would not receive any per-passenger subsidies from the city. By September 2017, private developers on the South Shore were also negotiating with SeaStreak to run a separate fast ferry route from the South Shore to Lower Manhattan. In January 2019, NYC Ferry announced that it would start operating a route between St. George and West Midtown terminals, running via the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal. The route would begin running in 2020.
Staten Island Ferry | Midtown fast ferry service
Kennedy Boulevard in New Jersey, before connecting with the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (today's PATH train) at Exchange Place. The service would have provided access to Lower Manhattan via the H&M's Downtown Hudson Tubes to Hudson Terminal (now the site of the World Trade Center station). There were also plans to extend the line to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee.
Staten Island Tunnel | Boulevard Subway plan
Similar to the 1890 proposal, it would have followed the routing of the current Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge (constructed from 1959 to 1964). The Fort Hamilton proposal was the shortest route of the two, though it would require tunneling through deeper waters. As part of the proposal, it was suggested that the Fourth Avenue Line be extended past its original terminal at 86th Street in Bay Ridge to a temporary ferry terminal at 95th Street (now the 95th Street Station).
Staten Island Tunnel | Brooklyn routes
This bus service initially saw low patronage, with only 6,000 daily passengers using the route. Five days after the -Narrows Bridge opened, the ferry from Staten Island to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, stopped running, as it was now redundant to the new bridge. Within the first two months of the bridge's opening, 1.86million vehicles had used the new crossing, 10% more than originally projected, and this netted the TBTA almost $1million in toll revenue. The Goethals Bridge, which connected New Jersey to the Staten Island Expressway and the Bridge, saw its daily average use increase by 75%, or approximately 300,000 trips total, compared to before the Narrows Bridge opened.
Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge | Opening and early years
In 1964, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge between Brooklyn and Staten Island was completed, resulting in the deactivation of the Bay Ridge Ferry and the truncation of NY 439 to the St. George ferry terminal. NY 439 ceased to exist entirely . Although the number was removed in New York, it had carried over to New Jersey and still exists today in Elizabeth, New Jersey, as Route 439.
New York State Route 439 | Introduction
Efforts to revive the Staten Island-to-Midtown ferry persisted; and 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 adequately served by the Whitehall–St. George route. Citywide Ferry Service was not planning to serve transit-deprived South Shore.
Staten Island Ferry | Midtown fast ferry service
On October 21, 1957, four years after North Shore sub-division passenger trains ended, a train from Washington, D.C.—the last SIRT special—carried Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip across the Arthur Kill Bridge en route to the Staten Island Ferry after a meeting with President Eisenhower. The special train movement was conducted in secrecy and the tracks along the route were cleared for this occasion. The train traveled over B&O, Reading Company, and Lehigh Valley lines to get to Staten Island Junction and the SIRT. The royal train, along with a press train, ended its run at a freight yard at Stapleton.
History of the Staten Island Railway | Freight operations: 1957–1971
The Governor's Island route is seasonal and only operates during summer weekends, and was launched in the summer of 2019. Two additional routes, to Coney Island, Brooklyn, and to St. George, Staten Island, are expected to start operating in 2021. There are two main Manhattan terminals at Wall Street and East 34th Street. On May 18, 2020, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, the Lower East Side route was discontinued, the South Brooklyn was extended to end at Corlears Hook, and Stuyvesant Cove was added as a stop to the Soundview route between the 34th Street and Wall Street stops.
NYC Ferry | Routes
Ryers' and Hilleker's ferries were in competition with one another until David Mersereau bought out both companies in the late 19th century. Ferries ran continually until shortly after the Bayonne Bridge was built in 1931. The area also became the site of an important stop on a coach route between the city and Philadelphia. Port Richmond Avenue has been known over the years as Church Road, Port Richmond Plank Road, Stone Road, and Richmond Avenue. The road is a continuation of an old highway called the Morningstar Road. Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, railway tycoon and patriarch of the Vanderbilt family, was born in the area in 1794.
