Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal
Encyclopedia
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
used by the Staten Island Ferry
Staten Island Ferry
The Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry service operated by the New York City Department of Transportation that runs between the boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island.-Overview:...
, which connects the two island boroughs
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. It was completely renovated and rededicated in February 2005 as a major integrated transportation hub
Transportation hub
A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include train stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stop, airports and ferry slips. Freight hubs include classification yards, seaports and truck...
for the ferry, buses, subways, taxis, and bicycle lanes.
The ferry travels between the Whitehall Terminal in Manhattan and the St. George Terminal
St. George Terminal
St. George Terminal is a park and ride and sea, railway, and bus transit center that is located in the St. George section of Staten Island, New York. It is located at the intersection of Richmond Terrace and Bay Street, near Staten Island Borough Hall, Richmond County Bank Ballpark and Richmond...
in Staten Island.
Overview
The completely renovated terminal was designed by New York architect Frederic SchwartzFrederic Schwartz
Frederic Schwartz is an American architect, author, and city planner whose work includes "Empty Sky," the New Jersey 9-11 Memorial, scheduled to be dedicated in Liberty State Park on September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.A recipient of the prestigious Rome Prize in...
as a major project that included the new two-acre Peter Minuit Plaza in Lower Manhattan
Battery Park
Battery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...
. The terminal accommodates over 100,000 tourists and commuters on a daily basis (for transportation open 24 hours a day), and the new design establishes the terminal as a major integrated transportation hub, connecting it with a new South Ferry subway station with access to four subway lines, three bus lines, and taxis. Additionally, through the Terminal and Minuit Plaza, access to bicycle lanes and even other water transport options are also available.
A "gateway to the city," set against the backdrop of Manhattan's greatest buildings on one side and the river on the other, the design was created to imbue the terminal "with a strong sense of civic presence." In his remarks at the terminal's February 7, 2005, dedication, Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
stated that "You can walk into this spectacular terminal day or night and feel like you're part of the city ... (the terminal) is a continuation of what you feel on the ferry ... in a sense you are suspended over the water."
In addition to the views from within the terminal, rooftop viewing is also part of the new construction, including benches.
Described as "an elegant addition to [the] city's architecture," a 2005 Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
writer called it a transit hub that is so beautiful that it has become a "destination": with "the panorama of lower Manhattan from the top of the escalators, the vast windows framing the Statue of Liberty, the upstairs deck with views of the harbor -- these are reasons to take shelter here for a little longer than the ferry schedule makes strictly necessary."
Mayor Bloomberg's dedication remarks linked the opening of the Whitehall Terminal to construction at the St. George terminal on the Staten Island side of the ferry line, and to two new state of the art ferries: "Today is a great day for Lower Manhattan and Staten Island.... This beautiful new terminal combined with the new Molinari, the soon to be in service Marchi, and the near completion of the St. George terminal are transforming the Staten Island Ferry experience. Instead of scurrying through dark and dilapidated terminals onto 40-year old boats, passengers will travel through architecturally exceptional airy terminals onto a state-of-the-art fleet."
Multi-use
Designed to employ a state-of-the-art heating and air conditioning system, partially powered by solar panels, the terminal includes a total floor area of 200000 square feet (18,580.6 m²), including—in addition to the 19000 square feet (1,765.2 m²) waiting room—6,000 square feet for retailer use, and 10000 square feet (929 m²) of office space. There is an additional 10000 square feet (929 m²) of space to support needs linked to ferry operations and ancillary support.In addition to the many retail shops that now can be found at the terminal, GrowNY, a New York non-profit organization, operates its only indoor farmers market ("Greenmarket") within the terminal.
Whitehall Crossing
As part of the "Percent for ArtPercent for Art
The term "percent for art" refers to a program, often a city ordinance, where a fee, usually some percentage of the project cost, is placed on large scale development projects in order to fund and install public art. The details of such programs vary from area-to-area...
" initiative, the city's Department of Cultural Affairs purchased and installed sculptured granite benches created by artist Ming Fay
Ming Fay
Ming Fay is a Shanghai-born and New York-based sculptor and professor. His work focuses on the concept of the garden as a symbol of utopia and the relationship between man and nature...
, entitled "Whitehall Crossing," in the waiting room. They were crafted to symbolize Indian canoes crossing New York Bay, and include a series of twenty-eight granite benches divided into three serpentine rows, suggesting the carved seats of a "floating, organic form over a water theme terrazzo floor." "As a functional art piece, Whitehall Crossing is almost invisible because it invites viewers to engage in, and thereby become part of, the design while sitting in the benches."
