The Morning Commute – Staten Island to Manhattan
My wife and I were on vacation but I did have one business meeting that I wanted to attend while in New York City so this was the morning that I put on my business suit and joined the many other Staten Island residents for the morning commute to Manhattan. Although some might have driven to their offices via car and bridge, most would be heading into Manhattan via one of the regularly scheduled Staten Island ferries.
There is no extra charge for transit users, so once you have paid your fare on the local Staten Island bus ($2.25) there is no extra charge for the ferry ride and no extra charge to ride the subway at the Manhattan terminal. The ‘transfer’ required is normally electronically imprinted onto your transit card when you board the bus. For some unknown reason, that automatic process didn’t work for one of our cards today, but did work fine at other times. The ferry service and subway service staff were understanding and helpful and this problem only slowed our morning commute a bit.
I’m certain that it would be interesting to see the moving mass of humanity from a distance but, when we arrived at the terminal and got off of the bus, we were immediately a part of that moving mass headed toward the ferry. Everything is quite orderly though so it wasn’t long before I was standing on the bow of the ferry with camera in hand. Not tough to tell the first timers from the regular commuters. The regulars were the ones sitting inside and reading the paper, or catching a few extra moments of sleep, or adding the finishing touches to their make-up. The tourists were out on the bow feeling the cold wind bringing tears to their eyes. Enough to make a grown man weep but I stood out there as long as I could :-).
A large ship that crossed our path.
 
An almost empty ferry coming back to Staten Island for another Manhattan-bound load of commuters. 
The trip on the Staten Island Ferry provides a great view of the Statue of Liberty (far left), the shores of New Jersey (left) and the New York/Manhattan skyline. As you approach the Manhattan docks, it would be tough to beat the view that you have of the Manhattan skyline.
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