I’m on the Staten Island Ferry, a New York treasure, writing on a napkin, a well-worn copy of Pete Hamill’s, Downtown, nestled in my lap.
It’s one of the books I read once a year, along with Pride and Prejudice and Movable Feast.
It’s what led me to the Battery to grace the ferry that leaves every 15 minutes. And it’s free, a New York boon we can be grateful for. The ride itself takes less than half an hour best enjoyed in nice weather, on a bench on deck. 
If you’re going towards Staten Island you sit on the right, to get a glimpse of Lady Liberty waving in the harbor…coming back, the left, to wave back to her. As a kid I was taught this, never forgetting her guaranteed presence.
I love the smell of hotdogs sizzling at the food counter, people lined up as if it were The Hotel Ritz. What brings me back to my childhood the most though, is the wet, salty air invading your nostrils, clinging to your skin.
I watch tourists take pictures, parents holding kids. Seagulls doing wheelies while pigeons perch on the railing. Imagine, all before me, because a guy decides to write the history of downtown Manhattan.
I’m in such awe of this…the power of the penned and written.
Dedicated to Pete Hamill, another New York treasure. 
SB
Great post. I’ve only been on the ferry once, at around 5am last year the morning after Halloween, surrounded by fellow runners in Lycra chattering excitedly about the marathon they were about to race, while hungover zombies hung onto the rail trying not to be sick and wishing they were anywhere but here, surrounded by peppy, sober people.
That sounds like a great book.
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It is. It starts from Astor Place to the Battery so you learn what it was like when John Jacob Astor and the Dead Rabbits roamed the lower East Side. I swear, the city has a second heartbeat if you take the time to listen.
Get a used copy on Amazon or Abe Books, the latter preferable. Something humble about them.
And I think it’s time you take another ferry ride. Just don’t go at rush hour. It’s a treat, truly. Liberty is waiting. 🙂
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I’ve only been to NYC four or five times. Time to return and now I’m putting a ferry ride on my agenda.
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You’d love it Skinny. Google the poem, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry and see what Whitman has to say. It’s one my favorite poems. 🙂
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I’m amazed to learn that it’s free.
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Former Mayor Giuliani who few people liked, made it so.
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I had no idea this gem was free and now that I do it will be on my list.
This post has me sitting a few spaces down wondering what you were writing on that napkin. Loved it!
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The ferry is really a treat. It’s the Readers Digest version if the Circle Line that’s much too long. I’m not even sure it’s still in existence. Half hour each way. Lady Lib, the Loretta Young of New York Harbor to meet and greet. Toss in a hot dog and you’ve got it made. Of course don’t forget to bring Tumms. Those dogs can bite. 🙂
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