THE FERRY COLLECTION AT ST. GEORGE TERMINAL

After all, like all New Yorkers, most of them (myself included) are busy taking care of their hectic everyday lives.

Of course, the tourists that take the ferry for pictures of the Manhattan Skyline ,The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and other New York sights are completely oblivious to its existence, as they are of everything regarded to the island so often regarded as "The Forgotten Borough" both by Staten Islanders as by other New Yorkers. After all, as Staten Island Register editor Bill Franz once put it, the ferry ride is, for tourists, merely a free Circle Line, and most of them just sit inside the boat and wait for the return to Manhattan.

I will not elaborate on the causes for that - far too many writers have explored the issue of the inexistence of tourist interest in Staten Island, and the issue, as many have said, has become a tired one.

Upon entering the small room where the collection is located, the visitor first faces a large variety of souvenirs. After all, the only income of the place is the sale of the merchandise there, which includes t-shirts, key chains, books, and the like which sometimes are not related to Staten Island at all.

Once past the souvenirs, the visitor is greeted by two miniatures of now-retired ferries, such as the President Roosevelt (which was a beautiful steamboat) , and the more recently deactivated Verrazzano, named after the Italian sailor who first crossed the Narrows.

Today, his name is associated with the famous bridge that was built in 1964 and, despite of protests from Brooklyn residents, finally connected Staten Island to the rest of the city (and which ultimately led to the retirement of the Brooklyn ferry to the borough).

Looking at the miniature of the Verrazzano ferry, one does not see much difference in today's boats. In fact, the only difference is that that boat was still run on steam, while the post-1965 boats run on diesel-electric engines.

Other attractions in the room include parts of boats of yesteryear, such as seats, plaques, davits, and other curiosities, such as the history of all the boats from the beginning of the 20th Century up to 1985, when the last boats (The uncomfortable Alice Austen and John A. Noble) were built.

Those include pictures of them being built, their capacities, histories and other technicalities.

There are also some historical pictures of the early 20th Century, when men and women entered the boats through separate doors( the subway was also separated back then).

One document that caught my attention was a letter dated back from the first decade of the last century, in which an anonymous commuter complains of the ferry schedule and on the boats' speed. In the letter, he states that he thought "the boats would have a new schedule, instead of maintaining the old one". In the same letter, he also mentions that he thought the new boats would bridge the 5.2 mile gap between Staten Island and Manhattan in a shorter period of time instead of the usual 25 minutes (which is, almost 100 years later remains the same).

The commuter ends his letter stating that he wishes Staten Island to grow in every sense.

I could not and cannot but sympathize with that man. After all, his pain of more than ninety years ago is shared by most of the 21st Century Staten Island resident that depend on the ferry for daily commute.

I strongly suggest anyone who wanders into the St. George Terminal to pay a visit to the collection.

Unfortunately, the visit is a bit limited by The Collection's daily schedule, for it is only open for visitation 8-00 AM to 12:00 PM Monday to Friday and 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturdays, making it difficult for visitors to get to know a little more of Staten Island's famed and traditional form of transportation.

Ernest Barteldes
Staten Island, NY
picture credits: all pictures by Ernest Barteldes