document_title: Staten Island Ferry

question_text: when did staten island ferry stop taking cars

question_tokens: when did staten island ferry stop taking cars

text: Staten Island Ferry

text: History[edit]

text: Predecessors[edit]

text: Before the New York City area was colonized, the indigenous Lenape Native Americans traversed the area's waterways using boat, traveling from Staten Island to present-day Manhattan and New Jersey. The area was then known as Lenapehoking, and the Lenape traveled along nearby waterways such as Arthur Kill, Kill Van Kull, and Raritan Bay.[2] The area would first be colonized as part of Dutch New Netherland in 1624,[3]:19–20 before being taken over by the British Province of New York in 1664,[3]:73 and the British province finally became part of the United States in 1776.[3]:231

text: In the 18th century, ferry service along New York Harbor between Staten Island and the city of New York, then occupying only the southern tip of Manhattan, was conducted by private individuals with "periaugers". These shallow-draft, two-masted sailboats, used for local traffic in New York Harbor, were also used for other transport in the area.[4]

text: Early years[edit]

text: Cornelius Vanderbilt, an entrepreneur from Stapleton, Staten Island, who would become one of the world's richest people, started a ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan in 1810.[5] Cornelius was 16 years old at the time and had sailed extensively enough in his father's periauger that he could easily navigate the New York Harbor Estuary on his own. He earned $100 for his birthday in May 1810, which he used to purchase a periauger called the Swiftsure that he then used to transport passengers from Staten Island to the Battery at Manhattan's tip. Vanderbilt competed against other boatmen providing service in the harbor, who jokingly called "Commodore" because of his youthful eagerness; that nickname applied to him for the rest of his life.[6] After the War of 1812 limited access to New York Harbor from elsewhere along the East Coast, Vanderbilt made profits from carrying cargo along the Hudson River; he bought extra boats with these profits. After the war, he transported cargo in the harbor, earning even more money and buying more boats.[6]

text: Also during the War of 1812, U.S. Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins secured a charter for the Richmond Turnpike Company as part of his efforts to develop the village of Tompkinsville, which would become Staten Island's first European settlement.[7][8] The company was incorporated in 1815,[9][10] and Tompkinsville was created in 1816.[11] Though the company built a highway across Staten Island, it also received the right to run a ferry to New York.[7][11] The Richmond Turnpike Company began to run the first motorized ferry between New York and Staten Island in 1817.[12] The Nautilus was commanded by Captain John DeForest, the brother-in-law of Cornelius Vanderbilt.[12][13][14] This new ferry broke the short monopoly on steamboat operations that the Fulton Ferry from Manhattan to Brooklyn had held since its opening in 1814.[15] As a direct result of the steamboat route's inauguration, Vanderbilt sold all his schooners to his father in 1818, since the steamboats provided much faster means of transportation across the harbor. He subsequently started working for Thomas Gibbons, a small-steamboat operator, operating steamboat lines for Gibbons in New Jersey before later operating his own lines in New York.[6]

text: When Tompkins died in 1825, the company's stocks were put in a trust at the Fulton Bank in lower Manhattan.[9] As per an act passed in 1824, the bank was to be incorporated only if it also accepted the Richmond Turnpike Company's stock, and if the company were to end operations in 1844.[16] Vanderbilt, who had grown wealthy in the steamboat business in New York waters, bought control of the Richmond Turnpike Company in 1838.[12][8] The company's original charter expired in 1844,[17][16] and Vanderbilt transferred the former company's leases and titles to himself and the company's other chief officer, Oroondates Mauran, as private citizens rather than as chief officers. Vanderbilt bought Mauran's share of the company upon the latter's death in 1848.[17]

text: By the mid-19th century, there were three separate ferry companies offering services between lower Manhattan and the eastern shore of Staten Island.[13] The Tompkins and Staples Ferry, operated by Vice President Tompkins's son Minthorne,[13][18] ran from a pier at the Tompkinsville end of the highway to Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan.[11] The New York and Staten Island Steam Ferry Company, or "People's Ferry", was operated by George Law[18] and ran from Stapleton, Staten Island, to Liberty Street, Manhattan.[13] Finally, the Richmond Turnpike Ferry, also the "Staten Island Ferry", ran from Vanderbilt's Landing, on Clifton, Staten Island, to Manhattan.[13] All of these companies merged in 1853 after Vanderbilt, who was focused on business ventures elsewhere, convinced Law and Tompkins to buy out his ferry company for $600,000.[19][18] Vanderbilt remained a dominant figure in the ferry until the Civil War in the early 1860s.[12]

text: The combined company, the Staten Island and New York Ferry Company, ran services from Whitehall Street to Tompkinsville, Stapleton, and Clifton. It originally ran single-ended boats but eventually expanded its fleet to include double-ended boats.[20] The Staten Island and New York Ferry's vessel Hunchback was built in 1852, becoming the first double-decked boat to operate in the harbor.[21] To accommodate growing ridership, three double-ended boats (Southfield I, Westfield I, and Clifton I) were purchased for the ferry between 1857 and 1861.[22][23] The Westfield and Clifton were purchased by the Union Army in September 1861, almost immediately after they had been delivered.[24] The army also purchased the Hunchback and Southfield in December of that year.[25] The Union then used the ships as blockades against the Confederate Army during the Civil War.[26] Of the four boats, only the Hunchback survived; after the war, it was redocumented and bought by someone in Boston; it was abandoned by 1880.[22] Another three boats (Westfield II, Northfield, and Middletown) were obtained in 1862–1863 due to the loss of the other boats.[27][23] A fourth boat, Clifton II, was also built, but it was purchased by the U.S. shortly after completion; the vessel was then redocumented, and by 1868 it had been destroyed.[28]

text: Staten Island Railway era[edit]

text: The Staten Island Railway (SIR) opened in stages in 1860.[29] It was necessary to have a direct connection between the new railroad trains and the infrequent ferries to and from Manhattan, but this turned out to be difficult during the beginning of operation.[30] The ferries serving Vanderbilt's Landing were owned by George Law, who operated the rival New York and Staten Island Steam Ferry. Afterwards, Vanderbilt tried to operate a ferry service between Manhattan and Staten Island that would compete with the ferry service owned by Law. Vanderbilt started construction on his plan for a central dock on the island, but he abandoned the scheme after a storm destroyed the timber work. Only the large stone foundation remained; this was still visible in 1900 at low tide.[30]

text: A long franchise battle ensued, resulting in Vanderbilt selling his ferry service to Law in 1862.[31][32] Vanderbilt subsequently lost interest in the transit operations on Staten Island and he handed the operations of the ferry and railroad over to his brother, Jacob Vanderbilt, who was the president of the company until 1883.[33]:7[30] In March 1864, Vanderbilt bought Law's ferries, bringing both the railroad and the ferries under the same company.[32] The railway assumed the Staten Island and New York Ferry Company's operations in 1865.[33]:7

text: On the afternoon of July 30, 1871, Westfield II was damaged when its boiler exploded while sitting in its slip at South Ferry.[34][32][35] Within days of the disaster, between 45 and 91 were identified as dead, and from 78 to 208 were injured, although figures varied widely between the Times, Herald, Tribune, and World.[32][36] Jacob Vanderbilt was arrested for murder, though he escaped conviction.[37] This had an adverse effect on the railroad's finances,[37] and on March 28, 1872, the railway and the ferry went into receivership as a result of the disaster.[37][38] On September 17, 1872, the property of the company was sold to George Law in foreclosure,[37] with the exception of the ferryboat Westfield II, which was purchased by Horace Theall.[29]

text: Erastus Wiman, a Canadian enterpreneur who had become one of Staten Island's most notable figures since moving to New York in 1867, planned to develop Staten Island by adding transit.[39] Wiman built an amusement area on the island to help develop it.[2][40] He incorporated the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad Company on March 25, 1880,[41] and the incorporation of the company was made official on April 14, 1880.[42][43]:569 Two years later, Wiman applied to build a ferry dock in Manhattan in order to serve his new ferry routes.[44] Also among Wiman's proposals was combining the six to eight separate ferry operations into one terminal.[45] This became the St. George ferry landing, which opened in March 1886.[46][40] A new boat, Southfield II, was delivered in 1883.[28]

text: On April 3, 1883, the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad Company gained control of the SIR and its boats.[41][23] The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) obtained control of the Staten Island Railway Ferry Company's operations the next year.[47] A controlling interest in the Railway Ferry Company was obtained by the B&O in 1885 through purchases of stock. On November 21, 1885, Robert Garrett, President of the B&O,[48] leased the Railway Ferry Company to the B&O for 99 years.[49]:37 The B&O could now provide service to a ferry terminal that was closer to Manhattan public transit. Rather than having passengers transfer to the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ)'s ferries from the Jersey City Terminal to the Liberty Street Ferry Terminal in Manhattan, which was not close to any elevated rail stations in the area, the B&O could now operate to the Whitehall Street terminal, where there was a direct transfer to an elevated station.[49]:100 During this time, two 225-foot (69 m) steel-hulled ferryboats, the Erastus Wiman and Robert Garrett, were built and delivered in 1888. The boats were the first in the Staten Island Railway Ferry fleet to be powered by multi-cylinder inclined steam engines, which pumped steam more efficiently than the single-cylinder vertical engines on previous boats.[50] The Erastus Wiman would be renamed the Castleton in 1894.[51]

