Predecessors

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.[1] The area would first be colonized as part of Dutch New Netherland in 1624.[2]: 19–20  New Netherland became the British Province of New York in 1664,[2]: 73  and the British province finally became part of the United States in 1776.[2]: 231  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. 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.[3]

Early years

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.[4] Just 16 years old, 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 used his boat 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.[5] 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.[5]

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.[6][7] The company was incorporated in 1815,[8][9] and the land comprising Tompkinsville was purchased around this time.[10] The company built a highway across Staten Island; it also received the right to run a ferry to New York.[6][10] The Richmond Turnpike Company began to operate the first motorized ferry between New York and Staten Island in 1817,[11] Nautilus, which was commanded by Captain John DeForest, the brother-in-law of Cornelius Vanderbilt.[11][12][13] 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.[14] Since the steamboats provided much faster means of transportation across the harbor, Vanderbilt sold all his ships to his father in 1818. 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.[5]

When Tompkins died in 1825, the company's stocks were placed in a trust at the Fulton Bank in lower Manhattan.[8] 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.[15] Vanderbilt, who had grown wealthy in the steamboat business in New York waters, bought control of the Richmond Turnpike Company in 1838.[11][7] After the company's original charter expired in 1844,[16][15] 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.[16]

By the mid-18th century, there were three separate ferry companies offering services between lower Manhattan and the eastern shore of Staten Island.[12] The Tompkins and Staples Ferry, operated by Vice President Tompkins's son Minthorne,[12][17] ran from a pier at the Tompkinsville end of the highway to Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan.[10] The New York and Staten Island Steam Ferry Company, or "People's Ferry", was operated by George Law[17] and ran from Stapleton, Staten Island, to Liberty Street, Manhattan.[12] The third ferry was the Richmond Turnpike Ferry, also the "Staten Island Ferry"; it originated at Vanderbilt's Landing at Clifton, Staten Island, and terminated in Manhattan.[12] All of these companies merged in 1853, after Vanderbilt, who was focused on business ventures elsewhere, convinced Law and Tompkins to buy out his ferry company for $600,000.[18][17] Vanderbilt remained a dominant figure in the ferry business until the Civil War in the early 1860s.[11]

 Hunchback (1864–1865) on the James River in Virginia during the Civil War

The combined company, the Staten Island and New York Ferry Company, ran services from Whitehall Street to Tompkinsville, Stapleton, and Clifton. It originally ran single-ended boats but eventually expanded its fleet to include double-ended boats.[19] The Staten Island and New York Ferry's vessel Hunchback was built in 1852, becoming the first double-decked boat to operate in the harbor.[20] To accommodate growing ridership, three double-ended boats—Southfield I, Westfield I, and Clifton I—were purchased for the ferry between 1857 and 1861.[21][22] Westfield and Clifton were purchased by the Union Army in September 1861, almost immediately after they had been delivered.[23] The army also purchased Hunchback and Southfield in December of that year.[24] The Union used the ships to man the blockade against the Confederate Army during the Civil War.[25] Of the four boats, only Hunchback survived; after the war, it was redocumented and bought by someone in Boston; it was abandoned by 1880.[21] Due to the loss of these boats, another three boats—Westfield II, Northfield, and Middletown—were obtained in 1862–1863.[26][22] A fourth boat, Clifton II, was also built, but it was purchased by the U.S. shortly after completion; the vessel was then redocumented, and by 1868 it had been destroyed.[27]

Staten Island Railway era

The Staten Island Railway (SIR) opened in stages in 1860.[28] 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.[29] 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. Only the large stone foundation remained; this was still visible in 1900 at low tide.[29]

A long franchise battle ensued; and as a result, Vanderbilt sold his ferry service to Law in 1862.[30][31] 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.[32]: 7 [29] In March 1864, Vanderbilt bought Law's ferries, bringing both the railroad and the ferries under the same company.[31] The railway assumed the Staten Island and New York Ferry Company's operations in 1865.[32]: 7 

 The 'Westfield immediately after the explosion Westfield disaster, recovering the bodies

