Staten Island Ferry, Liberty Island, N.Y.
Date1979
MediumChromogenic print on Kodak Ektacolor 74 RC-N paper
DimensionsImage: 10 7/16 × 10 7/16 inches (26.5 × 26.5 cm)
Sheet: 13 15/16 × 10 15/16 inches (35.4 × 27.8 cm)
Matted: 20 × 16 inches (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
Portfolio/Series"Groups in America" portfolio
Credit LineGift of The Estrin Family.
Object number2011.19.1.1
Copyright© Neal Slavin.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextStaten Island Ferry
Approximately 700 personal operate and maintain the boats.
The Staten Island ferry system provides mass-transportation commuter service between Whitehall Street Terminal, Manhattan, and St. George Terminal, Staten Island. Six boats are operated during rush hours, while two boats normally undergo maintenance or are in dry dock for inspection or repairs. The boats run between St. George Terminal and Whitehall Terminal in approximately twenty-five minutes and handle nearly thirty thousand commuters daily.
Employees must pass civil-service requirements.
Pedestrian and vehicle fares help pay for the service, with the City of New York subsidizing any balance.
Ferryboats have been traveling between Staten Island and Manhattan since Staten Island was first settled in the 1600’s. The first notice of regular service, in 1745, was an advertisement in the New York Weekly Post Boy, which read: “Sylvania Seamens who keeps the upper ferry at the narrows, on Staten Island side, having good boats for that purpose, purposes, besides the proper attendance at the said ferry, constantly to keep a passage boat to go from thence to the City of New York, which will certainly set out every Tuesday and Friday and return the same day if possible, and at any other time, if passage or freight justify.
The City assumed ownership on October 25, 1905, after service deteriorated and a serious accident occurred. The ferry is under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Marine and Aviation, an agency of the Transportation Administration.
The Staten Island Ferry has become a popular choice of producers, directors, and advertisers for “on location” filming of motion pictures, television shows, and commercials, and of well-known magazines as a background for fashion layouts. The ferry has maintained an impressive safety record since 1905. During the past forty-five years approximately one billion passengers have traveled on the ferry. The boats have covered some 5 billion miles without a single fatality and have managed to arrive 95 percent on time.
From When Two or More Are Gathered Together (1976) by Neal Slavin.
