A Trip on the Staten Island Ferry

Staten Island is one of the five boroughs of the city of New York (the others are Brooklyn, The Bronx, Manhattan and Queens). It is located southwest of Manhattan Island, cut off from the rest of the city by a 5.2 mile stretch of New York Bay (also known as New York Harbor).

Every day, 65,000 people travel between the Northernmost point of Staten Island and the Southern tip of Manhattan via the free-of-charge Staten Island Ferry. On a steamy hot day, the temptation of a free boat ride was irresistible.

If you begin the trip in Manhattan, as I did, you'll board at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal. Completed in 2004, it replaced a structure identical to the century-old Battery Martime Terminal that still stands next door. Approximately 25 minutes later you'll arrive at the St. George Ferry Terminal on Staten Island, where the tourists and residents immediately part ways; the natives rush off to work, play and home, while the visitors simply turn around and catch the next ferry back to Manhattan.


Foreground, Battery Maritime Terminal (c. 1904), background, Whitehall Ferry Terminal (c. 2004)


Waiting for the ferry


Passing another ferry; background: Governor's Island


Catching a breeze near the statue


Approaching Staten Island


Pulling into the terminal


Staten Island: hazy, hot & humid


Outside the terminal


Exterior of Terminal


Running to the Manhattan-bound boat


The Statue of Liberty


Sailing on


Manhattan coming into view


Carly Simon called it "the New Jerusalem"


Terminal on the left, Brooklyn Bridge on the right


Pulling in to the terminal


The view from inside


Inside Whitehall Terminal

Let The River Run
We're coming to the edge
Running on the water
Coming through the fog
Your sons and daughters

Let the river run
Let all the dreamers
Wake the nation
Come, the New Jerusalem

Silver cities rise
The morning lights
The streets that lead them
And sirens call them on with a song

It's asking for the taking
Trembling, shaking
Oh, my heart is aching

-- Carly Simon, 1989

Staten Island Ferry

NYC Department of Transportation

Carly Simon: The New Jerusalem

Seeing "Together" Together

Tonight, in the offices of a small, local non-profit group, I attended the special invitation-only screening of a new film. In middle of a large, loft-like room, screens were erected, folding chairs arranged, a projector set up, and long tables covered with movie-fan-appropriate food (popcorn, soda, candy bars).

Friends, fans and family of the cast and crew filled the seats and watched the sort of, kind of, semi-official premiere of "Together," a quirky romantic comedy set among geeks and artists in New York.

From the film's Web site: Together was written in the summer of 2005 by Jason Hammonds and Mike Murphy. Murphy is a law student and writer at the University of Michigan and he and Hammonds have collaborated solely via the internet and phone on this project. Much credit to Emmanuel Ording, Nick McIntyre and Chad Jenkins for helpful edits and insites [sic] along the way.

The film was shot in October/November of 2005. Together takes a look inside of [the] reality and fidelity of a single man, living in NYC [and] running a business from his cramped apartment. It is a comedy with a darker side that speaks to the slightly tempestuous situations that most of us face in the course of our lives.

Smattered with characters that are just pure funny, this tragic comedy is something that everyone can relate to. The story unravels around decisions about getting married wrapped with reflections on what brought the two main characters to where they currently sit (literally at a dinner table).

This little film is low budget, but definitely not low talent.


Together: On the lake


Together: Central Park


Together: Friends talking

Together

Together credits

Open Door Productions

Zoe Hunter

Alex Emanuel

Emily Fletcher

Blue Angels over Brooklyn

Yesterday marked the beginning of Fleet Week, when thousands of Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen from around the world descend on New York City in a celebration of all things nautical. This morning, the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy's aerobatic flight squadron, flew over and around the city as part of the Fleet Week festivities.

Unfortunately, their flight received little advance publicity. Many people in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn heard the jet engines overhead and, feeling as though they were in a replay of September 11, 2001, braced themselves, waiting for the sounds and smells of an enormous crash. As the jets continued to roar above, New Yorkers called each other, switched on the news and rushed to the rooftops to see what was happening. Once we knew that we were safe, many of us ran downstairs and grabbed cameras. These images were shot from my rooftop.


Blue Angels over the Brooklyn Piers 


Blue Angels circling above the river 


Plane speeding overhead 


Blue Angels at the Statue of Liberty 


Blue Angels heading north 

Blue Angels Official Web site

Fleet Week