On July 30, 1871, Westfield II was damaged when its boiler exploded while sitting in its slip at South Ferry in Manhattan.[33][31][34] Within days of the disaster, between 45 and 91 had died, and from 78 to 208 listed as injured, although figures varied widely between the Times, Herald, Tribune, and World.[31][35] Among those injured was Antonio Meucci, an Italian immigrant who was developing the first telephone at the time; he was so poor that his wife sold his lab and telephone prototype to buy $6 worth of medications.[36] Jacob Vanderbilt was arrested for murder, though he escaped conviction.[37] This had an adverse effect on the railroad's finances;[37] and on March 28, 1872, the railway and the ferry went into receivership.[37][38] On September 17, 1872, the property of the company was sold to George Law in foreclosure,[37] with the exception of the ferryboat Westfield II, which was purchased by Horace Theall.[28]

Erastus Wiman, a Canadian entrepreneur, planned to develop Staten Island by adding transit. Wiman had become one of Staten Island's most notable figures since moving to New York in 1867,[39] and he had built an amusement area on the island to help develop it.[1][40] He incorporated the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad Company on March 25, 1880;[41] and the incorporation of the company was formalized on April 14, 1880.[42][43]: 569  Two years later, Wiman applied to build a ferry dock in Manhattan in order to serve his new ferry routes.[44] Wiman also proposed combining the six to eight separate ferry operations so as to use just one Staten Island terminal.[45] This became the St. George ferry landing, which opened in March 1886.[46][40]

On April 3, 1883, the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad Company gained control of the SIR and its boats.[41][22] A new boat, Southfield II, was delivered that year.[27] The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) obtained control of the Staten Island Railway Ferry Company's operations the next year.[47] A controlling interest in the Railway Ferry Company was obtained by the B&O in 1885, through purchases of stock. On November 21, 1885, Robert Garrett, president of the B&O,[48] leased the Railway Ferry Company to the B&O for 99 years.[49]: 37  The B&O could now provide service to a ferry terminal that was closer to Manhattan public transit. Formerly, passengers had to transfer to the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ)'s ferries, which went from the Jersey City Terminal to the Liberty Street Ferry Terminal in Manhattan; and the latter was not close to any elevated rail stations in the area. With this acquisition, the B&O could start operating ferries to the Whitehall Street terminal, where there was a direct transfer to an elevated station.[49]: 100  Two 225-foot (69 m) steel-hulled ferryboats were built during this time and delivered in 1888.[50] These boats were Erastus Wiman (renamed Castleton in 1894[51]) and Robert Garrett. They were the first boats of the Staten Island Railway Ferry fleet to be powered by multi-cylinder inclined steam engines, which pumped steam more efficiently than the single-cylinder vertical engines on previous boats.[50]

Garrett resigned from his position at the B&O in 1887,[52][53] and his successors did not show as much interest in Staten Island transit operations.[54] Wiman lost significant amounts of money in the Panic of 1893; and two years later, much of his property was auctioned to pay off debts.[55]

In 1893, the B&O commenced plans to divert some CNJ ferries from Jersey City to Whitehall Street, with the latter ordering Easton and Mauch Chunk ferries for the Whitehall Street service. The boats started running in 1897.[49]: 100  As part of a general improvement, the B&O also started building a new ferry terminal at St. George in 1895.[56]

In 1899, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and the New York Central Railroad (NYCRR) formed a partnership in which they were to buy smaller freight railroad companies. PRR president Alexander Cassatt had devised the plan because he thought that two large freight-shipping companies, Standard Oil and Carnegie Steel, were artificially depressing freight-shipping rates by cajoling smaller companies for rebates. Among the PRR's acquisitions was the B&O, which in turn owned the Staten Island Railway and Ferry. Cassatt started buying B&O stock in 1899 and owned much of the B&O stock two years later.[57]: 194–195 

End of Staten Island Railway era  The South Street Seaport, where the damaged Northfield II sank

By the 1900s, Staten Islanders were becoming dissatisfied with the railway-operated ferry service to Manhattan, which they felt was unsafe.[58] 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 10-by-20-foot (3.0 by 6.1 m) hole through the middle of Northfield.[59][60] Damaged beyond repair, Northfield II sank within ten minutes,[22][60][61] ending up near the modern South Street Seaport.[62] Out of 995 passengers aboard, only four or five were killed.[63][49]: 100  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.[62] An investigation into the crash[64] found that Northfield II had sunk because of the extent of the damage rather than because of its 38-year age.[65] Despite this, neither captain was criminally charged, although Mauch Chunk's captain was "censured" for speeding as well as for not helping the passengers aboard Northfield.[66] In the meantime, the B&O borrowed the paddle-wheeler John Englis from the Williamsburg Ferry Company.[67]