text: Garrett resigned from his position at the B&O in 1887,[52][53] and his successors did not show as much interest in Staten Island transit operations.[54] Wiman lost a lot of money in the Panic of 1893, and two years later, much of his property was auctioned to pay off debts.[55] In 1893, the B&O commenced plans to divert some CNJ ferries from Jersey City to Whitehall Street, with the latter ordering the Easton and Mauch Chunk ferries for the Whitehall Street service. The boats started service in 1897.[49]:100 Construction of a new ferry terminal at St. George commenced in 1895.[56]

text: In 1899, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and the New York Central Railroad (NYCRR) formed a partnership in which they were to buy smaller freight railroad companies. PRR president Alexander Cassatt devised the plan because he thought that two large freight-shipping companies, Standard Oil and Carnegie Steel, were artificially depressing freight-shipping rates by cajoling smaller companies for rebates. Among the PRR's acquisitions was the B&O, which in turn owned the Staten Island Railway and Ferry. Cassatt started buying B&O stock in 1899 and owned much of the B&O stock two years later.[57]:194–195

text: End of Staten Island Railway era[edit]

text: By the 1900s, Staten Islanders were becoming unsatisfied with the railway-operated ferry service to Manhattan, which they felt was unsafe.[58] The turning point came on June 14, 1901, when the CNJ ferry Mauch Chunk struck the B&O ferryboat Northfield II as the latter was leaving the ferry port at Whitehall, tearing a 10-by-20-foot (3.0 by 6.1 m) hole through the middle of Northfield.[59][60] Damaged beyond repair, Northfield II sank within ten minutes,[23][60][61] ending up near the modern South Street Seaport.[62] Out of 995 passengers aboard, only four or five were killed.[63][49]:100 The dead were not recovered for several days, and one man's body drifted around the southern tip of Manhattan and across the Hudson River.[62] An investigation into the crash[64] found that Northfield II had sunk because of the extent of the damage rather than because of its 38-year age.[65] Despite this, the captains of both ships were vindicated of criminal charges, although the Mauch Chunk's captain was "censured" for speeding as well as for not helping the passengers aboard Northfield.[66] In the meantime, the B&O borrowed the paddle-wheeler John Englis from the Williamsburg Ferry Company.[67]

text: On February 21, 1902, two hundred people held discussions with MacDougal Hawkes, the head of the New York City Department of Docks and Ferries, to demand that Whitehall-to-St. George ferry service be improved.[68] In summer 1902, as the B&O fought to retain its ownership of the ferry, Henry Huttleston Rogers demonstrated that his steam-powered yacht was faster than the SIR's vessels, and argued that he should thus be allowed to operate the ferry route.[69][70] Throughout the rest of the year, Rogers's Standard Oil-affiliated transit venture, which also operated streetcar routes on Staten Island, competed with the B&O over the rights to the ferry.[70] The locations of the Staten Island terminal were also debated, with the terminal proposed to be built in West Brighton, Tompkinsville, Stapleton, and Port Richmond.[71] The B&O wanted to offer service to St. George and at least one other terminal, while Rogers wanted to use the Tompkinsville and West Brighton terminals only.[72] The two groups submitted their proposals in November 1902, and by February 1903, the Sinking Fund Commission announced their decision to give B&O the operating license. This decision proved controversial: Hawkes made a recommendation to Mayor Seth Low on February 21, and dissatisfied Staten Islanders showed up to the commission's February 25 meeting, voicing their dissent and causing Hawkes's proposal to be rejected.[73][74]

text: Shortly after, the government of New York City made a series of decisions announcing its intent to acquire ownership of the ferry. Instead of offering the franchise to either the B&O or Rogers, the Sinking Fund Commission decided in March 1903 that the city could run a route from Staten Island to any North River port between 23rd Street and Battery Park, as well as operate a service from Staten Island to Sunset Park, Brooklyn.[75] The bill authorizing the city to acquire ferry operations was passed by the 126th New York State Legislature, and it was signed into law by Governor Benjamin B. Odell in May 1903.[76] The city would pay $3.2 million to take over operations of the ferry,[75] including $2 million for five new screw-propelled ships,[77] one named for each of the five boroughs.[23] The city began soliciting tenders for ferryboats, ultimately deciding to pay $1.7 million for four of the five boats from the Maryland Steel Company. The contract was signed on June 20, 1904, coincidentally a few days after the sinking of the steamer PS General Slocum in the East River, somewhat due northeast of the ferry route.[78] The fifth boat, the Richmond, was built on Staten Island by the Burlee Dry Dock Company.[79]

text: From 1902 to 1903, there were debates on where to put the new Whitehall terminal; the location at Whitehall Street was decided as the best location.[80] In 1904, after the Staten Island Railway Company refused the city's offer of $500,000 for the two terminals, the city started a process to condemn the land around the terminals.[81] Although the B&O had been set to give up the Staten Island Ferry franchise in early 1904, the new borough-class ferryboats were not ready, so the B&O was granted a two-year contract extension, on the condition that the contract could be canceled with 30 days' notice. In return, the city could purchase the B&O's ownership share in the terminals and the five existing ships from B&O, namely the Westfield II, Middletown, Southfield II, Robert Garrett, and Castleton, for a set price.[82] A new St. George Terminal was built by the city for $2,318,720, replacing the existing terminal.[83]:29

text: All of the ships except for the Richmond were finished by April 1905[84] and delivered up north during the late summer and early fall of that year.[85] The Richmond was ready by May 20, and as it had been built in Port Richmond, there was no need to transport the boat.[86] On October 25, 1905, the Department of Docks and Ferries assumed ownership of the ferry and terminals,[83]:29 and the borough ferryboats started their maiden voyages.[86][87] The five B&O ships were also acquired in 1906.[88]

text: City ownership and other ferries[edit]

text: The ferry service from St. George to 39th Street, Brooklyn, became city-operated on November 1, 1906,[89][45] as provided for by the 1903 law transferring ownership of that route to the city.[75] Its Brooklyn terminus was located near the Brooklyn, Bath and West End Railroad's former 39th Street terminal, but as that railroad had been converted into the West End subway line, the Brooklyn ferry now primarily served industrial interests in Sunset Park. Mayor George McClellan, elected as Low's successor in 1903, and Docks Commissioner Maurice Featherson were initially skeptical of the acquisition, but despite their objections, the Sinking Funds Commission approved the private line's acquisition in 1905.[90][91] The new boats Gowanus, Bay Ridge, and Nassau, which were smaller than the borough-class boats, were also commissioned for the 39th Street route and delivered by 1907; in the interim, the route used three ferryboats from the Union Ferry Company of Brooklyn.[79] The Bay Ridge was the first to arrive, in July 1907,[92] followed by the Gowanus in August and the Bay Ridge in September.[93] A second route from St. George to Brooklyn started operating on July 4, 1912, with the privately operated Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company providing service to 69th Street in Bay Ridge.[94][71]

text: New York City started operating a line from Battery Park to Stapleton in May 1909.[23][95] This service ran every 90 minutes between 4 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily.[95] It was discontinued at the end of 1913 due to low ridership.[23] Staten Islanders protested against the city's discontinuance of the Stapleton ferry, to no avail.[96]

text: Mayor McClellan's successor, William Jay Gaynor, was opposed to what he saw as a hasty purchase of the 39th Street line. Upon becoming mayor in 1910, Gaynor communicated to his administration's Docks Commissioner, Calvin Tompkins, that the operating costs of that route needed to be reduced; in response, Tompkins replaced the superintendent of ferries. Neither of the city's Staten Island ferries made profits until 1915, under John Purroy Mitchel's mayoral administration.[97] The city's purchase of the two Staten Island ferry routes was intended to be temporary until profitable private operators could be found, but it never happened. These were the only two routes the city operated at the time, but the city continued to award ferry franchises elsewhere.[98]

text: The ferryboat Mayor Gaynor was delivered in 1914, during Mitchel's administration, to boost service on the Whitehall route,[99][100] although it had originally been intended for the Sunset Park route.[101] It was not as efficient as the Borough-class boats (see § Former), so it was relegated to supplementary service.[99] Another vessel in the fleet, the Castleton, was sold to a private owner in 1915; its classmate, the Robert Garrett (renamed Stapleton in 1906) would remain in city ownership until 1922.[51]

text: Mayor Mitchel's successor, John Francis Hylan, was elected in 1917, and he immediately commissioned a series of new boats.[102] The result was President Roosevelt (also known as T.R.), delivered in 1921,[103][104] and American Legion I, delivered five years later.[104][105] The names of both boats triggered some controversy—the President Roosevelt due to resentment of Theodore Roosevelt, and the American Legion I due to the fact that it was named after the American Legion, which was only one of the various veterans' organizations in existence.[104] At the same time, Hylan also ordered three more boats for the 39th Street route, and he ordered 11 boats for other city-operated routes. This brought the number of boats ordered by Hylan's administration to 16.[106] After Hylan's electoral defeat to Jimmy Walker in 1925, the George W. Loft and William Randolph Hearst were respectively renamed to West Brighton and Whitehall II.[107] The white paint scheme of the boats was discontinued in April 1926 and replaced by a maroon scheme that was better at hiding the accumulations of grime on the boats' exteriors.[108]

text: In March 1924, New York City Plant and Structures Commissioner Grover A. Whalen suggested that the infrequent 69th Street service be placed under city operation,[109] a request that ultimately went unfulfilled, as the Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry would continue to operate the route until 1939.[110] However, in June 1924, the route to 39th Street was taken over by the New York Bay Ferry.[111] By the end of that summer, the three ferry routes were advertised as the most convenient way to get to Staten Island until a tunnel between Staten Island and Brooklyn could be completed,[112] although the tunnel never was finished because its construction was halted a year later.[113] In the 1930s, the ferry routes to Whitehall Street and 39th Street each received one class of three new boats. The boats in the Dongan Hills class were delivered from 1929 to 1931 for the 39th Street route, and the boats in the Mary Murray class were delivered from 1937 to 1938 for the Whitehall Street route. The classes' engines and dimensions were similar to each other, but the classes' exterior appearances were very different.[114]

