Staten Island Ferry in Quebec? Fantastique! - New York Times
The New York Times
September 16, 2005
Staten Island Ferry in Quebec? Fantastique!
By SHADI RAHIMI
Some New Yorkers who glanced at the East River yesterday morning must have thought that the ship they saw there was very lost.
In fact, the tangerine-hued boat was kicking up its heels in the final hours of a 22-day excursion from its birthplace in Wisconsin to New York Harbor, where it will begin a long indentured servitude as the newest member of the Staten Island ferry fleet.
Along the way, the ferry, named the Spirit of America, startled some Canadians on the Great Lakes who shouted, "Are you lost?'" according to Annette Hobbs, 24, one of the 15 crew members who worked and camped aboard the ferry during its voyage. But not everyone along the route, from the Great Lakes, along the St. Lawrence Seaway to Quebec, to the Atlantic Ocean, to Long Island Sound and eventually to the East River, was so helpful.
One crew member, Ben Stout, 34, said that when they sailed through the Cape Cod Canal, deep in Boston Red Sox territory, several fishermen made obscene gestures and yelled an instruction about what to do with the Yankees. Closer to home, but no less rude, was the construction worker who Ms. Hobbs said mooned her from the Bronx side of the Whitestone Bridge.
Though most onlookers were not as hostile, many appeared confused by the sight of a New York City ferry in their waters, said Mr. Stout, who said he had "danced with this girlfriend," meaning the ferry, since June.
He and the other workers who made the trip from Wisconsin slept on air mattresses and in sleeping bags during the voyage and used the ferry's snack bar to cook hamburgers on hot plates, Richard Menkes, 59, the captain for this trip, said.
A few of the deflated mattresses were rolled up and placed neatly near large suitcases yesterday, and leftover pizza slices sat in boxes alongside Dunkin' Donuts containers on the snack bar's gleaming silver counter.
Gazing out a window toward Staten Island, the city's transportation commissioner, Iris Weinshall, said, "It's just such a sense of accomplishment," adding that the Transportation Department was working on plans to replace the two 20-year-old ferries still in the fleet within eight years.
The new $40 million ferry is the last of three new 4,500-passenger boats replacing even older ferries.
Drifting through a light drizzle that moistened the sticky air, the ferry announced its noon arrival at the St. George terminal on Staten Island with several blasts of its horn.
Inside the terminal, passengers were waiting to board the American Legion, the 40-year-old ferry that the Spirit will replace.
The newcomer is part of a $400 million project that includes not only the three new ferries, but also the reconstruction of the Whitehall ferry terminal in Manhattan, which was badly damaged by a fire in 1991.
The ferry began its journey at the Marinette Marine Corporation's shipyard, in Marinette, Wis., on Aug. 25. Around 9 a.m. yesterday, it picked up Transportation Department officials who were aboard a launch off City Island. Before it reached the ferry, the launch had stopped at Hart Island, to drop off a Correction Department van with several prisoners who were assigned to bury bodies at the potter's field there.
Even if the ferry drew some stares along its route, it remains an international icon. Whenever he tells people, even abroad, that he works for the Staten Island ferry, James Weber, 58, who has been a deckhand for more than half his life, said, "I always get a smile."
* Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
Link to Article Source
September 16, 2005
Staten Island Ferry in Quebec? Fantastique!
By SHADI RAHIMI
Some New Yorkers who glanced at the East River yesterday morning must have thought that the ship they saw there was very lost.
In fact, the tangerine-hued boat was kicking up its heels in the final hours of a 22-day excursion from its birthplace in Wisconsin to New York Harbor, where it will begin a long indentured servitude as the newest member of the Staten Island ferry fleet.
Along the way, the ferry, named the Spirit of America, startled some Canadians on the Great Lakes who shouted, "Are you lost?'" according to Annette Hobbs, 24, one of the 15 crew members who worked and camped aboard the ferry during its voyage. But not everyone along the route, from the Great Lakes, along the St. Lawrence Seaway to Quebec, to the Atlantic Ocean, to Long Island Sound and eventually to the East River, was so helpful.
One crew member, Ben Stout, 34, said that when they sailed through the Cape Cod Canal, deep in Boston Red Sox territory, several fishermen made obscene gestures and yelled an instruction about what to do with the Yankees. Closer to home, but no less rude, was the construction worker who Ms. Hobbs said mooned her from the Bronx side of the Whitestone Bridge.
Though most onlookers were not as hostile, many appeared confused by the sight of a New York City ferry in their waters, said Mr. Stout, who said he had "danced with this girlfriend," meaning the ferry, since June.
He and the other workers who made the trip from Wisconsin slept on air mattresses and in sleeping bags during the voyage and used the ferry's snack bar to cook hamburgers on hot plates, Richard Menkes, 59, the captain for this trip, said.
A few of the deflated mattresses were rolled up and placed neatly near large suitcases yesterday, and leftover pizza slices sat in boxes alongside Dunkin' Donuts containers on the snack bar's gleaming silver counter.
Gazing out a window toward Staten Island, the city's transportation commissioner, Iris Weinshall, said, "It's just such a sense of accomplishment," adding that the Transportation Department was working on plans to replace the two 20-year-old ferries still in the fleet within eight years.
The new $40 million ferry is the last of three new 4,500-passenger boats replacing even older ferries.
Drifting through a light drizzle that moistened the sticky air, the ferry announced its noon arrival at the St. George terminal on Staten Island with several blasts of its horn.
Inside the terminal, passengers were waiting to board the American Legion, the 40-year-old ferry that the Spirit will replace.
The newcomer is part of a $400 million project that includes not only the three new ferries, but also the reconstruction of the Whitehall ferry terminal in Manhattan, which was badly damaged by a fire in 1991.
The ferry began its journey at the Marinette Marine Corporation's shipyard, in Marinette, Wis., on Aug. 25. Around 9 a.m. yesterday, it picked up Transportation Department officials who were aboard a launch off City Island. Before it reached the ferry, the launch had stopped at Hart Island, to drop off a Correction Department van with several prisoners who were assigned to bury bodies at the potter's field there.
Even if the ferry drew some stares along its route, it remains an international icon. Whenever he tells people, even abroad, that he works for the Staten Island ferry, James Weber, 58, who has been a deckhand for more than half his life, said, "I always get a smile."
* Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
Link to Article Source
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on Friday, September 16, 2005 at 14:56.