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.[68] 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.[69][70] Throughout the rest of the year, Rogers's Standard Oil-affiliated transit venture, which also operated streetcar routes on Staten Island, competed with the B&O for the rights to the ferry.[70] The locations of the Staten Island terminal were also debated; and West Brighton, Tompkinsville, Stapleton, and Port Richmond were suggested as possible locations.[71] The B&O wanted to offer service to St. George and at least one other terminal, while Rogers wanted to use only the Tompkinsville and West Brighton terminals.[72] The two groups submitted their proposals in November 1902; and by February 1903, the Sinking Fund Commission announced their decision to give B&O the operating license. 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.[73][74]

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.[75] 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.[76] The city would pay $3.2 million to take over operations of the ferry,[75] including $2 million for five new screw-propelled ships,[77] one named for each of the five boroughs.[22] 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.[78] The fifth boat, Richmond, was built on Staten Island by the Burlee Dry Dock Company.[79]

 The ferryboat Castleton at the Whitehall Street terminal

From 1902 to 1903, there were debates on where to put the new Whitehall terminal; and Whitehall Street was decided on as the best location.[80] In 1904, after the Staten Island Railway Company refused the city's offer of $500,000 for the two terminals, the city started a process to condemn the land around the terminals.[81] Although the B&O had been set to give up the Staten Island Ferry franchise in early 1904, the new borough-class ferryboats were not ready by that time. So, the B&O was granted a two-year contract extension, on the condition that the contract could be canceled with 30 days' notice. In return, the city could purchase the B&O's ownership share in the terminals and the five existing ships from B&O, namely Westfield II, Middletown, Southfield II, Robert Garrett, and Castleton, for a set price.[82] A new St. George Terminal was built by the city for $2,318,720, replacing the existing terminal.[83]: 29 

All of the ships except for Richmond were finished by April 1905[84] and delivered during the late summer and early fall of that year.[85] Richmond was ready by May 20; and as it had been built in Port Richmond, there was no need to transport the boat.[86] On October 25, 1905, the Department of Docks and Ferries assumed ownership of the ferry and terminals;[83]: 29  and the borough ferryboats started their maiden voyages.[86][87] The next year, the city took ownership of the five B&O ships.[88]

City ownership and ferries to other destinations

The ferry service from St. George to 39th Street in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, became city-operated on November 1, 1906,[89][45] as provided for by the 1903 law transferring ownership of that route to the city.[75] 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.[90][91] The route started with three ferryboats from the Union Ferry Company of Brooklyn.[79] 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.[79] Bay Ridge was the first to arrive, in July 1907,[92] followed by Gowanus in August, and Bay Ridge in September.[93] 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.[94][71]

 Former pier for 69th Street ferry service

New York City started operating a line from Battery Park to Stapleton in May 1909.[22][95] This service ran every 90 minutes between 4 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily.[95] It was discontinued at the end of 1913, due to low ridership.[22] Staten Islanders protested against the city's discontinuance of the Stapleton ferry, to no avail.[96]

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.[97] 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.[98]

The ferryboat Mayor Gaynor was delivered in 1914, during Mitchel's administration, to boost service on the Whitehall route,[99][100] although it had originally been intended for the Sunset Park route.[101] It was not as efficient as the borough-class boats (see § Former), so it was relegated to supplementary service.[99] Another vessel in the fleet, Castleton, was sold to a private owner in 1915; its classmate, Robert Garrett (renamed Stapleton in 1906) would remain in city ownership until 1922.[51]

 Maroon color scheme

Mayor Mitchel's successor, John Francis Hylan, was elected in 1917; and he immediately commissioned a series of new boats.[102] The result was President Roosevelt (also known as T.R.), delivered in 1921,[103][104] and American Legion, delivered five years later.[104][105] The names of both boats triggered some controversy—President Roosevelt due to resentment of Theodore Roosevelt, and American Legion due to the fact that it was named after the American Legion, which was only one of the various veterans' organizations in existence.[104] At the same time, Hylan also ordered three more boats for the 39th Street route, and he ordered 11 boats for other city-operated routes. This brought the number of boats ordered by Hylan's administration to 16.[106] After Hylan's electoral defeat by Jimmy Walker in 1925, George W. Loft and William Randolph Hearst were respectively renamed to West Brighton and Whitehall II.[107] In April 1926, the white paint scheme of the boats was replaced by a maroon scheme, which was better at hiding the accumulations of grime on the boats' exteriors.[108]