text: The Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company found it increasingly difficult to maintain its aging fleet, especially with the competition from the 39th Street ferry's new, problem-free ferryboats. This resulted in infrequent service on the Bay Ridge ferry to 69th Street, which lead to a decline in patronage and fare revenues.[115] In February 1939, the United States Department of Commerce ordered the Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company to cease all operations after finding that one of its 40-year-old boats was in a severely deteriorated condition.[115] The Bay Ridge operation was subsequently taken over by the Electric Ferries company on March 1, 1939.[116][110][117] Electric Ferries, which also operated other routes in the area, bought three secondhand ferryboats from other companies to supplement seven new boats.[118] In 1940, the Brooklyn & Richmond Ferry Company asked the city to stop its municipal operation to 39th Street so the 69th Street ferry could carry all Staten Island-to-Brooklyn traffic, thus enabling them to lower rates.[119]

text: After the end of World War II in 1945, the city wanted to reconstruct the St. George Terminal, which would in turn improve ferry service to Whitehall Street.[120] On June 25, 1946, a fire occurred at St. George, killing three people and destroying the Whitehall ferry slips.[117][29][121] The only ferry slips that had not been damaged in the fire were the slips used by the 39th Street ferry, and because the Whitehall route was the busiest route serving the terminal, the 39th Street ferry service was suspended so that Whitehall ferries could stop at St. George.[122][45] The suspension of ferry service was supposed to be temporary, but even after a year had elapsed, merchants at Brooklyn's Bush Terminal near 39th Street were petitioning the city to resume service.[123] However, this service was apparently never restored.[29][45] The new terminal was completed in June 1951.[117][29][124]

text: From 1950 to 1951, the city ordered the construction of three new Merrell-class boats for the Whitehall Street route. These boats differed significantly from their predecessors in that they used 6-cylinder "Unaflow" engines, which allowed for a more efficient steam-powered ferryboat compared to the two 2-cylinder compound steam engines of earlier models.[125] With the lowest bid for the three boats coming in at $6.44 million, the Merrell class was more expensive than the Mary Murray class before it, which had cost only $1 million a boat.[120] This class would quickly become outdated with the introduction of the subsequent class, which used diesel engines that were even more powerful.[126]

text: Around this time, ferry services in the area were being discontinued and replaced by bridges and tunnels, leading to the eventual demise of the 69th Street ferry.[127][128] The exception was the ferry directly from Manhattan to Staten Island,[129] which was not expected to see a significant decrease in ridership because it provided the only direct link between the two boroughs.[130] Electric Ferries' franchise for the Bay Ridge ferry expired on March 31, 1954, and the city contracted the 69th Street ferry's operation to Henry Shanks in order to keep the ferry running.[131] The 69th Street ferry ceased operation in 1964 due to the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge a short distance south.[45][127] At the time of discontinuation, 7,000 daily passengers paid five cents each to cross, while 8,000 vehicles per day paid a toll of 75 cents to use the ferry. Each boat could fit from 500 to 750 passengers as well as 42 vehicles, which caused traffic jams at both of the ferry's slips due to the boats' low capacity. However, the route between St. George and Whitehall Streets was kept since the bridge's opening was expected to spur an influx of residents to Staten Island, potentially increasing ridership on the ferry to Manhattan.[127]

text: Later history[edit]

text: By 1967, all other ferries in New York City had closed due to competition by automobile traffic, and the St. George to Whitehall route was the only ferry in the city.[132][129] It remained as such until the 1980s, when other ferry routes were restarted.[133] Off-peak service was reduced in 1967, but two months later that service was restored. However, due to the city's mid-1970s financial crisis, night service ended on July 1, 1975, with alternate service being provided by the Fourth Avenue subway.[134] Night service was restored in the 1980s after two boats, comprising the current Austen class, were ordered specifically for overnight voyages.[135] These boats entered service in 1986.[136]

text: By the late 1980s, ferries had again become a popular mode of transport in the area.[129] In 1991, seventy companies expressed interest in bidding for the rights to operate new ferries across the city. This list of potential bidders was reduced to three companies by 1993. One of these ferries was to be a ferry from Staten Island to midtown Manhattan; this new ferry would travel at top speeds of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) as opposed to the existing Whitehall-to-St. George ferry's 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[132] New York Fast Ferry was ultimately selected to run a ferry from St. George to East 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, starting service in January 1997 with about 1,650 commuters a day using the service.[137]

text: In July 1997, however, the fare was eliminated on the ferry between St. George and Whitehall Street. This allowed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to institute a "one-city, one-fare" transfer scheme, where Staten Island transit riders could pay a single $1.50 fare with a MetroCard on a Staten Island bus or train and get a free transfer to a Manhattan bus or subway by taking the free St. George–Whitehall ferry, or vice versa.[138] This decreased daily ridership on the $5-per-ticket Midtown ferry to 400 passengers, and as a result, New York Fast Ferry was unable to make a profit on the Midtown ferry route. New York Fast Ferry went out of business at the end of 1997,[139][140] at which point NY Waterway took over the route.[141] After NY Waterway failed to break even on the Midtown route, it was eliminated on July 31, 1998.[137]

text: Immediately after the September 11, 2001, attacks, the ferry was used to evacuate victims of the attacks at the World Trade Center[142][143] before being temporarily closed for a week.[144] Ferry service was restored by September 18.[145] When it reopened, some ferries were diverted to Bay Ridge due to subway and road closures across the East River. This continued into 2002, with some 2,200 passengers per day using the ferry even though the subways and highways had been reopened.[146] Also in 2002, the city proposed eliminating night service again and outsourcing nighttime operations to other ferry companies in the area.[147]

text: In 2003, both terminals' lower levels were closed and all vehicular traffic on the ferry was banned due to the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002. Under this act, passengers would have to board and depart from different sections of the ferry, and since the lower levels of each ferry were used for departing, they could not be used for boarding.[148] This made boarding the ferry inconvenient for park-and-ride users at the St. George Terminal.[149] The lower levels of each terminal were reopened in 2017 to reduce passenger crowding on the ships' upper levels.[148][149] The St. George Terminal's lower level was opened during morning rush, and the Whitehall Terminal's lower level was opened during middays and the evening rush.[150]

text: Night and weekend service was increased in 2004 due to growing ridership during these times.[151] Before the 2004 increase in night service, boats only ran once an hour between midnight and 7 a.m.[152]:7 The ferry had not added more trips during nights and weekends even though Staten Island's population had increased since 1990.[152]:5 In November 2006, additional ferries running every 30 minutes were provided during the weekend morning hours.[153] In 2015, weekend-morning and late-night frequencies were increased to every thirty minutes.[154][155]

text: In 2013, city councilman James Oddo advocated for a revival of fast ferry service to Staten Island as part of his campaign to become that borough's president.[156] After Oddo's election as borough president, he pushed New York City mayor Bill de Blasio to consider a Staten Island fast ferry as part of de Blasio's proposed Citywide Ferry Service (later renamed NYC Ferry). At the time, the new system's only proposed ferry stop on Staten Island was at Stapleton, which was already well-served by the Whitehall–St. George route; the transit-deprived South Shore was not planned to be served by the citywide ferry.[157] Later, the citywide ferry's Stapleton route was relegated to an unfunded plan, leaving Staten Island with no stops on the new system.[158] With the opening of NYC Ferry in 2017, politicians and Staten Island residents again advocated bringing more ferry service to Staten Island, including one ferry each to Manhattan and Brooklyn; a stop on the South Shore; and extra stops on the Whitehall–St. George ferry.[159] In April 2017, Oddo announced a tentative agreement with NY Waterway to possibly implement a fast route from St. George to Midtown Manhattan in 2018.[160] The ferry would go to West Midtown Ferry Terminal as opposed to East 34th Street.[161] Unlike NYC Ferry,[162][163] the Staten Island-to-Midtown route would not receive any per-passenger subsidies from the city.[160] In September 2017, private developers on the South Shore also negotiated with SeaStreak to run a separate fast ferry route from the South Shore to Lower Manhattan.[164]

text: Operations[edit]

text: Service is provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year along its 5.2-mile (8.4 km) run.[165] which carried 23.9 million passengers in fiscal year 2016.[1] While trips take 25 minutes,[165] service usually runs every 30 minutes most hours of the day and night, with more frequent service during peak times.[166] The Staten Island Ferry is administered separately from NYC Ferry.[167]

text: Route[edit]

text: The ferry's single route departs Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal at South Ferry, at the southernmost tip of Manhattan near the Battery. On Staten Island, the ferry arrives and departs from the St. George Ferry Terminal on Richmond Terrace, near Richmond County's Borough Hall and Supreme Court.[165] The ferry ride provides views of the Lower Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty, and as such, is a popular place for film shoots.[142] It is a popular place to go on Saturday nights, as beer and food items are served at the snack bar.[168]

text: In the past, ferries were equipped for vehicle transport, at a charge of $3 per automobile.[142] A vehicle ban was approved in 1992, after the Whitehall Terminal was destroyed and subsequently rebuilt without vehicle loading areas,[169][170] but the September 11 attacks ended vehicle crossings at the temporary terminal as well.[142] It has been proposed to bring car boarding back due to rising tolls on the Verrazano Bridge,[171] but the plan was seen as unlikely due to the amount of effort needed to screen every car.[172]

