#skywatchfriday -- riding the Staten Island Ferry

So you're in lower Manhattan, you've got a couple of hours to kill, and you don't want to spend a lot of money.  What do you do?

Maybe you take a ride on the Staten Island Ferry.

Yes, the Staten Island Ferry.  A NYC icon.

You may remember the ferry from that old I Love Lucy episode just before the gang took their trans-Atlantic cruise, or as the background for a Madonna video or as a Billy Joel lyric.

The ferry is a form of commuter tranportation, carrying passengers between lower Manhattan across New York Harbor to Staten Island, and then back again. 

But it's also popular with tourists.  There's no fee to ride the ferry these days.  So if you don't have the time or the money to visit Liberty Island, you can get a nice view of the Statute of Liberty while riding the ferry.

On the Manhattan side, the ferry terminal is located  on Whitehall Street, next to Battery Park, convenient to several subway lines.  The terminal has a large, comfortable waiting room, and there are options to buy soft drinks and an assortment of fast food items, such as hot dogs. 

Here's your ride:



If you want the full effect, when you board the boat you'll want to go to one of the upper decks, starboard side (facing New Jersey, not Brooklyn). 

there are opportunities to purchase snacks aboard the ferry, if you so desire.

You get great views of the city as your boat leaves the terminal. 





Yes, that's One World Trade Center towering over the other tall buildings.

And you'll get a great view of Ellis Island.  My grandmother was processed at Ellis Island when she came here, back in the 1920's.  When I visited Ellis Island a number of years ago (it's a museum now), I could hear my grandmother's voice in my head, talking about her immigrant experieince.





There are all kinds of boats on the harbor. 





Even cruise ships.  This one sails out of Bayonne, New Jersey. 



Of course, there's Lady Liberty.






                             "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Eventually you arrive in Staten Island. 



Even if you're planning to go right back to Manhattan, you must get off the boat at Staten Island.  You can buy a snack in the terminal while you're waiting to re-board the ferry.

And the view as you head back to Manhattan...







#skywatchfriday