In March 1924, New York City Plant and Structures Commissioner Grover A. Whalen suggested that the infrequent 69th Street service be placed under city administration,[109] a request that ultimately went unfulfilled, as the Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry would continue to operate the route until 1939.[110] However, in June 1924, the route to 39th Street was taken over by New York Bay Ferry.[111] By the end of that summer, the three ferry routes were advertised as the most convenient way to get to Staten Island until a tunnel between Staten Island and Brooklyn could be completed,[112] although the tunnel never was finished because its construction was halted a year later.[113] In the 1930s, the ferry routes to Whitehall Street and 39th Street each received one class of three new boats. The boats in the Dongan Hills class were delivered from 1929 to 1931 for the 39th Street route, and the boats in the Mary Murray class were delivered from 1937 to 1938 for the Whitehall Street route. The classes' engines and dimensions were similar, but each class's exterior appearance was very different from the other.[114]

The Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company found it increasingly difficult to maintain its aging fleet, especially with the competition from the 39th Street ferry's new, problem-free ferryboats. This resulted in infrequent service on the Bay Ridge ferry to 69th Street, which lead to a decline in patronage and fare revenues.[115] In February 1939, the United States Department of Commerce ordered the Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company to cease all operations after finding that one of its 40-year-old boats was in a severely deteriorated condition.[115] The Bay Ridge operation was subsequently taken over by the Electric Ferries company on March 1, 1939.[116][110][117] Electric Ferries, which also operated other routes in the area, bought three secondhand ferryboats from other companies to supplement seven new boats.[118] In 1940, the Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company asked the city to stop its municipal operation to 39th Street, so the 69th Street ferry could carry all Staten Island-to-Brooklyn traffic, thus enabling them to lower rates. However, the city refused.[119]

 The St. George Terminal, reconstructed in 1951

After the end of World War II in 1945, the city wanted to reconstruct St. George Terminal, which would in turn improve ferry service to Whitehall Street.[120] On June 25, 1946, a fire occurred at St. George, killing three people and destroying the slips for the Whitehall ferry route.[117][28][121] The only ferry slips that had not been damaged in the fire were those used by the 39th Street ferry. Because the Whitehall route had more ridership, the 39th Street ferry service was suspended so that Whitehall ferries could stop at St. George.[122][45] The suspension of ferry service was supposed to be temporary; but when service was still suspended after a year had elapsed, merchants at Brooklyn's Bush Terminal, near 39th Street, began petitioning the city to resume service.[123] However, this service was apparently never resumed.[28][45] The new terminal was completed in June 1951.[117][28][124]

From 1950 to 1951, the city ordered the construction of three new Merrell-class boats for the Whitehall Street route. These boats differed significantly from their predecessors in that they used 6-cylinder "Unaflow" engines, which allowed for a more efficient steam-powered ferryboat compared to the two 2-cylinder compound steam engines of earlier models.[125] With the lowest bid for the three boats coming in at $6.44 million, the Merrell class was more expensive than the Mary Murray class before it, which had cost only $1 million a boat.[120] The Merrell class would quickly become outdated with the introduction of a subsequent class whose diesel engines were even more powerful.[126]

Around this time, ferry services in the area were being discontinued and replaced by bridges and tunnels, leading to the eventual demise of the 69th Street ferry.[127][128] The exception was the direct ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island,[129] which was not expected to see a significant decrease in ridership because it provided the only direct link between the two boroughs.[130] Electric Ferries' franchise for the Bay Ridge ferry expired on March 31, 1954; and the city contracted the 69th Street ferry's operation to Henry Shanks in order to keep that ferry running.[131] The 69th Street ferry ceased operation in 1964, due to the opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge a short distance south of its route.[45][132] At the time of the 69th Street ferry's discontinuation, it was being used by 7,000 passengers daily, who paid five cents each, and 8,000 vehicles daily, which were charged 75 cents apiece. Each boat could fit between 500 and 750 passengers but only 42 vehicles, which meant for traffic jams at both of the ferry's slips, due to the boats' low capacity. However, the route between St. George and Whitehall was kept open, since the bridge's opening was expected to spur an influx of residents to Staten Island, with a potential increase in commute ridership on the ferry to Manhattan.[127]