text: While the ferries no longer transport motor vehicles, they do transport bicycles. There are two bicycle entrances to the ferry from either borough. The bike entrance is always on the first floor so bicyclists can enter the ferry from the ground without needing to enter the building. The ground entrance is also reserved exclusively for bike riders (everyone else must use the 2nd floor entrance). Cyclists must dismount and walk their bicycles to the waiting area and onto the boat and bicycles must be stored in the designated bicycle storage area on each boat. Cyclists are subject to screening upon arrival at the ferry terminals.[173] Bicycles may also be taken on the lowest deck of the ferry without charge.[165]

text: During rush hours, ferries usually run at 15-to-20-minute intervals, decreasing to 30 minutes during the mid-days and evenings. For a few hours during the early morning, usually 12 a.m. to 6 a,m., a ferry is provided once every 30 minutes. During the weekends ferries run every 30 minutes.[166]

text: Terminals[edit]

text: Whitehall Terminal[edit]

text: There have been at least two terminals on the site of the current terminal. When the original Whitehall Terminal opened in 1903, its Beaux-Arts design was identical to the Battery Maritime Building, which still exists.[71][142] A fire at the South Ferry elevated station in 1919 damaged the building.[174][71] A $3 million renovation to the terminal was announced in 1953,[175] and it opened on July 24, 1956.[176] The old terminal burned down in a fire on September 8, 1991.[177][71] A new design was announced the next year,[170] while a temporary terminal was opened at the site to accommodate passengers in the meantime.[142]

text: On February 7, 2005, a completely renovated and modernized terminal, designed by architect Frederic Schwartz, was dedicated, along with the new two-acre Peter Minuit Plaza in the Battery.[178][179][180] The terminal contains connections to the New York City Subway's South Ferry/Whitehall Street station complex, as well as to buses and taxis.[181] 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"[182] In his remarks at the terminal's dedication, Mayor Michael Bloomberg 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."[182] Described as "an elegant addition to [the] city's architecture," the transit hub was described by a Newsday editor as so beautiful that it had become a tourist attraction in its own right.[183]

text: St. George Terminal[edit]

text: A new ferry and rail terminal at St. George's Landing[46] and an extension of the Staten Island Railway north from Vanderbilt's Landing had been proposed in the 1870s by the owners of the railroad (George Law, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Erastus Wiman) to replace the various ferry sites on the north and east shores Staten Island.[184][185] St. George was selected due to it being the closest point from Staten Island to Manhattan, approximately a 5 miles (8.0 km) distance.[184][29] The name of the terminal and the local neighborhood were renamed to St. George in honor of Law, allegedly as a concession by Wiman in order to build the terminal and connecting tunnel on land owned by Law.[186][187][188] The ferry terminal was opened in early 1886.[46][40]

text: On June 25, 1946, a large fire destroyed both the wooden ferry and rail terminals, killing 3 people and injuring more than 200.[121] Full service was restored in July of that year.[117][29] A new facility was built by the city, opening on June 8, 1951.[117][29][124] The new facility cost $21 million.[124] Plans for a renovation of the terminal were announced in March 1997,[189] and it received renovations in the 2000s as part of a $300 million renovation of several ferry terminals in the area, including the St. George and Whitehall Terminals.[190][191][142] As of 2013[update], St. George's direct rail-sea connection is one of a few left in the United States.[192]:2

text: Fares[edit]

text: The ferry is free of charge, though riders must disembark at each terminal and reenter through the terminal building for a round trip to comply with Coast Guard regulations regarding vessel capacity.[193] The turnstiles were dismantled when fares were removed in 1997,[138] so there is no official way to count the number of passengers aboard the ferry, though the crew of each boat can estimate the number of passengers aboard the vessel.[193] The state's per-passenger expenditure in 2012 was $4.86, paid for through taxes.[194] This subsidy rose to $5.87 in 2016[195] before dropping to $5.16 in 2017.[1] For comparison, the city's per-passenger subsidy for NYC Ferry in 2017 was $6.50, calculated after all passengers had paid their $2.75 fare.[196]

text: For most of the 20th century, the ferry was famed as the biggest bargain in New York City, as it charged the same one-nickel fare as the New York City Subway. In 1882, riders protested against a proposed fare increase to 10 cents per ride, but were unsuccessful in obtaining a fare reduction.[197] The fare-reduction movement resurfaced in 1894, with multiple petitions being submitted to the New-York Sinking Fund Commissioners.[198] However, these petitions were all denied.[199] By 1898, the fare had been reduced to a nickel, or five cents.[200][201]

text: The ferry fare remained a nickel when the subway fare increased to 10 cents in 1948.[134] Despite the ferry's growing operational shortfalls in the 1950s, the five-cent fare remained static regardless of inflation.[130] By 1968, the Citizens Budget Commission was proposing to hike fares to close the deficits, with Staten Island commuters paying 20 cents and others paying 50 cents for a one-way trip.[200] In May 1970, then-Mayor John V. Lindsay proposed that the fare be raised to 25 cents, pointing out that the cost for each ride was 50 cents, or ten times what the fare brought in.[202] As part of a city budget passed in June of that year, the nickel fare was kept.[203] Due to the city's financial crisis in the mid-1970s, Mayor Abraham Beame submitted a proposal to increase the fare in July 1975.[134] On August 4, 1975, the nickel fare ended and the charge became 25 cents for a round trip, with the quarter being collected in one direction only. The fare increase was intended to earn the ferry service an extra $1.35 million in annual revenue.[204]

text: In 1990 the charge for a round trip was increased to 50 cents,[205] provoking a backlash among Staten Islanders, and sparking calls for its complete abolition. Grievances over the fare partly contributed to Staten Island voting in 1993 to secede from New York City in a non-binding referendum.[206] Rudy Giuliani's three-percent margin of victory in the concurrent mayoral elections was in considerable part due to the support of 80% of Staten Island voters, whose concerns he had pledged to address.[207] The passenger fare was subsequently eliminated altogether in July 1997 as part of the implementation of the MTA's "one-city, one-fare" system, which allowed for more free transfers between different modes of transit in New York City. The separate $3 car fares were unaffected.[138][206][207] The new MetroCard had been configured to allow one free transfer between buses and subways or other buses within 2 hours of the first payment, and eliminating the ferry fare was seen as an action to equalize Staten Islanders' MetroCard fares with those of commuters in other boroughs.[138] Despite the fact that the ferry fare had netted $6 million in annual revenue for the city, its abolition only cost the city about $1 million, due to the savings from removing the turnstiles as well as the revenue from MetroCard fares.[207] Some riders disliked the removal of the fares, as they felt that free service might result in lower-quality rides.[208]

text: In 2014, the city's Independent Budget Office conducted a study investigating the viability of charging fares to everyone except Staten Island residents.[209] The study found that a $4 charge to these passengers would garner $35.5 million in fifteen years, while a $2 fare would bring in only $804,000 during the same time.[210]:1 (PDF p.2) Approximately 4 million annual passengers would be subject to the fare, based on the 2013 ridership figure of 21.9 million.[210]:3 (PDF p.4)

text: Ridership[edit]

text:
Ridership Fiscal Years 2007–2016

Fiscal Year
Ridership (millions)
Ref.

2007
18.953
[211]

2008
19.757
[211][212]

2009
20.118
[211][212][213]

2010
21.464
[212][213][195]

2011
21.404
[212][213][195]

2012
22.178
[212][213][195]

2013
21.399
[213][195]

2014
21.256
[195]

2015
21.9
[214]

2016
23.9
[1]

text: Detailed ridership figures for many fiscal years are not widely available.[194] A 1958 New York Times article cited a figure of 24 million annual riders.[130] Ridership on the ferry peaked in 1964, with 27.5 million passengers, but the figure dropped by five million in 1965 after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened.[194] In the early 2000s, ridership fluctuated around 18 or 19 million, rising to 21.8 million in 2006 before dropping to 18.5 million the next year.[211] Afterward, ridership started rising again,[211] reaching over 21 million in fiscal year 2011.[194]

text: In fiscal 2012, the ferry carried 22.18 million passengers, the highest figure in several decades.[194][195] The figure in fiscal 2013 declined slightly to 21.4 million[210]:3 (PDF p.4)[212] and ridership for fiscal 2014 declined again to 21.25 million, while ridership on private ferry service continuously increased during that time period.[213] Ridership then began rising in subsequent years, especially after the 2015 expansion of service frequencies, when ridership reached 21.9 million.[195] In fiscal 2016, ridership on the ferry increased to 23.1 million passengers,[214] and in fiscal 2017, ridership increased further to 23.9 million passengers, breaking the previous year's record.[1][196]

text: The Staten Island Ferry is the single busiest ferry route in the United States as of 2016[update], as well as the world's busiest passenger-only ferry.[215] However, it is not the busiest ferry system in the United States overall; that distinction is held by Washington State Ferries, which carried 24.2 million passengers in 2016,[216] compared to Staten Island Ferry's 23.9 million in fiscal 2017.[1]

text: Fleet[edit]

text: Current[edit]

text: There are eight ferry boats in four classes (the Kennedy, Barberi, Austen, and Molinari classes) that are currently in service.[165]

text: Kennedy class[edit]

text: The MV John F. Kennedy, the MV American Legion II, and the MV Governor Herbert H. Lehman, known as the "Kennedy class", were built in 1965,[217] but only the John F. Kennedy remains in service as of 2017[update].[165] Each boat was able to carry 3,055 passengers and up to 40 vehicles, with a crew of 15 people each. The boats were 297 feet (91 m) long and 69 feet 10 inches (21.29 m) wide, with a draft of 13 feet 6 inches (4.11 m), tonnage of 2,109 gross tons, service speed of 16 knots (30 km/h), and engines of 6,500 horsepower (4.8 MW).[218][165][219] They were built by the Levingston Shipbuilding Company in Orange, Texas.[23]