Port Richmond, Staten Island | 19th century
The name "Port Richmond" was given to the place by Rev. Dr. James Brownlee of the Dutch Reformed Church In 1700 the area was known as the "burial place" from a cemetery of the Reformed Church on Staten Island near the present Port Richmond Avenue along the waterfront. It later became a transfer point between ferries from New York City to New Brunswick, New Jersey. A ferry landing (called variously "Ryer's Landing", "Mercereau's Landing", and "Decker's Landing") was later constructed for a route linking Staten Island across the Kill Van Kull to Bergen Point (present-day Bayonne, New Jersey). The Bayonne Bridge was constructed in 1931 yet ferry service continued until 1962.
Port Richmond, Staten Island | Early exploration and settlement
The start of construction was delayed for nine months because it awaited approval of the Secretary of War, and another six months due to an injunction from the State of New Jersey. Construction had to continue through the brutal winter of 1888 because Congress had set a completion deadline of June 16, 1888; two years after signing the bill. The bridge was completed three days early on June 13, 1888. When it opened, the Arthur Kill Bridge was the largest drawbridge ever constructed; it cost $450,000 and was constructed without fatalities. The bridge consisted of five pieces of masonry, the center one being midstream with the draw resting on it.
History of the Staten Island Railway | Extension to New Jersey
"Herbert H. Lehman" was retired on June 30, 2007, after the 10:30 p.m. run from Whitehall Street to St. George. "John F. Kennedy" is being kept for the time being in weekday service on an as-needed basis, as captains considered it to be the most reliable vessel in the fleet and riders preferred its abundant open-air deck space.
Staten Island Ferry | "Kennedy" class
This prompted Robert Moses to propose the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, which opened in 1964 and only carries vehicles.
Staten Island Tunnel | Vehicular tunnels under the Narrows
On July 1, 1892, Staten Island, New York's first trolley line opened, running between Port Richmond and Meiers Corners. Trolleys, which cost only a nickel a ride through most of their existence, help facilitate mass transit across the Island by reaching communities not serviced by trains. Henry H. Rogers was long-known as the Staten Island transit magnate, and was also involved with the Staten Island-Manhattan Ferry Service and the Richmond Power and Light Company.
Henry Huttleston Rogers | Transit: Staten Island
As early as July 1764 a ferry began operating from Paulus Hook to Mesier's dock which was located at the foot of Courtland Street (where Cortland Street Ferry Depot would be built) and where Battery Park City Ferry Terminal is located today. The first steam ferry service in New York Harbor and the world was established in 1812 by Robert Livingston (1746-1813) and Robert Fulton and traveled between Paulus Hook and Cortlandt Street in Manhattan. The ferry dock stood at the head of the important highway to Newark (and points west and south) established in 1795. The ferry in turn influenced the location of the terminal of the New Jersey Railroad, which opened in 1838 running from the ferry dock via Newark to New Brunswick.
Exchange Place, Jersey City | History
Trucks could deliver freight anywhere in the city without requiring a railroad siding. The rail tunnels required electric propulsion, limiting their use for freight. A rail freight tunnel from Staten Island to Brooklyn was proposed, but never completed. Rail freight traffic east of the Hudson that did not cross by barge had to go north some distance to cross the river by bridge. The first rail crossing of the Hudson was the Poughkeepsie Bridge built in 1888. The New York Central crossed just south of Albany, New York, where it continued west paralleling the Erie Canal to create the Water Level Route which competed with the Pennsylvania Railroad's more direct route that had to cross the Allegany Mountains.
Rail freight transportation in New York City and Long Island | Early days
This attempt was successful due to the financial backing of William Vanderbilt. The line opened in 1860 and ran from Tottenville to Vanderbilt's Landing and connected with ferries to Perth Amboy, New Jersey and New York, respectively. After the Westfield ferry disaster at Whitehall Street Terminal in 1871, the railroad went into receivership and was reorganized into the Staten Island Railway Company in 1873. In the 1880s, Erastus Wiman planned a system of rail lines encircling the island using a portion of the existing rail line, and organized the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad in 1880, in cooperation with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), which wanted an entry into New York.
History of the Staten Island Railway | Introduction
This service change started on May 18, 2020. The ferry to Staten Island would not be implemented until 2021, along with the Coney Island and Throggs Neck expansions. On June 27, 2020, the summer schedule was implemented, increasing frequency of all routes in response to high summer ridership, except for the Governors Island route, which remained indefinitely suspended until July 18 when a new summer schedule was created. Shortly after, de Blasio budgeted $62 million for eight new vessels, despite citywide budget cuts caused by the pandemic.