Decline and recovery

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.[133][129] It remained as such until the 1980s, when other ferry routes were restarted.[134] 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.[135] Night service was restored in the 1980s after two boats, comprising the current Austen class, were ordered specifically for off-peak and night voyages.[136] These boats entered service in 1986.[137]

By the late 1980s, ferries had again become a popular mode of transport in the area.[129] 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 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph), as opposed to the existing Whitehall-to-St. George ferry's 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[133] New York Fast Ferry was ultimately selected to run a ferry from St. George to East 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan; it opened in January 1997 and saw about 1,650 commuters a day.[138]

The Midtown ferry proved successful until the city essentially eliminated the competing Whitehall Street route's fare in July 1997, as part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)'s "one-city, one-fare" transfer scheme: Staten Island transit riders could pay a single $1.50 fare with a MetroCard on a Staten Island bus or train and get a free transfer to a Manhattan bus or subway by taking the St. George–Whitehall ferry at no additional cost, with return trips handled similarly.[139] As a result, daily ridership on the $5-per-ticket Midtown ferry decreased to 400 passengers, and New York Fast Ferry was unable to make a profit on the route. New York Fast Ferry went out of business at the end of 1997,[140][141] at which point NY Waterway took over the route.[142] NY Waterway also failed to break even on the Midtown route, and it was eliminated on July 31, 1998.[138]

21st century

Immediately after the September 11, 2001, attacks, Staten Island ferryboats were used to evacuate attack victims from the World Trade Center.[143][144] The line was then temporarily closed for a week,[145] with ferry service restored by September 18.[146] When it reopened, some ferries were diverted to Bay Ridge due to the closures of subways and roads across the East River. This continued into 2002, by which time some 2,200 passengers per day were using the ferry, and continued to do so even after the subways and highways were reopened.[147] As a result of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, all vehicular traffic on the ferry was banned in 2003, and passengers were no longer allowed to board from the lower level of either terminal. Passengers had to board and depart from different sections of the ferry; each terminal's lower level was used by departing passengers, which required boarding passengers to use the upper level.[148] This made boarding the ferry inconvenient for park-and-ride users at the St. George Terminal.[149]

In 2002, the city again proposed eliminating night service, with plans to outsource nighttime operations to other ferry companies in the area.[150] However, night and weekend service was increased in 2004 due to growing ridership.[151] Before the 2004 increase in night service, boats only ran once an hour between midnight and 7 a.m.[152]: 7  The ferry had not added more trips during nights and weekends, even though Staten Island's population had increased since 1990.[152]: 5  Ridership continued to increase; and in November 2006, additional ferries, running every 30 minutes, were provided during the weekend morning hours.[153] In 2015, weekend-morning and late-night frequencies were increased to every thirty minutes.[154][155]

The lower levels of each terminal were reopened in 2017 to reduce crowding on the ships' upper levels.[148][149] The St. George Terminal's lower level was opened during the morning rush, and the Whitehall Terminal's lower level was opened during middays and the evening rush.[156] During March 2020, service frequencies were temporarily decreased to once-hourly service due to an 86% decrease in ridership levels following the spread of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic to New York City.[157] During the pandemic, concession stands aboard each vessel were closed.[158][159] A longer-term nighttime service cut was announced the next month; the service reduction would remain in effect through at least June 2021, saving $6 million.[160] Full-time service was restored in August 2021.[161][162] The New York City Department of Transportation and the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced plans in January 2024 to reopen the concession stands on each ferryboat, and they began looking for concessionaires that month.[158][159]

Midtown fast ferry service

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.[163] 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.[164] Later, the citywide ferry's Stapleton route was relegated to an unfunded plan, leaving Staten Island with no stops on the new system.[165]

With the opening of NYC Ferry in 2017, politicians and Staten Island residents again advocated bringing more ferry service to Staten Island, including adding one ferry each to Manhattan and Brooklyn, a stop on the South Shore, and extra stops on the Whitehall–St. George ferry.[166] In April 2017, Oddo announced a tentative agreement with NY Waterway to possibly implement a fast route from St. George to Midtown Manhattan in 2018.[167] The ferry would go to West Midtown Ferry Terminal, as opposed to East 34th Street.[168] Unlike NYC Ferry,[169][170] the Staten Island-to-Midtown route would not receive any per-passenger subsidies from the city.[167] 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.[171] In January 2019, NYC Ferry announced that it would start operating the new route from the west side, running via the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal.[172][173][174] The route began running on August 23, 2021 as a paid alternative.[175][176]