text: The American Legion II's inspection certificate lapsed in 2006, and it was retired with the acquisition of the Molinari class ferries.[220] The Herbert H. Lehman retired on June 30, 2007, after the 10:30 p.m. run from Whitehall Street to St. George.[221] The John F. Kennedy was kept for the time being, as captains considered the John F. Kennedy to be the most reliable vessel in the fleet,[222] and riders preferred its abundant open-air deck space.[223]

text: Barberi class[edit]

text: The MV Andrew J. Barberi and the MV Samuel I. Newhouse, known as the "Barberi class", were built in 1981 and 1982 respectively.[136] Each boat carries 6,000 passengers and cannot load any cars. The boats are 310 feet (94 m) long and 69 feet 10 inches (21.29 m) wide, with a draft of 13 feet 6 inches (4.11 m), tonnage of 3,335 gross tons, service speed of 16 knots (30 km/h), and engines of 7,000 horsepower (5.2 MW).[218][165][219] The boats are each manned by a crew of 15.[165]< The Barberi class was made at the Equitable Shipyard in Florida at a cost of $16.5 million each. At the time of construction, the ships' capacity was the largest of any licensed ferry in the world.[217]

text: The Andrew J. Barberi was named after the longtime coach of Curtis High School's football team from the 1950s through the 1970s, while the Samuel I. Newhouse was named after the Staten Island Advance's publisher from 1922 to 1979.[224]

text: Austen class[edit]

text: The MV Alice Austen and the MV John A. Noble, known as the "Austen class" and commonly referred to as "the Little Boats" or "Mini Barberis", were built in 1986.[136] Each boat carries 1,280 passengers and also cannot load cars. The boats are 207 feet (63 m) long and 40 feet (12 m) wide, with a draft of 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m), tonnage of 499 gross tons, service speed of 16 knots (30 km/h), and engines of 3,200 horsepower (2.4 MW).[225][165][219] There are nine crew members on each boat.[165] Their namesakes are Alice Austen (1866–1952), a Staten Island photographer, and John A. Noble (1913–83), a Staten Island marine artist.[224]

text: Austen class vessels usually operate late at night and into the early morning, when ridership is lower.[142] Either the MV Alice Austen or the MV John A. Noble will convert its fuel from low-sulfur diesel to liquefied natural gas (LNG) in an effort to halve fuel consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent.[226]

text: Molinari class[edit]

text: The MV Guy V. Molinari, MV Senator John J. Marchi, and MV Spirit of America, known as the "Molinari class", carry a maximum of 4,427 passengers and up to 30 vehicles. Each boat is 310 feet (94 m) long by 70 feet (21 m) wide and has a draft of 13 feet 10 inches (4.22 m), tonnage of 2,794 gross tons, service speed of 16 knots (30 km/h), and engines of 9,000 horsepower (6.7 MW).[165][219] Built by the Manitowoc Marine Group in Marinette, Wisconsin,[227] they are designed to have a look and ambiance reminiscent of the classic New York ferryboats.[224]

text: One boat is named after Guy V. Molinari, a former member of the United States House of Representatives for Staten Island's district and later a Borough President of Staten Island.[224] It arrived in September 2004.[228] The second ferry was named for State Senator John Marchi, who represented Staten Island for fifty years.[224] The third ferry, Spirit of America, was to be put into service on October 25, 2005, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the municipal takeover of the Staten Island Ferry from the B&O railroad.[224]

text: Mechanical problems on the Molinari class ferries and legal proceedings kept it sidelined at the Staten Island Ferry's St. George maintenance facility until its maiden voyage on April 4, 2006.[165] Since delivery, the ferries have been beset by frequent breakdowns, with 58 such incidents from 2008 to 2014;[227] almost half of these breakdowns have been on the Guy V. Molinari.[229]

text: Future[edit]

text: The John F. Kennedy, Samuel I. Newhouse, and Andrew J. Barberi are to be replaced in 2019 with three new 310 feet (94 m) vessels, named the Ollis class after US Army Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis of Staten Island who was killed in action during the War in Afghanistan.[230][224] Elliott Bay Design devised the plans for the new ferries.[231] As part of the new order, city officials allowed passengers to vote on the types of seats that would be installed in the new fleet.[232] In November 2016, Eastern Shipbuilding was confirmed as the low bidder for constructing the ships,[233] and the shipyard was awarded the contract with a notice to proceed on March 1, 2017.[234] Delivery of the new ships is planned to occur in 2019 and 2020.[233]

text: A petition to name one of the Ollis-class ships after Staten Island firefighter John G. Chipura, who died in the September 11 attacks, reached 11,000 signatures by September 2017.[235]

text: Former[edit]

text: Several ferry classes, purchased since the city assumed ownership of the ferry, have been retired. The ferries named after the five boroughs, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Richmond, were the first ones commissioned for the city line in 1905.[217][236][237] All of the boats except Richmond were 246 feet (75 m) long and 46 feet (14 m) wide, with a draft of 18 feet (5.5 m) and a gross tonnage of 1,954.[236] The Richmond, however, had the same width and draft as its class mates, but was 232 feet (71 m) long with a gross tonnage of 2,006.[238] All of the borough-class boats were retired in the 1940s. The Manhattan went out of documentation by 1941, while the Bronx was the first of the remaining boats to be scrapped in 1941. The three remaining ferries were scrapped by 1947, although the Richmond was converted to a barge first, in 1944.[236] In 1943, the Brooklyn was sent to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where it was used as a floating school for the United States Coast Guard.[239]

text: Next to be added were the Gowanus, Bay Ridge, and Nassau, which were all delivered in 1907 and used for the Brooklyn line. Each boat was 182 feet (55 m) long and 45 feet (14 m) wide, with a draft of 16 feet (4.9 m) and a gross tonnage of 862. They were all sold by 1940. The Bay Ridge was used as the barge Rappahannock River while the other two were scrapped.[238]

text: The third class consisted of Mayor Gaynor (1914),[100] followed by President Roosevelt (1922) and American Legion I (1926).[217][237] Each boat in the class differed in their dimensions and gross tonnage. The Mayor Gaynor had a different engine and vastly different dimensions than its other two class mates, so it is sometimes considered as a different class. The Mayor Gaynor's 4-cylinder triple-expansion engine was not as efficient as the 2-cylinder compression engines of the previous Borough-class boats, so the two vessels following it reverted to the more reliable Borough-class engine. Additionally, the Mayor Gaynor was 210 feet (64 m) long and 45 feet (14 m) wide, with a draft of 17 feet (5.2 m) and a gross tonnage of 1,634. The other two boats were approximately 251 feet (77 m) long by 46 feet (14 m) wide, and had a draft of 17 or 18 feet (5.2 or 5.5 m) and a gross tonnage of 2,029 (for the President Roosevelt) or 2,089 (for American Legion I).[240] The Mayor Gaynor was the first to be dismantled, in 1951, while the President Roosevelt and American Legion I were scrapped in 1956 and 1963, respectively.[238]

text: In 1923, the steam turbine-powered ferryboats William Randolph Hearst, Rodman Wanamaker, and George W. Loft, named after prominent New York City businessmen, were built, the name of each boat kept secret until its unveiling.[241] All of these boats had a gross tonnage of 875, a length of 205 feet (62 m), a width of 45 feet (14 m), and a draft of 16 feet (4.9 m).[238] The George W. Loft shared a name with another boat used up the Hudson River, and so the other boat had to be renamed.[242] Used mostly on the 39th Street route,[243] these boats went into service in June 1924[106] and were out of documentation by 1954.[238]

text: A subsequent class, delivered from 1929 through 1931, consisted of the Dongan Hills, Tompkinsville, and Knickerbocker in order of delivery.[217][244] The first two boats had the same dimensions as the President Roosevelt, while the Knickerbocker was one foot longer and one foot wider, with a gross tonnage of 2,045. The Tompkinsville and Dongan Hills were out of documentation in 1967–1968, while the Knickerbocker was sold for scrap in 1965.[245]

text: The fifth class, the Miss New York class comprising the Miss New York, Gold Star Mother, and Mary Murray, was delivered in 1938.[217][244] They had the same width, length, and draft as the Knickerbocker, with a gross tonnage of 2,126.[246] The Gold Star Mother was decomissioned in 1969 to save money[247][248] before being auctioned off in 1974.[247] The Gold Star Mother's sister Mary Murray was retired in 1974 and sold at auction.[249] From 1982 through the mid-2000s,[250] it then sat as a floating wreck on the Raritan River within view of the New Jersey Turnpike,[224] and was partially broken up for scrap in 2008.[251] The third sister ship, the Miss New York, was decommissioned in 1975 and auctioned.[252] The Miss New York was used as a restaurant for a while, but then sank.[220]

