Staten Island Ferry

Area served	New York City, NY
Fleet Size	8
System Length	4.5 nautical miles

The Staten Island Ferry is the ferry service between Staten Island and Manhattan in New York City.

Route

The ferry runs from St. George Ferry Terminal in Staten Island and Whitehall St in Manhattan, which is also an island, in New York City.

Fares

Since 1997, there are no fares. It is an infrequent scam to tourists to sell "tickets" for the ferry.

Operations

The Staten Island Ferry, a division of the NYC DOT, had been a municipal service since 1905, and at the time of the [Andrew J Barberi] accident carried over 19 million passengers a year. The ferry division operated seven vessels in three ferry classes of different design and capacity (Kennedy, Barberi, and Austen), as well as two passenger terminals, a maintenance facility, and a fuel storage and transfer facility. As many as five ferries operated at any one time, depending on time and day. The division had an annual budget of $452 million and 430 to 450 employees. Of those, 19 were captains and 16 were assistant captains.

Captains typically operated the vessels during transits to Manhattan, and assistant captains operated them during the returns to Staten Island. The operator who brought the vessel to the dock (the captain or the assistant captain) maintained propulsion control in that pilothouse while passengers disembarked and embarked. On departure, that operator then transferred propulsion control to the operator who stationed himself in the departing pilothouse, and thereafter joined him there.

Crew

Ferry operating personnel began as deckhands and then qualified as either mates (nonnavigating officers) or assistant captains, who could then be promoted to captains. The NYC DOT required both assistant captains and captains to have masters' and first-class pilots' licenses, with extensions to the Upper Bay of New York Harbor, the East River from the Battery to Execution Rock, the west river (Hudson River) from the Battery to the George Washington Bridge, and Fresh Kills from the KV buoy to Elizabethport, New Jersey.

The pilothouse crew consisted of the usual crew complement of a captain, an assistant captain, a mate, and a lookout.

The vessel’s engineering crew consisted of a chief engineer, a marine engineer, and three oilers. The day before, the engineering crew had performed a scheduled operational test of the vessel’s two propulsion units a routine measure that crews took on the first day of their 3- or 4-day duty shifts—and noted no deficiencies.

Ferries

The ferry's symmetrical design allows it to approach and leave its berth without turning around. The end that docks in Manhattan is known as the New York end, and the end that docks in Staten Island is called the Staten Island end. The sides of the ferry are referred to as the Brooklyn side and the New Jersey side. The starboard side on the trip to Manhattan is the Brooklyn side, while on the trip to Staten Island, the New Jersey side is starboard.

Fleet

Active

Name	Thumbnail	Year	Builder	Designer	Class	Passenger capacity	Tonnage	Engines	Propulsion	Horsepower	Length	Width	Notes
Dorothy Day		2021	Eastern Shipbuilding	Elliot Bay Design Group	Ollis	4500 persons	4570	EMD 12V-710 (x4)	Voith Schneider Propeller	10,000	320'	70'	Named after social activist Dorothy Day Launched March 26, 2021
Sandy Ground		2021	Eastern Shipbuilding	Elliot Bay Design Group	Ollis	4500 persons	4570	EMD 12V-710 (x4)	Voith Schneider Propeller	10,000	320'	70'
Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis		2021	Eastern Shipbuilding	Elliot Bay Design Group	Ollis	4500 persons	4570	EMD 12V-710 (x4)	Voith Schneider Propeller	10,000	320'	70'	Named after Staff Sergeant Ollis, KIA in Afganistan while saving others from a suicide insurgent.
Spirit of America		12/18/2004	Marinette Marine. Wisconsin		Molinari	4400 persons 30 cars	3200	EMD 710GB16 (x3)	Diesel Electric 4160 volts AC	10,000	310'	70'	Keel built with steel from WTC
Senator John J. Marchi		05/08/2004	Marinette Marine. Wisconsin		Molinari	4400 persons 30 cars	3200	EMD 710GB16 (x3)	Diesel Electric 4160 volts AC	10,000	310'	70'
Guy V. Molinari		09/20/2003	Marinette Marine. Wisconsin		Molinari	4400 persons 30 cars	3200	EMD 710GB16 (x3)	Diesel Electric 4160 volts AC	10,000	310'	70'
Samuel I. Newhouse		1981	Equitable Shipyards	Elliot Bay Design Group	Barberi	6000 persons	3335	EMD 645E16 (x4)	Voith Schneider	8000	300'	70'
Andrew J. Barberi		1981	Equitable Shipyards	Elliot Bay Design Group	Barberi	6000 persons	3335	EMD 645E16 (x4)	Voith Schneider cycloidal propeller	8000	300'	70'
John Noble		1986	Derektor Shipyards		Austen	1280 persons	500	Caterpillar 3516 (x2)	Voith Schneider	4000	196'	40'
Alice Austen		1986	Derektor Shipyards		Austen	1280 persons	500	Caterpillar 3516 (x2)	Voith Schnieder	4000	196'	40'

