New York City Guide - Getting There By Water

New York has two terminals used by visitors arriving by cruise ship. NY Cruise (tel: (212) 246 5450; website: www.nycruise.com) operates terminals on Manhattan's west side, near 55th Street, and in Red Hook, Brooklyn (tel: (718) 246 2794). Many commuter ferry services operate locally in and around New York from terminals at Lincoln Harbor, Hoboken, Harborside, Liberty Harbor and Liberty Landing on the Hudson River, St George on Staten Island, Hunters Point in Queens and West 38th Street, Pier 11 and South Ferry on Manhattan. Most ferry terminals have restaurants or snack bars nearby, with passenger facilities limited to ticket sales counters, public telephones and the occasional vending machine.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (tel: (212) 435 7000; website: www.panynj.gov) provides online information.

Ferry services: The Staten Island Ferry (tel: (718) 727 2508; website: www.siferry.com) is free and operates from Whitehall terminal in Battery Park, in downtown New York, travelling out past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island to its destination of Staten Island every half an hour (every 20 minutes during rush hour), daily 24 hours. There are a variety of ferry operators, including New York Waterway (tel: 1 800 533 3779/53 FERRY; website: www.nywaterway.com), which provides services between Manhattan and the other boroughs, as well as to New Jersey, and Seastreak America (tel: (732) 872 2628 or 1 800 262 8743/BOAT RIDE; website: www.seastreak.com). The bright yellow boats of New York Water Taxi (tel: (212) 742 1969; website: www.nywatertaxi.com) provide speedy service to piers in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.