text: The most recently retired class of steam boats for the current ferry, the Cornelius G. Kolff, Private Joseph F. Merrell, and Verrazzano, went into service in 1951.[217][244] These boats were slightly larger than their predecessors, with a length of 269 feet (82 m), a width of 69 feet (21 m), a draft of 19 feet (5.8 m) and a gross tonnage of 2,285.[253] They were made on Staten Island at the Bethlehem Steel Company shipyard.[254] The Verrazzano was decommissioned and sold at auction in the 1980s, with proposals to use the old ferry to a Japanese amusement park. The deal fell through, and it became a floating wreck at the Red Hook Container Terminal.[220] Its two class mates, the Kolff (later Walter Keane) and the Merrell (later the Vernon C. Bain, then the Harold A. Wildstein)[255] were shipped to Rikers Island in 1987 to deal with prison overcrowding there.[256] The plan was adopted as a feasible interim option while new jail facilities were being built.[257][258] The Keane and Wildstein, along with the retired British troop carriers Bibby Resolution and Bibby Venture,[259] were used to house 1,000 inmates.[260] The vessels were removed from prison use in 1997, after the Vernon C. Bain floating barge was built,[2] and both vessels were scrapped in 2004.[255]

text: The Kennedy-class American Legion II was retired in 2006[220] and sold for scrap.[261] Its classmate Governor Herbert H. Lehman was retired in 2007[221] and sold at auction by the city in 2011.[262][261] By 2012, it was being scrapped at Steelways Shipyard in Newburgh, New York. During the scrapping process, the boat started to leak.[262][263]

text: Incidents[edit]

text: Early 20th century, after city takeover[edit]

text: In November 1910, the ferryboat Nassau ran aground on the seawall of Governors Island, but most passengers were able to jump off the boat safely. The boat only suffered minor damage to its propeller.[99]

text: The ferryboat Mayor Gaynor ran aground near Robbins Reef Light in the middle of the harbor on October 31, 1921. This was a result of a heavy fog, which caused other transit accidents that injured a total of 20 people that day.[264] The same boat was involved in another crash on February 24, 1929, when it ran into the Whitehall ferry slip and injured three people.[265] Coincidentally, the Mayor Gaynor collided with the same spot a year and a day later, which injured seven people.[266]

text: Late 20th century[edit]

text: A heavy fog across the East Coast on January 16, 1953, caused four ferry accidents in the New York Harbor. One of these accidents was when the Gold Star crashed into the United States Lines freighter American Veteran, injuring 13 people.[267] In another heavy fog four days later, the Joseph F. Merrill crashed into an Ellis Island ferryboat, jolting several passengers but injuring no one.[268]

text: On February 8, 1958, the Dongan Hills was hit by Norwegian tanker Tynefield, injuring 15 people.[269]

text: On November 7, 1978, the American Legion II crashed into the concrete seawall near the Statue of Liberty ferry port during a dense fog, injuring 173 people on board.[270]

text: On May 6, 1981, at 7:16 am EDT, the American Legion II, en route from Staten Island to Manhattan with approximately 2,400 passengers aboard, was rammed in dense fog by the M/V Hoegh Orchid, a Norwegian freighter inbound from sea to a berth in Brooklyn. The ferry boat was damaged from below the main deck up to the bridge deck, and 71 passengers were treated for injuries, three of whom were hospitalized. The absence of a gyrocompass, which could have supplemented existing radar capabilities in helping the ferry master to avoid pending collisions, was noted in the February 2, 1982 report by the National Transportation Safety Board.[271]

text: On July 7, 1986, a mentally ill man, Juan Gonzalez, attacked passengers with a sword on the Samuel I. Newhouse. He killed two and injured nine before being detained and sent to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation.[272]

text: On April 12, 1995, the Andrew J. Barberi rammed its slip at St. George due to a mechanical malfunction. The doors on the saloon deck were crushed by the adjustable aprons, which a quick-thinking bridgeman lowered to help stop the oncoming ferryboat. Several people were injured.[273]

text: On September 19, 1997, a car plunged off the John F. Kennedy as it was docking in Staten Island, causing minor injuries to the driver and a deckhand who was knocked overboard.[274]

text: 21st century[edit]

text: On October 15, 2003, at 3:21 pm EDT, the Andrew J. Barberi collided with a pier on the eastern end of the St. George ferry terminal, killing eleven people, seriously injuring many others, and tearing a huge slash through the lowest of the three passenger decks.[275] The incident spurred an investigation into the safety practices being conducted aboard the ferry,[193] as well as an accident investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.[276] The Barberi's captain at the time of the incident was fired,[277] and the Barberi returned to service in 2004.[278][273]

text: On March 7, 2004, the New York City medical examiner's office reported that the body of writer and monologist Spalding Gray was discovered by two men and pulled from the East River.[279] It is believed that Gray committed suicide by jumping off the Staten Island Ferry.[280]

text: On July 1, 2009, at 7:09 pm EDT, the John J. Marchi lost power and hit a pier at the St. George Terminal at full speed, resulting in 15 minor injuries.[281][282] The boat was cited as having a history of electrical problems since being put into service in 2005.[283]

text: On May 8, 2010, at 9:20 am EDT, the then-recently-rebuilt Andrew J. Barberi hit the dock at the St. George Terminal with 252 passengers aboard. As the ferry approached the dock, the reverse thrust failed to respond and the boat could not slow down. Thirty-seven people were injured.[284][273]


document_title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

question_text: who played left ear in the italian job

question_tokens: who played left ear in the italian job

root

text: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: John Bridger, a professional safecracker, has assembled a team to steal 35 million dollars worth of gold bullion from a safe in Venice, held by Italian gangsters who had stolen it weeks earlier. The team includes Charlie Croker, a professional thief; Lyle or "Napster", a computer expert; Handsome Rob, their wheelman; Steve, their inside man; and Left Ear, their explosives expert. The heist is successful, but as they drive towards Austria with the bullion, they are stopped by men loyal to Steve, who had turned on them and takes the bullion for himself. Steve kills John when he admonishes him, and Rob drives the van over a bridge into the waters below to protect the others, using air tanks from the heist to stay alive. Steve leaves them for dead.

tag: p

text: A year later in the United States, Charlie learns that Steve has resurfaced under a new identity and is laundering the gold through a Ukrainian jeweler named Yevhen to finance his lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles. Charlie gathers the team, and also recruits John's daughter Stella, a skilled private safe cracker, offering her the chance to get revenge on Steve for her father's death. They stake out Steve's mansion, and Stella, disguising herself as a cable technician, is able to map out its interior, allowing them to determine the location of Steve's safe containing the bullion. Coincidentally, Steve, unaware of Stella's identity, offers to go out on a date with her. Charlie devises a plan using explosives to blow the safe while Steve is away on his supposed date, using three heavily modified Mini Coopers to transport the gold out of the mansion. Charlie enlists the help of Skinny Pete for the explosives and Wrench to make the modifications on the cars. However, on the night of the planned heist, they find Steve's neighbors are having a party, and as the explosives would draw their attention, and they abandon the plan. Stella ends up having to meet Steve after all and inadvertently gives away her identity to Steve by using similar phrases her father used, but the team arrives to help protect her. Steve is shocked they survived but taunts them that he has the upper hand.

text: Steve becomes paranoid that Charlie will steal the gold, and starts to launder it faster, but he is forced to kill Yevhen when he reveals his knowledge of the Venice heist. Yevhen's death infuriates Mashkov, his cousin and a leading member of a Ukrainian crime family. Mashkov connects the murder to Charlie through Skinny Pete. Further uneased, Steve makes plans to transport the gold to Mexico City by a private plane from Los Angeles International Airport after transporting it there in an armored car. Napster overhears of this, and Charlie and his gang make a new plan to steal the gold en route to the airport by hijacking the city's traffic control system to force the armored car to a planned spot where they will execute the heist.

text: On the day of transport, they are surprised when three armored trucks leave Steve's mansion, but Napster is able to determine which one carries the bullion, and manipulates the traffic accordingly. Knowing that Steve is monitoring the transport by helicopter, they get the car to the target spot and then create a diversion as they detonate explosives to drop the part of the road with the car into the old subway tunnels below. After opening the truck, they find a different safe to the one that held the gold before. Although she struggles initially, Stella cracks the safe, and they load up the Coopers with the gold. They race from the subway to the Los Angeles River and through the city, pursued by Steve's henchmen on motorcycles, with Napster helping to create a green wave to evade traffic. Steve himself eventually leaves his helicopter and steals a truck to follow them to Union Station.

text: At Union Station, the cars are loaded onto a train car with the help of Wrench. Steve arrives shortly thereafter and after bribing Wrench, is surprised to find Charlie and the others waiting for him. Steve brandishes a gun and demands his gold back, but Mashkov arrives; Charlie explains that he has offered Mashkov part of the gold and Steve in exchange for helping with security protection. Steve is punched in the face by Stella before being taken away by Mashkov, who reveals he will be tortured and killed. The group boards the train as it departs to New Orleans, and celebrate in John's honor. The epilogue shows them all having used their share of the gold for their own desired purposes; Handsome Rob purchases an Aston Martin Vanquish, Left Ear buys a mansion in southern Spain, while Napster buys a powerful stereo capable of blowing a woman's clothes off. Meanwhile, Charlie takes John's advice about finding someone he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and he and Stella travel to Venice together.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Mark Wahlberg as Charlie Croker, the team's mastermind and thief, who seeks revenge for the murder of his mentor, John Bridger.
Charlize Theron as Stella Bridger, John's daughter and a safe and vault "technician". She prefers the use of technology to crack safes for the police, unlike her father, who did the whole thing by touch.
Edward Norton as Steve Frazelli, the "inside man" during the Venice heist who later betrays Charlie, John, Rob, Lyle and "Left Ear", and leaves them for dead.
Donald Sutherland as John Bridger, Stella's father and safecracker whose methods are "old-fashioned", handled entirely by touch. He is Charlie's longtime partner.
Jason Statham as "Handsome Rob", the team's wheelman and a ladies' man. According to Charlie, he set the record for the world's longest freeway chase and received 110 love letters sent to his jail cell from women who saw him on the news.
Seth Green as Lyle (a.k.a. "Napster"), the team's computer expert. He claims he is the real inventor of Napster, saying that Shawn Fanning, who was his roommate at Northeastern University back in 1999, stole the idea from him.
Mos Def as Gilligan "Left Ear", the team's demolition and explosives expert. His name comes from an incident during his childhood when he put too many M-80s in a toilet bowl and lost the hearing in his right ear.
Franky G as Wrench, a mechanic who Rob contacts to engineer the Minis to carry the gold. He also assists in planting explosives to drop the armored car into the subway, where he serves as the lookout.
Boris Lee Krutonog as Yevhen, a jewelry store owner with ties to the Ukrainian mob. Hired by Steve to help sell the gold, Steve shoots him after realizing that he knows too much about where the gold came from.
Aleksander Krupa as Mashkov, a high-ranking member of an L.A. Ukrainian mob family and the cousin of Yevhen. He uses Yevhen's store as a laundering front and also has a front on a local junkyard, and he is also against Steve for murdering Yevhen.