NYC Ferry | Further expansion
The Fulton Ferry was the first steam ferry route connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York City, United States, joining Fulton Street, Manhattan, and Fulton Street, Brooklyn, across the East River. It revolutionized travel between the then City of New York on Manhattan Island and the Village of Brooklyn and the rest of Long Island. Robert Fulton's steam Fulton Ferry Company in 1814 established his name on the ferry service. After the Brooklyn Bridge was built, ridership declined, and the ferry ceased operation on January 19, 1924. NYC Ferry now serves a very similar route.
Fulton Ferry (ferry) | Introduction
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 of Staten Island. St. George was selected due to its being the point where Staten Island is closest to Manhattan, approximately away. The terminal and local neighborhood were renamed "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.
Staten Island Ferry | St. George Terminal
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 "Guy V. Molinari".
Staten Island Ferry | "Molinari" class
The size of the LED display in Venturi's design was heavily reduced. Also added were a rooftop waterfront viewing deck with a photovoltaic array on its canopy, a long sinuous canopy on the street side with the words "Staten Island Ferry" on it, and a Percent for Art installation called "Slips" by Dennis Adams. Two factors complicated construction of the new terminal. First, the NYCDOT mandated that two of the terminal's three ferry slips remain open during construction. Second, the terminal was being built over the Battery Park Underpass and three New York City Subway tunnels, so a foundation for the terminal had to be built underground.
Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal | New terminal
Improvements were made to the SIRT after the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) took control of the B&O in 1900, after which the B&O became profitable again. On October 25, 1905, New York City took ownership of the ferry and terminals and evicted the B&O from the Whitehall Street terminal. The St. George Terminal was then built by the city for $2,318,720, . In anticipation of a tunnel under the Narrows to Brooklyn and a connection there with the BMT Fourth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, the SIRT electrified its lines with third rail power distribution and cars similar to those of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT).
Staten Island Railway | 20th century
George Yard, where the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's freight operations exchanged with car floats to other terminals in the New York Harbor. The B&O also operated the SIRT and ferries under a 99-year lease signed in 1885. A trolley terminal for the Staten Island Electric Company was formerly located above the ferryhouse. The St. George tunnel was lengthened in 1905. It was built with two portals at its north end; one on the geographic east side currently in use by the SIR, and an additional western portal intended for the Staten Island Tunnel, which would have traveled across the Narrows and connected to the New York City Subway's BMT Fourth Avenue Line in Brooklyn.
St. George Terminal | History
The railroad line was still intact from Cranford Junction to Arlington.
History of the Staten Island Railway | Decline: 1971–2000
The ferry, originally the Walnut Street Ferry and later the Jackson Street Ferry or Hudson Avenue Ferry, was established on December 1, 1817. The route originally connected Manhattan's Walnut Street (now called Jackson Street, just west of Corlear's Hook) with Brooklyn's Little Street (later named Jackson Street, just east of today's Hudson Avenue and west of the Brooklyn Navy Yard). At some point, the Manhattan landing was moved two blocks west, to Gouverneur Street, driving the name change to Gouverneur Street Ferry. Smith & Bulkley gained control by May 1852, and, effective May 23, 1853, the Brooklyn side was moved two blocks west, from Hudson Avenue to Bridge Street.
Gouverneur Street Ferry | History
The harbor is still served by cruise lines, commuter ferries, and tourist excursion boats. Although most ferry service is private, the Staten Island Ferry is operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. Passenger ship facilities are New York Passenger Ship Terminal, the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal at Red Hook, and MOTBY at Bayonne.
New York Harbor | Ferries and cruise ships
Delivery of the new ships was originally planned for 2019 and 2020 but was delayed after Eastern Shipbuilding's shipyard in Panama City, Florida, was severely damaged by Hurricane Michael in October 2018.
