Dear Editor,
The ferry crossing from Manhattan to Staten Island in New York is a very important service on which millions depend each year. The ferry is one of the most reliable in the world, with an on-time performance of 96 per cent.
The ferry departs Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal, South Ferry, at the southernmost tip of Manhattan near Battery Park. It operates 365 days a year and 24 hours per day. The trip is efficient and the ferries moor within seconds. It’s a fast turnover when it comes to arrival and departure.
The five-mile journey takes about 25 minutes each way. The service is operated by the New York City Department of Transportation under the US Government. There are currently eight ferries in service. Most can carry up to 4,500 passengers very comfortably and each has about 6,500 horsepower engines.
The Rosignol-New Amsterdam, Northwest, Parika-Adventure, etc, ferries and their crossings came to my mind.
I turned up to this ferry crossing recently and saw a huge, huge crowd in the ferry terminal, which was very big, has numerous shops, is air-conditioned and has all the works of a first-world country, attached. The crowd was very large and I began to search for a ticket booth with a lesser crowd.
The announcement was made that the passengers can now board since a ferry leaves every half hour. The crowd was seen entering the terminal and stepping on to the ferry. Then it dawned; there were no ticket booths. Nobody purchased tickets.
The Staten Island ferry is paid for by the US taxpayers and the government, at no cost to the traveller. “God bless America,” I thought.
Yours faithfully,
Leon Suseran