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: Neal Purvis and Robert Wade wrote a draft of a remake of the 1969 British crime comedy The Italian Job which was rejected by Paramount.[5] Screenwriting team Donna and Wayne Powers were subsequently commissioned to write a remake. The duo viewed the original film, which neither had seen before, only once "because [they] wanted to get a sense of what it was about" in regards to its tone.[6] Over the course of two years and through 18 drafts,[5] they developed a screenplay which was described by director F. Gary Gray as "inspired by the original."[6] Gray, Powers and Powers, and executive producer James Dyer identified the most prominent similarities as the trio of Mini Coopers used by the thieves, as well as the titular heist involving the theft of gold bullion.[7][8] Some sequences of the film were storyboarded and previsualized by Gray before production began.[9]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Gray had been interested in working with Wahlberg since seeing his performance in Boogie Nights (1997). After reading the script for The Italian Job, Gray contacted Wahlberg, who "fell in love with it" after reading it himself.[7] Green was also attracted to the project because of the script.[10] Theron was Gray's first choice for the character of Stella Bridger, and Wahlberg also recommended her for the role. She spent time with a safecracker in preparing for the role.[7][11] Gray's casting director Sheila Jaffe suggested Statham for the role of getaway driver Handsome Rob, and Gray agreed with her choice.[7] Norton took the role of Steve Frazelli, due to a contractual obligation he had to fulfill.[12] Wahlberg, Theron, and Statham attended special driver's training sessions at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park[13] for nearly a month during pre-production.[14]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Gray and cinematographer Wally Pfister worked together to develop a visual style for the film before production began. They viewed car commercials and magazine photographs, as well as chase sequences from The French Connection (1971), Ronin (1998), and The Bourne Identity (2002) as visual references.[9] Pfister wanted "dark textures and undertones and strong contrast"; he collaborated with production designer Charlie Wood on the color palette, and the two would confer with Gray on their ideas.[9] Paramount preferred that The Italian Job not be shot in the anamorphic format, despite Pfister's wishes to do so. Gray wanted a widescreen aspect ratio, so they chose to shoot the film in Super 35 for a 2.4:1 aspect ratio.[9] Once principal photography began, Gray frequently utilized dollies, as well as Steadicams and a Technocrane, to keep the cameras almost constantly moving.[9]

text: Most of The Italian Job was shot on location, at sites Pfister scouted over 12 weeks during pre-production, but some scenes were filmed on sets. The Venice building where the film's opening heist sequence takes place, the van from which the thieves survey Steve Frazelli's mansion, a hotel room, and the LACMTA Red Line subway tunnel were sets constructed at Downey Studios in California. For the scene in which an armored truck falls through Hollywood Boulevard and into the subway tunnel below, Pfister set up seven cameras to capture the vehicle's ~30 foot (9.1 m) descent.[9] Three hundred cars were used to simulate the traffic jam at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland, which was controlled by the production crew for a week.[7][9] Three of the 32 custom-built[15] Mini Coopers used during principal photography were fitted with electric motors since combustion engines were not allowed in the subway tunnels, where some scenes were shot. Other Mini Coopers were modified to allow for camera placement on and inside the vehicles.[14][16] The director remarked that "[the Mini Coopers are] part of the cast."[17]

text: Gray wanted the film to be as realistic as possible; accordingly, the actors did most of their own stunts, and computer-generated imagery was used very sparingly.[7][14][18] The second unit, under director Alexander Witt and cinematographer Josh Bleibtreu, filmed establishing shots, the Venice canal chase sequence, and the Los Angeles chase sequence over a period of 40 days.[9][13] Filming on location posed some challenges. The opening heist sequence in Venice, Italy, was strictly monitored by the local authorities, due to the high speeds the boats were driven at.[9] The frigid temperatures at Passo Fedaia in the Italian Alps created problems during production: "The guns would jam, and if you could imagine not being able to walk 40 feet with a bottle of water without it freezing, those are the conditions we had to work in," Gray remarked.[7] Pedestrians had to be allowed to use the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard between takes.[18] Also, scenes which took place on freeways and city streets were only filmed on weekends.[13]

text: Release[edit]

text: Box-office performance[edit]

text: The Italian Job premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 11, 2003, and was theatrically released in the United States on May 30, 2003. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $19,457,944, ranking at #3. Paramount re-released the film on August 29,[19] and by the time its theatrical release closed in November 2003, the film had grossed $106,128,601 in the United States and Canada and $69,941,570 overseas—$176,070,171 worldwide.[3] It was the highest-grossing film produced by Paramount in 2003.[20]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Based on 177 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, The Italian Job has an overall approval rating of 73%, with a weighted average score of 6.4/10.[21] By comparison, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 68 out of 100 from the 37 reviews it collected, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[22]

text: Stephanie Zacharek, writing for Salon.com, liked the reinvention of the plot and the style and execution of the action sequences, specifically those involving the trio of Mini Coopers, which she wrote were the stars of the film.[23] BBC reviewer Stella Papamichael gave The Italian Job 4 stars out of 5, and wrote that the "revenge plot adds wallop lacking in the original".[24] Los Angeles Times reviewer Kevin Thomas praised the opening Venice heist sequence and the characterization of each of the thieves, but felt that the Los Angeles heist sequence was "arguably stretched out a little too long".[25] Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, writing that the film was "two hours of mindless escapism on a relatively skilled professional level."[26] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle concurred, describing The Italian Job as pure but smart entertainment "plotted and executed with invention and humor".[27] Reviewer James Berardinelli also gave the film 3 stars out of 4, and said that Gray had discovered the right recipe to do a heist movie: "keep things moving, develop a nice rapport between the leads, toss in the occasional surprise, and top with a sprinkling of panache."[28] Variety's Robert Koehler compared The Italian Job to The Score (2001), another "finely tuned heist pic" which also featured Edward Norton in a similar role.[29]

text: David Denby, writing for The New Yorker, praised Norton's performance, as well as those of Seth Green and Mos Def, and the lack of digital effects in the action sequences.[30] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B− grade, comparing it positively to the 2000 remake of Gone in 60 Seconds, as well as the 2001 remake of Ocean's Eleven.[31] New York Daily News reviewer Jack Mathews gave The Italian Job 2.5 stars out of 4, writing that the action sequences and plot twists were a "vast improvement" from the original, and that the Los Angeles heist sequence was "clever and preposterous".[32] Mike Clark of USA Today also questioned the probability of the Los Angeles heist sequence and wrote that the film was "a lazy and in-name-only remake", giving it 2 stars out of 4.[33] Peter Travers, writing for Rolling Stone, gave The Italian Job 1 star out of 4, describing the film as "a tricked-out remake of a heist flick that was already flat and formulaic in 1969." Travers enjoyed the comic relief in Green's and Def's characters, and added that Norton's was "[t]he most perversely magnetic performance" outside of the Mini Coopers, but felt that there was a lack of logic in the film.[12]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The Italian Job was released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment October 7, 2003, and includes five bonus features on different aspects of the film's production, in addition to six deleted scenes.[34] It was released on HD DVD August 8, 2006[35] and on Blu-ray Disc October 24, 2006.[36]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: F. Gary Gray won a Film Life Movie Award for Best Director at the 2004 American Black Film Festival.[37] Clay Cullen, Michael Caines, Jean Paul Ruggiero and Mike Massa won an award for Best Specialty Stunt at the 2004 Taurus World Stunt Awards for the boat chase through the canals of Venice.[38] The Italian Job was nominated for the 2003 Saturn Award for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film,[39] but lost to Kill Bill.[40] In April 2009, IGN named the film's Los Angeles chase sequence one of the top 10 car chases of the 21st Century.[41]

text: Analysis[edit]

text: Criminologist Nicole Rafter saw The Italian Job as part of a revival of the heist film around the start of the 21st century, along with The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) and Ocean's Eleven (2001), both of which were also remakes of 1960s heist films.[42] In describing his theory of a "team film" genre, film scholar Dr. Jeremy Strong writes that The Italian Job could be categorized as such, along with The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and more recently The Usual Suspects (1995) and Mission: Impossible (1996).[43] He states that

text: a team film involves a group working towards a particular objective. However, goal-orientation is a widely shared plot attribute of many texts and genres and it is also the case that the overwhelming majority of films involve a plurality of interacting characters. An element that distinguishes the team film then is that a heightened significance is afforded to the group as the means by which a given objective is attempted. [...] From film to film there is variation in the extent to which particular central characters may determine events and take up screen time but team films are recognizable by their insistence upon the relationship between group and goal.[43]

text: Strong additionally makes a direct comparison between The Italian Job and Mission: Impossible, citing the plot device of "a first task that elucidates the roles and skills of team members but which is sabotaged by betrayal, necessitating a re-constitution of the team."[43]

text: The use of BMW's then-new line of retro-styled Minis in the film was mentioned by critics and business analysts alike as a prime example of modern product placement, or more specifically "brand integration".[44] Film critic Joe Morgenstern called The Italian Job "the best car commercial ever".[15] Zacharek and Mathews both noted the cars' prominence in their reviews of the film, also writing that their presence served as a connection to the 1969 film upon which it was based.[23][32] BusinessWeek reported in April 2004 that sales of the Mini in 2003—the year in which The Italian Job was theatrically released—had increased 22 percent over the previous year.[45]

text: Possible sequel[edit]

text:
There are a couple of scripts that have been written, but in the last six years since we made [The Italian Job], Paramount's hierarchy has changed hands four times and it's never seemed to be a priority for the studio to make the movie.... There's enough of a fan outcry for it, but we just haven't been able to get the studio to greenlight it.