Staten Island Ferry | Future
The backdrop of the Staten Island Ferry's route also makes it a popular place for film shoots, and the ferry has been featured in various films, such as "Working Girl" (1988), "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" (2003), and "" (2017). Many other films and TV episodes use the Staten Island Ferry in establishing shots. In the past, ferries were equipped for vehicle transport, and operators charged $3 per automobile. A vehicle ban was approved in 1992, after the Whitehall Terminal was destroyed and subsequently rebuilt without vehicle loading areas. Although the temporary terminals included car loading areas, car boarding was discontinued after the September 11 attacks.
Staten Island Ferry | Route
The St. George Terminal opened in early 1886. It was served by a Staten Island Ferry route to Manhattan's Whitehall Terminal, as well as three routes of the Staten Island Railway: the North Shore Branch to Elm Park station (later to New Jersey), the East Shore Branch to Tottenville station, and the South Beach Branch to South Beach station. With the completion of the Staten Island Railway, Wiman's Staten Island Amusement Company started operating locations in both St. George and Erastina (now Mariners Harbor). The St. George location opened in 1886 and included an illuminated fountain, as well as public events and competitions, a 60-piece military band, and the St.
St. George, Staten Island | Renaming and late 19th century
Vacant land nearby was used for staging Buffalo Bill’s “Wild West Show”, generating over 10,000 additional passengers from the St. George Ferry Terminal over the new rail line. Erastina became Mariners Harbor soon after Wiman fell from public favor due to scandal and bankruptcy. There are three other stations along the North Shore branch of the Staten Island Railway at Lake Avenue, Harbor Road, and Arlington. Passenger service on this line was discontinued on March 31, 1953. An important rail customer was Arthur Dreyer & Sons Lumber and Coal Co. near Union Avenue bridge. Remnants of the site are visible today by the coal silos.
Mariners Harbor, Staten Island | History
The crossing saw more Brooklyn-bound traffic and less Staten Island-bound traffic as a result. This unidirectional collection remained in effect through the 21st century.
Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge | Additional deck and later years
Being unable to compete with the one-cent fare adopted by the Brooklyn Union Ferry Company in November 1850, it was sold to the new Union Ferry Company of Brooklyn (the successor to the Brooklyn Union) in December 1853. The lease expired on September 12, 1856, but the company continued to operate the ferry. They petitioned the City of New York to abandon the Roosevelt Street Ferry, in exchange for continuing Gouverneur Street operations and expanding the Manhattan landing. The city refused, and operations ended in January 1857. A new ferry, known as the Navy Yard Ferry or Hudson Avenue Ferry, was established on July 8, 1859 between Jackson Street in Manhattan and Hudson Avenue in Brooklyn, almost exactly where the original Walnut Street Ferry ran in 1817.
Gouverneur Street Ferry | History
The station opened on June 2, 1860, with the opening of the Staten Island Railway from Annadale to Tottenville. Eight shipyards were located at this location in the 1880s. From the year 1860 to 1885, the locomotives of the Staten Island Railway were maintained and repaired at Journea's Shipyard and at Tyrell's Machine shop. A ferry was operated by the Staten Island Railway from 1867 until 1948 that ran across the Arthur Kill to the Perth Amboy Ferry Slip in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The ferry service dated back to the 1700s and ended on October 17, 1963. There are remains of the old slip to the ferry near the end of Bentley Street, which is now a dead-end street blocked by a Jersey barrier.
Tottenville station | History
Although a temporary pontoon bridge to Elizabeth, New Jersey was built by the British during the Revolution, Staten Island was usually accessible only by ferry to New Jersey or by private boat. It was not until 1810 that regular ferry service was established to Manhattan. As early as 1850, campaigns for a bridge to Bayonne, New Jersey were begun by some summer residents of the island, although opposed by many permanent residents. In 1870 the New York State Legislature passed a bill authorizing a swing-span bridge from New Brighton, Staten Island to Ellis Island via Robbins Reef. A charter was granted to the Staten Island Bridge Company, but the project was eventually abandoned due to fiscal constraints.
Arthur Kill Bridge | Proposal for a bridge
The native Lenape provided crossings to settlers as early as 1680. The longest-running ferry service crossed the Arthur Kill to Tottenville, Staten Island, with regular service beginning in 1709 or 1719 operated by Christopher Billopp. Steam service was introduced late 19th century by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and ran until 1943, and was served by the Staten Island Railway at the Tottenville station. In the early motoring age the ferry was an important link for travelers to the Jersey Shore It became less important with the 1928 opening of the Outerbridge Crossing, but continued operating until October 17, 1963.
