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Themarrero
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New York City
New York City

The first so called ‘ferry’ service between Staten Island and the city of New York actually dates back to the 18th century, when privateers sailed back and forth between the two islands in small shallow draft twin mast sailboats referred to as ‘periaugers’. In the early 1800’s President Monroe’s Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins secured a charter for the Richmond Turnpike Company which amongst other things gave him the right run a ferry from Staten Island to the city of New York. In 1817 the Richmond Turnpike Company began to run the steam powered Nautilus the first mechanical ferry between Staten Island and the city of New York. The commander of the Nautilus was a Captain John De Forest who had a young brother in law, Cornelius Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt built up considerable wealth in the steamboat business in New York harbor and in 1838 bought the Richmond Turnpike Company which if you haven’t figured it out yet is a direct ancestor of the current NYC ferry service. When the Civil War began, Cornelius sold the ferry service to his brother Jacob Vanderbilt who led the Staten Island Railway. In 1884 after a horrible accident where a boiler exploded on the ferry called the Westfield in 1871 and the outrage and legal issues that followed, the ferry service was sold to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Another accident, though there were only 5 fatalities, in 1901 became the impetus for the City of New York to seize control ferry service. In 1905, the Docks and Ferries took over the operation, commissioned five new ferries (one named for each of the new boroughs) and the first ferry to make the trip across New York harbor was the ferry named Manhattan which cost 5 cents per passenger.
So the Staten Island Ferry photographed here, 110 years later, is among the active fleet that continues to make the same 25 minute 5.2 mile trip from Whitehall Terminal in lower Manhattan to St George Terminal on Staten Island. The DOT ferries run 24/7 365 days years with annual ridership at around 22 million and claim to be on time 96% of the time. Well one of the differences between 1905 and 2014 is the rate for riding on the Staten Island Ferry; its free as opposed to in 1905 when it cost a nickel. During the week, a typical workday, the five active ferries make 109 trips carrying 70,000 passengers. This shot was taken on a weekend from the old Whitehall terminal on board a ferry to Governors Island.

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Taken on: October 6, 2014
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with NEWYORK NEWYORK Everybody's photos tagged with NEWYORKCITY NEWYORKCITY Everybody's photos tagged with STATENISLAND STATENISLAND more » Everybody's photos tagged with STATENISLANDFERRY STATENISLANDFERRY « less
Sets appears in:   • The Old Man and the Sea    • 10 or more Likes    more » • New York City    « less
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