—Seth Green on the proposed sequel, September 7, 2008[46]

tag: div

text: A sequel to The Italian Job, tentatively titled The Brazilian Job, was in development by the summer of 2004, but has since faced multiple delays. Principal photography was initially slated to begin in March 2005, with a projected release date in November or December 2005.[47] However, the script was never finalized, and the release date was pushed back to sometime in 2006,[48] and later summer 2007.[49]

text: Writer David Twohy approached Paramount Pictures with an original screenplay entitled The Wrecking Crew, and though the studio reportedly liked the idea, they thought it would work better as a sequel to The Italian Job.[50] Gray was slated to return as director, as well as most, if not all, of the original cast.[49][50] At least two drafts of the script had been written by August 2007, but the project had not been greenlit.[51]

text: In March 2008, in an interview, Jason Statham said that "somebody should just erase it from IMDb.... and put it back on there when it's fully due and ready. [...] It's one of those things that's just sitting around."[52] Producer Donald De Line revealed in June that a script for The Brazilian Job had been developed and budgeted, but "a lot of things were happening with various management changes and it got tabled." Describing its story, he said it "starts in Brazil, the set up is in Rio and the picture moves to Belgium where there’s something involving diamonds."[53] However, Green stated that September that the sequel was unlikely in the near future.[46]

text: On March 9, 2009, De Line said that "[we] have a version at Paramount that we're talking very serious about", additionally mentioning that the cast was interested in the project.[54] Neal Purvis and Robert Wade had been working on a draft of the sequel that year.[55] The Daily Record reported in September that Theron was signed up for the film.[56] That October, Gray said that he enjoyed making The Italian Job and hoped that he would still be interested in directing the sequel if the script became finalized and mentioned that it would be dependent upon scheduling.[57]

text: In January 2010, Twohy was quoted in an interview as saying "The Brazilian Job probably isn't happening. I wrote it years ago, and they just keep rolling it over on IMDb. Paramount—what can I say?"[58] When asked about the sequel that June, Green said "The Brazilian Job doesn't exist actually" and called it a "wonderful myth of IMDb."[59] However, the next month, Mark Wahlberg said that sequel production was "active" again.[60]


document_title: Zoe (name)

question_text: what country does the name zoe come from

text: Zoe (name)

text:
Zoe

Pronunciation
/ˈzoʊ.i/ ZOH-ee; /ˈzoʊ/ ZOH

Gender
Female

Origin

Word/name
Greek

Meaning
"life"

Other names

Variant form(s)
Zoey, Zoí, Zoé, Zoie, Zoë, Zoee, Zoya, Zoi

Related names
Zooey

tag: table

text: Zoe (and its variants) is a female first name, originally from the Greek (ζωή). It is a calque of the Biblical Hebrew Hava/Eve (חַוָּה).

text: People[edit]

text:
Zoe (empress) (Zoe Porphyrogenita) (ca. 978–1050), Byzantine empress
Zoë (Austrian singer) (Zoë Straub) (born 1996), Austrian singer, songwriter, and actress
Zoë (British singer) (Zoë Pollock), English pop star
Zoey (Yuko), J-Pop singer (born 1984)
Exuperius and Zoe, saints, martyrs (died 127)
Zoe of Rome (died ca. 286), martyred saint
Zoë Avril, French singer
Zoë Baird, American lawyer, Attorney General nominee in 1993
Zoë Ball (born 1970), English television and radio personality
Zoë Bell (born 1978), New Zealand stuntwoman and actress
Zoe Beloff (born 1958), New York-based artist
Zoe Birkett (born 1985), British singer
Zoe Boyle, English actress
Zoe Caldwell (born 1933), Australian-born, US-based theatre/stage actress
Zoe Cassavetes (born 1970), Greek director, screenwriter and actress
Zooey Deschanel (born 1980), American actress and musician (pronounces her name like "Zoë", though she is said to be named after Zooey Glass.)
Zoi Dimoschaki, Greek freestyle swimmer
Zoe Dumitrescu-Bușulenga (1920-2006), Romanian literary historian
Zoe Goss (born 1968), Australian cricket player
Zoe Karbonopsina (died ca. 920), Byzantine empress
Zoe Kazan (born 1983), American actress
Zoë Keating (born 1972), Canadian-American cellist and composer
Zoe Konstantopoulou (born 1976), Greek politician
Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya (1923–1941), Russian martyr
Zoë Kravitz (born 1988), American actress, singer and model
Zoe Labouré (a.k.a.Catherine Labouré). Zoe was the birth name of the visionary French Saint of the Miraculous Medal 1806–1876
Zoe Laskari (born 1945), Greek actress
Zoë Lister (born 1982), British actress
Zöe Lucker (born 1974), English actress best known for playing the role of Tanya Turner on ITV's Footballers' Wives
Zoe McLellan (born 1974), American actress
Zoe Palaiologina (c. 1455–1503), wife of Tsar Ivan III of Russia
Zoie Palmer (born October 28, 1977), Canadian actress
Zoi Paraskevopoulou, Greek archer
Zoë Poledouris (born 1973), American actress & film composer
Zoe Saldana (born June 19, 1978), American actress
Zoë Salmon (born 1980), Northern Irish television presenter
Zoë Straub (born 1996), Austrian singer, songwriter, and actress
Zoe Strauss (born 1970), American photographer
Zoe Sugg (born 1990), English beauty blogger & vlogger
Zoé Valdés (born 1959), Cuban writer
Zoe Ventoura (born 1981), Australian actress
Zoe Verbiceanu (1893-1975), Romanian playwright and translator
Zoe Viccaji, Pakistani singer
Zoë Wanamaker (born 1949), British-based American actress
Zoe Wiseman (born 1970), American Photographer and Model
Zoey Zane (aka Emily Sander; 1989–2007), murder victim

text: Fictional characters[edit]

text:
Zoé (Little Big Adventure)
Zoe (Sesame Street), Muppet character on Sesame Street
Zoë (Sluggy Freelance)
Zoey (Pokémon), Dawn's pal
Zoe (Lee Soo-yeon), from Missing You
Zoë, character in the series Monarch of the Glen
Zoey, Rudolph's love interest in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie
Zoe, main character played by Jennifer Lopez in The Back-up Plan
Zoe, character in, and the subject of, the play The Octoroon
Zoey, one of the four Survivors in Left 4 Dead
Zoey, a character in Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, the fourth season of the Total Drama series
Zoe, the Aspect of Twilight, champion in the League of Legends universe
Zoe Aves, A character from El Tigre:The Adventures of Manny Rivera
Zoe Barnes, newspaper reporter/blogger, House of Cards (U.S. TV series)
Zoey Bartlet, youngest daughter of President Barlet on the TV series The West Wing
Zoë Boutin Perry, protagonist and narrator of John Scalzi's novel Zoe's Tale
Zoe Busiek, protagonist to the drama Wild Card (TV series)
Zoey Brooks, main character on Zoey 101
Zoe Carpenter from British soap opera Hollyoaks
Zoe Carter from Eureka
Zoë Castillo (Seeker, Nomad, Dreamer), the primary protagonist of a computer game Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
Zoe Franklin, A character from the Dork Diaries book series
Zoe Graystone, from Caprica
Zoey Hanson, Ichigo Momomiya's English dub name in Tokyo Mew Mew (Mew Mew Power)
Zoe Hange, or Hange Zoe, a character from the anime series Attack on Titan
Zoe Hart in the U.S. TV series Hart of Dixie and is played by Rachel Bilson
Zoe Heriot, from Doctor Who
Zoe Landau, ex-wife of lead character Cal Lightman on television series Lie to Me
Zoe Luper, from All My Children
Zoe MacPherson, character from the Baby Blues comic strip and TV adaption
Zoe Newton, character from EastEnders
Zoë Nightshade, character from the Percy Jackson & the Olympians book series
Zoe Orimoto (Izumi Orimoto in Japanese version), from Digimon Frontier
Zoe Payne, from the game SSX
Zoey Pierson, Ted's environmentalist girlfriend in How I Met Your Mother
Zoey Redbird, the protagonist of the House of Night novels
Zoe Reynolds, from Spooks (MI-5 in the USA)
Zoe Rivas, from Degrassi
Zoe Slater, main character from EastEnders
Zoe Trent, from Littlest Pet Shop (2012 TV series)
Zoe Washburne, from Firefly
Zoey Woodbine, from the sitcom Cybill
Zoe Young, from the animated series Fantastic Max
Zoe, from Chernobyl Diaries

text: This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.

text: Given namesGreek feminine given names

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