Perth Amboy Ferry Slip | History
In 1885, Jacob Vanderbilt retired as President of the SIRW. The new lines opened by the B&O were operated by the SIRTR, while the original line from Clifton to Tottenville was called the SIRW, which was maintained as a separate corporation. The passenger cars used by the SIRW were leased by the SIRTR. Construction of the North Shore Branch began on March 17, 1884, after a number of legal proceedings; a party of surveyors started marking out the grades and broke ground for the roadbed. The rights of a horse car line to operate in Richmond Terrace were bought to build the line; the right of way followed the island's North Shore and reached a ferry to Elizabeth, New Jersey that had been operating since the mid-1700s.
History of the Staten Island Railway | Expansion: 1884–1900
Even though the Poughkeepsie Bridge was closer to the city, it was less used.
Rail freight transportation in New York City and Long Island | Early days
Representative for several Staten Island districts, who later became a borough president of Staten Island. It was delivered in September 2004. The second ferry was named for State Senator John Marchi, who represented Staten Island for fifty years and delivered January 5, 2005. The third ferry, "Spirit of America", was delivered September 16, 2005 and scheduled to be put into service on October 25, 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 "Spirit of America" sidelined at the Staten Island Ferry's St.
Staten Island Ferry | "Molinari" class
The former Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) also planned a railroad tunnel, for freight use, between Brooklyn and Staten Island in 1893. The PRR also proposed a tunnel from Brooklyn to Jersey City, approximately following the planned path of the Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel, ten years later. The project was never started, despite efforts by government planners to start the project from the 1920s through the 1940s. In January 1935, New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia solicited the PANYNJ's help to create a report, called the "Summary of Cross Bays Freight Tunnel Study (Routes via Staten Island)," detailing four routes for a freight tunnel running to New Jersey via a tunnel to Staten Island.
Staten Island Tunnel | Tunnels from Brooklyn to New Jersey via Staten Island
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. The fifth boat, "Richmond", was built on Staten Island by the Burlee Dry Dock Company.
Staten Island Ferry | End of Staten Island Railway era
In 1888, subsequent to building the Arthur Kill swing bridge between New Jersey and northwestern Staten Island, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (the owners of the Staten Island Railway until 1971) proposed a tunnel between Staten Island and Brooklyn. In 1890, Staten Island developer Erastus Wiman, who controlled the railway, sponsored a plan by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to construct a tunnel under the Narrows to connect Staten Island with Brooklyn for both passenger and freight service. The proposal never made it through the approval process when financial challenges stopped the plan at the drawing board. The tunnel would have gone near the foot of Vanderbilt Avenue on Staten Island to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, traveling at a depth of below the narrows.
Staten Island Tunnel | Original plans
It was hoped that the completion of the tunnel would spur the development of inner Staten Island and St. George, as a trip to Manhattan via the tunnel was expected to take only 12 to 15 minutes, compared to 25 on the ferry. However, after several delays and a groundbreaking in 1923, the project was canceled in 1925. Another plan for an expanded ferry terminal with a 26-story office complex was proposed in 1930, but never built.
St. George, Staten Island | Post-unification development
Until the 19th century, when there were no fixed crossings across the city's waterways, there were many ferries traversing the area. New York's first ferries date to when the city was a Dutch colony named New Amsterdam, which comprises modern-day Lower Manhattan. A ferry across the East River, between New Amsterdam and modern-day Brooklyn, was created in 1642 by Cornelius Dircksen, who was reportedly "the earliest ferryman of whom the records speak." By 1654, New Amsterdam's government passed ordinances to regulate East River ferries. The first ferry to New Jersey was founded in 1661, traveling across the Hudson River from Manhattan to Communipaw (now part of Jersey City).
NYC Ferry | Early ferries
The city's purchase of the two Staten Island ferry routes was intended to be temporary, until 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 privately operated ferry franchises elsewhere.