Ming Fay,the Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
-born Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
artist notes that this art he created was "inspired by the Native American's
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
early crossings with dug out canoes." He described his goals for the art as follows:
"In the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, I couldn't see putting an object in the space. I felt a functional statement would be appropriate. It is the imaginary journey before the real journey happens. In the lobby of this modern waiting room there are moments where the space is almost empty with people and then full again. The benches provide those moments of waiting with " invisible artwork" that is part of the space and act of public seating. I feel the experience of the space is about the thought of crossing over to the other side that goes back to the day when people had arrived at this point."
Peter Minuit Plaza
In parallel with the construction of the new terminal, Peter Minuit Plaza was completely reconfigured to provide easy accommodation for pedestrians, buses, and taxes. 42 new trees were included in the redesign plan, along with public space for community activities, covered walkways from the terminal to Whitehall Terminal, a dedicated cab drop-off area and a new bus loop.
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with territory in Western Europe and in the Caribbean. The four parts of the Kingdom—Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten—are referred to as "countries", and participate on a basis of equality...
), an area to showcase art, design, and horticulture. This area is conceived as an "outdoor living room" where both scheduled and spontaneous activities can take place alongside public markets and a state of the art food and information pavilion. The Plein and Pavilion were designed by Dutch architect Ben van Berkel
Ben van Berkel
Ben van Berkel is a Dutch architect. He studied architecture at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, and at the Architectural Association in London, receiving the AA Diploma with Honours in 1987....
, and the major grant from the Netherlands which made it possible was given in honor of the celebration of New York's 400th anniversary, and in honor of "the enduring relationship between New York and Holland."
History
The original Whitehall Terminal, called the "Whitehall Street Ferry Terminal," served BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, Governors Island
Governors Island
Governors Island is a island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
, Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
, and Weehawken
Weehawken, New Jersey
Weehawken is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 12,554.-Geography:Weehawken is part of the New York metropolitan area...
, for passengers who traveled mainly by a system of elevated trains
Elevated railway
An elevated railway is a form of rapid transit railway with the tracks built above street level on some form of viaduct or other steel or concrete structure. The railway concerned may be constructed according to the standard gauge, narrow gauge, light rail, monorail or suspension railway system...
(the "els"). However, as subways replaced the els, and cars began to travel through an increasing number of bridges and tunnels such as the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel
Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel
Interstate 478s entire length consists of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel and its approaches. Its south end is at Interstate 278, and its north end is at NY 9A ....
, new terminal facilities were built at Whitehall with a primary purpose of serving the Staten Island Ferry. The ferry began operating under municipal authority of the Department of Docks and Ferries on October 25, 1905, approximately seven years after Staten Island officially became part of New York City. The "Municipal Ferry Terminal" was erected 1908-1909, during the administration of Mayor George McClellan, and designed by the architectural firm of Walker and Morris.
Before that, ferry service was provided as early as the 1700s by individuals (and later private companies) with their own boats, but a ferry accident June 14, 1901, involving two ferries from different companies, was a major factor in the decision for the city to take control of ferries as part of the public transportation system.
The older Whitehall Terminal was purely functional, described as a "squat, washed-out green hulk in which function vanquished form," and was once referred to by the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
as the world's most banal portal of joy. When that terminal was gutted in 1991 as a result of a major fire, the city saw the chance to replace it with a building in which it could take pride—but a fourteen-year period of design plan submissions, rejections, and changes, delayed construction again and again—in addition to the basic construction challenges inherent in the rebuilding of the terminal in a way which would cause little or no disruption to ferry service on the water or subway service underneath the construction site.
In 1992, the New York City Economic Development Corporation held an international competition to design a replacement facility, and selected a new design for the terminal produced by Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates. Other entrants included Rafael Vinoly, Aldo Rossi, Polshek Partners and SOM, but the winning design, featuring a barrel vaulted waiting room that was higher than that at Grand Central Station, and what would have been the largest clock in the world, along with a subsequent design featuring a large, electronic facade facing the harbor, were deemed by civic authorities in Staten Island as architecturally unacceptable.
The design ultimately accepted, produced by former Whitehall Architectural Design director Ronald Evitts and Fred Schwartz called for a 19000 square feet (1,765.2 m²) structure to replace the existing building, with a 90 feet (27.4 m) high entry hall, and a 50-percent larger waiting room with views of New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan. Ultimately, a rooftop waterfront Viewing Deck crowned the building, and included a state-of-the-art photovoltaic array on its canopy, a Percent-for-Art installation called "Slips" by Dennis Adams
Dennis Adams
Dennis Adams is an American artist internationally recognized for his urban interventions and museum installations that reveal historical and political undercurrents in photography, cinema, public space and architecture. Over the last three decades, he has realized over fifty urban projects in...
, and connections on either end to the waterfront esplanade on the east and west sides of Manhattan.
See also
- FerryFerryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
- Roll-on/roll-off ferries