Retired

Name	Thumbnail	Year	Retired	Builder	Class	Capacity	Tonnage	Engines	Propulsion	Horsepower	Length	Width	Notes
Stapleton		1888	1905	Columbian Iron Works, MD			1592	Compund Steam Engine	Paddle Wheel	1200	225	61
Castleton		1888	1905	Columbian Iron Works, MD			1587	Compund Steam Engine	Paddle Wheel	1200	225	61
Manhattan		1905		Maryland Steel Company	Borough		1954	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	3500	246	48
Bronx		1905	1941	Maryland Steel Company	Borough		1954	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	3500	246	48
Brooklyn		1905	1947	Maryland Steel Company	Borough		1954	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	3500	246	48
Queens		1905	1947	Maryland Steel Company	Borough		1954	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	3500	246	48
Richmond		1905	1944	Maryland Steel Company	Borough		1954	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	3500	232	48
Bay Ridge		1907	1940	Harlan & Hollingsworth, DE.									Primarily assigned to Brooklyn - Staten Island route.
Gowanus		1907	1940	Harlan & Hollingsworth, DE.									Primarily assigned to Brooklyn - Staten Island route.
Nassau		1907	1940	Harlan & Hollingsworth, DE.									Primarily assigned to Brooklyn - Staten Island route.
Mayor Gaynor		1914	1951	NY Shipbuilding Company, NJ			1009	4 Cylinder Triple Exp. Steam	Direct Drive	1950	210	45
President Roosevelt		1921	1956	SI Shipbuilding Co. NY			1907	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	3500	242	46
W.R. Hearst / Whitehall		1923		SI Shipbuilding Co. NY									Renamed Whitehall in 1930s. Primarily assigned to Brooklyn - Staten Island route.
Rodman Wanamaker		1923		SI Shipbuilding Co. NY									Primarily assigned to Brooklyn - Staten Island route.
George W. Loft / West Brighton		1923		SI Shipbuilding Co. NY									Renamed West Brighton.
American Legion I		1926	1956	SI Shipbuilding Co. NY			2029	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	3500	251	46
Dongan Hills		1929		SI Shipbuilding Co. NY			2029	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	3500	251	46
Tompkinsville		1930	c. 1967	SI Shipbuilding Co. NY			2029	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	3500	251	46
Knickerbocker		1932	1965	SI Shipbuilding Co. NY			2029	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	3500	251	46
Gold Star Mother		1937	c. 1972	United Dry Dock, SI NY		2328 persons 24 cars	2126	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	4000	252	48
Mary Murray		1937	c. 1982	United Dry Dock, SI NY		2328 persons 24 cars	2126	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	4000	252	48
Miss New York		1937	c. 1979	United Dry Dock, SI NY		2328 persons 24 cars	2126	Double Compound Steam	Direct Drive	4000	252	48
Pvt. Joseph F. Merrell		1951		Bethlehem Steel Co. SI NY		2954 persons 24 cars	2285	Skinner Unaflow Steam	Direct Drive	6000	269	69
Cornelius G. Kolff		1914	c. 1987	Bethlehem Steel Co. SI NY		2954 persons 24 cars	2285	Skinner Unaflow Steam	Direct Drive	6000	269	69
Verrazzano		1952		Bethlehem Steel Co. SI NY		2954 persons 24 cars	2285	Skinner Unaflow Steam	Direct Drive	6000	269	69
American Legion (II)		1965	2006	Levingston Shipbuilding	Kennedy	3500 persons 40 cars	2109	EMD 567C16 (x4)	Diesel Electric 600 volts DC	6500	277	69
Govenor Herbert H. Lehman		1965	2007	Levingston Shipbuilding	Kennedy	3500 persons 40 cars	2109	EMD 567C16 (x4)	Diesel Electric 600 volts DC	6500	277	69
John F. Kennedy		1965	2022	Levingston Shipbuilding	Kennedy	3500 persons 40 cars	2109	EMD 567C16 (x4)	Diesel Electric 600 volts DC	6500	277'	70'	Sold to Saturday Night Live comedians Colin Jost and Pete Davidson [1]

City Island Ferry

Name	Thumbnail	Year	Retired	Builder	Class	Passenger capacity	Tonnage	Engines	Propulsion	Horsepower	Length	Width	Notes
Fordham													City Island Ferry replaced by the Michael Cosgrove.