Staten Island Ferry | City ownership and ferries to other destinations
On October 28, 1947, the SIRT filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to get permission to discontinue ferry service between Tottenville and Perth Amboy Ferry Slip in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The SIRT said the abandonment should be permitted because of "the substantial deficits being incurred in operation of the service, which covers a distance of 3,600 feet". On September 22, 1948, the ICC allowed the SIRT to abandon the ferry, which it had been operating for 88 years. On October 16, the ferry operation was transferred to Sunrise Ferries of Elizabeth, New Jersey, which had agreed to lease the railway's ferry facilities at Tottenville and to lease Perth Amboy wharf and dock properties there.
History of the Staten Island Railway | Transfer of ferry service: 1947–1948
Attempts to start a rail line on the island were restarted in 1849 and 1850, when residents of Perth Amboy and Staten Island held meetings concerning a possible Tottenville-to-Stapleton line. Like the previous attempt in 1836, they faced financial difficulties, and sought out the help of William Vanderbilt—a son of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt and a resident of Staten Island. Vanderbilt had conceived of such a railroad as a way to reduce the monopoly of the Camden and Amboy Railroad, which was the only mean of reaching Philadelphia. Passengers would take ferries from New York City to Amboy, the railroad to Camden, and finally a ferry to Philadelphia.
History of the Staten Island Railway | Initial efforts: 1836–1860
George terminal was also the site of two minor ramming incidents. On July 1, 2009, at 7:09 pm EDT, "John J. Marchi" lost power and hit a pier 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. A similar incident at the same location occurred on May 8, 2010, at 9:20 am EDT. As the then-recently-rebuilt "Andrew J. Barberi" approached the dock, the reverse thrust failed to respond; and the boat could not slow down. Thirty-seven of the 252 passengers on board were injured.
Staten Island Ferry | 21st century
Wagner Jr., and was built to meet the increased demand for classroom space caused by the borough's population surge that accompanied the opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in 1964.
Meiers Corners, Staten Island | History
There is an active passenger ferry terminal at the southern tip of Whitehall Street: the Whitehall Terminal, which serves the Staten Island Ferry. However, its facilities in use have shifted over the decade, as have the destinations served. The original Whitehall Terminal served Brooklyn, Governors Island, Staten Island, and Jersey City, New Jersey, and it was originally served mainly by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company's elevated train lines at South Ferry station. Furthermore, the terminal once served vehicular traffic. However, the subways have replaced the els, and cars now use fixed crossings such as the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. The structure was renovated in the 1950s and reopened in 1956.
Whitehall Street | Transportation
In May 1922, John Hylan launched a new plan for the freight and passenger tunnel, and the Board of Estimate recommended that $4.08 million be initially appropriated for the project. The Transit Commission and the Port Authority refused to accept the plan, as they each had their own plans. This plan was much less extensive than the original plan. The original plan would have had the tunnel from Owl's Head Park under the Narrows to Staten Island, and then continuing to a freight yard to be built in the center of Staten Island, from which a trunk line would run across the Arthur Kill to New Jersey as far as Paterson, before merging with the West Shore Railroad.
Staten Island Tunnel | 1922 plan
The ferry terminal was opened in early 1886. On June 25, 1946, a large fire destroyed both the wooden ferry and rail terminals, killing three people, and injuring more than 200. Full service was restored in July of that year. A new $21-million facility was built by the city, and opened on June 8, 1951. Plans for a renovation of the terminal were announced in March 1997, and the terminal was renovated in the 2000s, as part of a $300 million renovation of several ferry terminals in the area, including the Whitehall Terminal. , St. George's direct rail-sea connection is one of a few left in the United States.
Staten Island Ferry | St. George Terminal
The Jersey City Ferry was a major ferry service that operated between Jersey City and Cortlandt Street in lower Manhattan for almost 200 years (1764-1949). The ferry was notable for being the first to use steam power which began in 1812. The ferry's history was closely tied to the Pennsylvania Railroad's station in Jersey City at Exchange Place, which gradually fell into disuse after the railroad opened the North River Tunnels and Penn Station in 1910. Ferry service from lower Manhattan to Jersey City continued via the even older Communipaw ferry which operated from the adjacent Liberty Street Ferry Terminal until this service was also discontinued in 1967.
Jersey City Ferry | Introduction