Ken Munsie: 11. The Staten Island Ferry

One of the "must does" in NYC is a ride on the Staten Island Ferry - travelling from the bottom tip of Manhattan Island (Battery Point) across the bay to Staten Island.

This fleet of five non-vehicular ferries carries in the vicinity of 60,000 passengers per day - not including weekend days. There was no way of counting us when we boarded - it's a free ride + we didn't go through any turnstiles at either end - so it's a bit scary to think that they don't control the number of passengers - maybe it's a weight thing ...

The trip is 5 miles and takes about half an hour and gives you the most spectacular views from start to finish - it is promoted as ... "One of the world's greatest (and shortest) water voyages."

The Battery Point Terminal

As I ambled - more like a Maleny-tourist-dawdle - towards the terminal I was overtaken by masses of people briskly walking past me - then when I arrived there I saw why ... hundreds of people massed in front of the entry gates. Thinking my 'too many people - I'll never get in ...' thoughts - I turned to leave, but no way - even more hundreds were massing behind me !! Finally the gates opened and in a very orderly manner we shuffled on board.

Hundreds of boarding passengers ...

But once on board, there was plenty of space to wander about. There are three levels and small viewing decks at both ends - opps sorry - think should read 'forward and aft' or something.

I think the ferries average about 600 to 1000 passengers at a time. But once on board you hardly notice the crowd.

Crowd ? - what crowd ?

Leaving Manhattan ( on the right ) and Jersey City ( on the left ) we steam towards Staten Island

And there she is - the main reason for the trip ...

It was quite noticeable that as we approached the Statue of Liberty, you could feel the ferry list to one side as the passengers rushed to get a view - and take even more pics ...