A closer look
Staten Island Ferry operators run a massive, heavily utilized fleet of passenger ships that shuttle nearly twenty-five million people across New York Harbor every single year for the absolutely unbelievable price of zero dollars. In a city where breathing the heavily polluted air essentially costs money and a soggy bagel can set you back ten bucks, this massive orange boat remains one of the only completely free public services left in existence. Originally, the city charged a measly five-cent toll for decades, but a political battle in the late nineties finally eliminated the fare altogether, turning it into the greatest bargain in the entire metropolis. Tourists constantly pack the outer decks to snap terrible, wind-blown selfies with the Statue of Liberty, while exhausted local commuters huddle inside, desperately trying to ignore the chaos and catch a twenty-minute nap. It is arguably the only time you will ever feel like New York City is actively doing you a massive favor
