Opaque City Plan to Bring Former Staten Island Ferry to the Seaport Next Week Provokes Pushback
Local leaders are raising concerns about a plan by City economic development officials to bring a former Staten Island Ferry to the South Street Seaport for the World Cup, which continues through July 16, and the Sail4th 250 flotilla (marking the semiquincentennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence), which takes place from July 3 through 8.
City officials have thus far avoided sharing details about their plans, but were forced to disclose some aspects in a recent court case involving the restaurant operator at Pier 15, the East River dock at which they plan to moor the ferry John F. Kennedy.
The Kennedy plied the waters between Whitehall and St. George from 1965 to 2022, and was subsequently sold at auction to a partnership headed by show business personalities Colin Jost and Pete Davidson, for $280,000. The new owners have since struggled to find a viable use for their acquisition, which they have repeatedly touted as an events venue that could hold up to 5,000 people. Its only assignments thus far have been to host a Tommy Hilfiger show during 2024’s Fashion Week (also at the South Street Seaport, at Pier 17), and to display a banner advertisement for Nike while moored beneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge during the 2025 New York City Marathon, which caused delays to ferries carrying runners from Manhattan to the race’s Staten Island starting line. In both cases, it was towed in position by tugboats, because the 60-year-old vessel no longer has working engines.
In court filings for the lawsuit between the Pier 15 restaurant operator and the City, Max Taffet, a senior vice president at the City’s Economic Development Corporation, is quoted as saying, “Pier 15 will be part of where the Sail4th 250 celebration will take place. The City expects four vessels to dock at Pier 15 between July 2, 2026 and July 8, 2026, namely, the Pride of Baltimore II, a 127-feet vessel; the Liberty Clipper, a 125-feet vessel; the Hornblower Infinity, a 210-feet vessel; and the John F. Kennedy, a 277-feet vessel.”
A diagram filed with the New York State Supreme Court to accompany Mr. Taffet’s statement shows the Kennedy tied up along the north side of Pier 15.
Captain Jonathan Boulware, president and CEO of the South Street Seaport Museum, which maintains a fleet of historic ships at Pier 16, said, “there is a proposed short-term use of Pier 15 in the South Street Seaport Historic District. We have concerns about this use, including the scale of the vessel, a 270-foot by 68-foot Staten Island Ferry. We have concerns about the safety of the Museum’s fleet of historic ships, and the visual impact of such a large vessel to the viewsheds of the historic waterfront. We understand the proposal as a short-term test of viability, but we’re not in favor of such a test in the middle of Sail4th 250. While visiting ships from all over the world grace our harbor, New York’s own resident tall ships will be overcome by the mass of the John F. Kennedy ferry.”
He added, “the waterfront of New York City is a vital part of the public realm, an asset that belongs to the citizenry. It ought to have its own commissioner, its own community board. In the absence of that we find that approaches to the 540-plus miles of New York City’s waterfront are frequently approached piecemeal.”
Chelsea Sudaley, vice president of strategic communications and public affairs for the Economic Development Corporation, responded to a request for comment by saying the agency “is not able to comment on this litigation at this time.”