Free things to do on Staten Island
The free ferry is the famous part; the rest of the list is forest trails bigger than Central Park, a fort under the Verrazzano, an empty boardwalk, the southernmost point in the state, a landfill becoming a park, and the grounds of an old sailors' home — all free, all reached by bus from the boat.
Staten Island is the cheapest borough to visit and the least visited, and the two facts are related: the ferry is free, the parks are free, the buses take the same tap as the subway, and hardly anyone gets off the boat to find that out. This list is what is on the far side of the terminal for nothing.
It is also the least convenient, and the list is honest about it. Everything here is a bus or railway ride from St. George, the buses are not frequent, and two of the entries are an hour and a half from Midtown. The reward is space: forest you can genuinely hike in, a beach with nobody on it, a fort under a bridge. Budget a whole day and check bus times; the one-day Staten Island itinerary is the version with the times worked out.
Ordered roughly by how far from the ferry they are.
The list
The Staten Island FerryFree
St. George / Whitehall · Staten Island
Free, no ticket, every fifteen to thirty minutes around the clock, twenty-five minutes each way past the Statue of Liberty with the skyline behind you on the return. The best value in the city by an enormous margin and the reason every other thing on this list is reachable for nothing.
Snug Harbor Cultural CenterUnder $25
Livingston / New Brighton · Staten Island
The grounds — eighty-three acres of Greek Revival buildings and botanical gardens — are free to walk, and most summer weekends there is a free concert or festival on the lawns. The Chinese Scholar's Garden and a couple of the museums charge a small admission; you can have a good morning without paying it. Ten minutes from the ferry on the S40.
SIUH Community ParkUnder $25
St. George · Staten Island
Not free to go in, but free to stand beside: the ballpark is two minutes' walk west of the terminal and the waterfront promenade past it is the closest, cheapest skyline view on the island. On game nights the tickets are a fraction of a Yankees game and the view over the outfield is the skyline.
Fort WadsworthFree
Fort Wadsworth · Staten Island
One of the oldest continuously garrisoned military sites in the country, directly beneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, free because it is a National Park Service site. The view up the Narrows from the batteries is the thing; the visitor center has maps. The S51 or S81 from the ferry, about twenty-five minutes.
South Beach BoardwalkFree
South Beach · Staten Island
Two and a half miles of boardwalk and a wide Atlantic beach with a fraction of the crowd at Coney Island or Rockaway, free, and empty for the simple reason that it is an hour and a quarter from Lower Manhattan. Combine it with Fort Wadsworth, which is at its northern end.
The Staten Island GreenbeltFree
Todt Hill / Egbertville · Staten Island
The reason to come to this borough with a day to spare: marked trails through real woods, hills with no city in view, and nobody on them on a weekday — free, and reached with the free ferry plus the S74 to the Moravian Cemetery or High Rock Park entrances. Wear shoes for it, carry water, and turn back with daylight to spare.
Moravian Cemetery & Todt HillFree
Todt Hill / New Dorp · Staten Island
Free to walk, on the slope of the highest natural point on the Atlantic coast south of Maine, with the Greenbelt trails running up the hill directly behind it — so the cemetery is the front door to the forest. The Vanderbilt mausoleum is on private ground and cannot be approached; the rest is open.
Freshkills ParkFree
Travis / Arden Heights · Staten Island
What was the largest landfill in the world, being turned into a park nearly three times the size of Central Park, free, and open in sections and on tours that need booking ahead. Check what is open before you go — large parts are still closed — and go for the strangeness of it.
Conference House ParkFree
Tottenville · Staten Island
The southernmost point in New York State, free, with a quiet beach nobody goes to and a 1680s stone manor house where the only peace conference of the Revolution was held (the house charges a small admission on open days). The Staten Island Railway to its last stop; around two hours from Midtown, honestly.
Common questions
- Is there anything to do near the ferry terminal without taking a bus?
A little. The waterfront promenade past the ballpark, two minutes west of the terminal, has the closest skyline view on the island and is free. The Staten Island Museum has had a presence by the terminal; check its current site. Beyond that, the borough's good things are each a bus ride away, which is why they are empty. Ride over, walk the promenade, ride back, and you have had a free evening; getting off properly is a day.
- How do the buses work?
They leave from the ramps outside the St. George terminal and take the same tap — OMNY or a MetroCard — as the subway; the ferry itself needs nothing. The S40 and S44 serve Snug Harbor, the S51 and S81 the Fort Wadsworth and South Beach side, the S74 the Greenbelt and Richmond Town. They run every twenty to thirty minutes outside rush hour, so check times and do not cut the last one fine.
- Can I do Staten Island as a half day?
The ferry and Snug Harbor, yes — about three hours round trip from Lower Manhattan, and a good three hours. The Greenbelt, Fort Wadsworth or anything further south needs the whole day; the bus legs alone add up to two hours. The one-day itinerary on this site is the version that fits, with the times.
Who should skip this
Anyone who hates buses or has a tight schedule — the ferry is the free thing everyone should do, and the rest of this list is for people with a day and patience.