Posts Tagged ‘Staten Island Ferry’
abetted by
Now there’s something you don’t see every day.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A recent Working Harbor Committee excursion to Gowanus Bay saw our vessel plying the Buttermilk Channel section of the East River, which is found between Red Hook and Governors Island. The legend about how this section of the river ended up being called Buttermilk Channel states that back in colonial times, it was so shallow at low tide that Red Hook farmers would herd cattle over to the island for safe keeping and free grazing. Dredging projects in the industrial era lowered the depth hereabouts, creating a shipping channel.
As our vessel moved along, a big orange boat called the Staten Island Ferry entered into Buttermilk, which is pretty unusual. Incidentally, despite its size, the Ferry is a boat. If it could launch a boat, it would be a ship, but since it can’t, it’s a boat. Life boats don’t count, I’m told.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was actually a dredging project that caused the anomaly. New York Harbor is an estuary situated between a giant conveyor belt for silt and soil called the Hudson River and the estuarial waters of Jamaica Bay and Long Island Sound. The back and forth tidal action of the East River, coupled with the titanic flow of the Hudson, causes the harbor floor to build up constantly and channel maintenance is an expensive but necessary activity ordained and financed by the ports people.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just as we were leaving Buttermilk Channel on our way to Erie Basin and Gowanus Bay, the NYPD Harbor Patrol came splashing by, offering themselves up with an iconic backdrop.
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red whilst
Staten Island Ferry, New York Harbor.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned, one is taking a short break – hence the singular image which greets you above. Back soon with new stuff.
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lie outstretched
An evening trip to Staten Island.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For reasons that will become clear in later postings, last Saturday night, one had to get out to… Staten Island. The near to final leg of the journey is quite straightforward, as it occurs on the most reliable of all of NYC’s mass transit systems – the Staten Island Ferry. Manifest joy, however, is repeatedly encountered when negotiating the weekend subways with their schedule of FastTrack repairs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As you may recall, the weather was threatening all day, and began to clear up in the afternoon. The folks who control and steward my eventual destination gave the green light for a visit, based on meteorological advice from NOAA, and off a humble narrator went. The views from the ferry never disappoint, there’s always something going on in NY Harbor worth pointing a camera at.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having made my way to Staten Island, the St. George Ferry Terminal is pictured above, one had a few moments of panic while looking for the next connection I needed to make – to a waiting automobile which would take me the rest of the way. Hold tight, lords and ladies – for tomorrow I’ll bring you to someplace entirely new.
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certain phases
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is another one of the shots I’ve been chasing all summer. It is not an easy thing to photograph a lit up moving thing from another moving thing, at night, and capture the background in acceptable sharpness- even on Maritime Sunday.
diurnal prison
– photo by Mitch Waxman
During the colonial era, there were small operators who exploited the route in two masted ships called Periaugers, but it wasn’t until 1817- when a farm boy from Staten Island started a motorized service- that the most popular tourist destination in New York City truly got started. The farm boy bought a steamboat called Nautilus with a loan from his mother, which was captained by his brother in law. Not many people would recognize the name of that Captain- John DeForest- but it’s easy to be overlooked in the historical record when your brother in law was named Cornelius Vanderbilt.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The consolidated City of New York took possession of the route from the Vanderbilts in 1905, as the family had moved into decidedly less maritime interests like railroads and real estate speculation. It’s run by the NYC DOT today, and is the most reliable of all the mass transit systems in the entire city with a 96% on time rate. The particular ferry boat in these shots is the Guy V Molinari, named for the long sitting and dynastic Borough President of Staten Island.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An astounding set of statistics accompanies the huge orange boats which trawl back and forth between Staten and Manhattan Islands. The service crosses the archipelago some 35,000 times annually, carrying 60,000 people per day- which resolves to some 20 million riders per year. All free. The Ferry was the origin of the Vanderbilt empire, and when Cornelius Vanderbilt died in 1877- he was worth some 100 million dollars, which would be worth something like two billion today. He was born a pauper in 1794.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The ferry terminals at both ends of the approximately 30 minute trip have recently been modernized and upgraded. Whitehall terminal in Manhattan allows connection to subway and bus lines, and on the Staten Island “St. George” side- you can catch the bus or Staten Island rail. Hundreds are employed directly by the operation, with a “long tail” of suppliers and contractors supplying various services and employing thousands more. The City recently issued an “RFP” or “Request For Proposal” for new and modernized ferry boats to augment the aging fleet.
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