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Neighborhoods · Staten Island

St. George: the Staten Island ferry terminal and what's around it

The part of Staten Island you can actually reach without a bus: a ballpark with the skyline over the outfield, the borough's general-interest museum, a waterfront promenade, and ten minutes up the shore the old sailors' home that is now the cultural center of the island.

St. George is where the ferry lands, and it is the one part of Staten Island a visitor can do on foot. The terminal opens onto a hillside of civic buildings — the borough hall, the courthouse — with the ballpark and a waterfront promenade immediately to the west, and Snug Harbor ten minutes along the north shore by bus. Most people who ride the ferry see the inside of the terminal and the back of the boat; this page is the rest of the half-day.

The ballpark is the surprise. SIUH Community Park is two minutes' walk from the terminal, the tickets are cheap by any standard, and the Manhattan skyline sits directly over the outfield wall. The promenade past it is the closest skyline view on the island, free, and the right place to wait for the next boat. The Staten Island Museum — the city's last general-interest museum, art and natural history and local history together — has its main site at Snug Harbor and has had a presence by the terminal; check the current arrangement before you plan around it.

Food in St. George is on the streets uphill from the terminal — Bay Street, Stuyvesant Place, Victory Boulevard — a mix of Sri Lankan, Mexican and diner that reflects who lives here. It is not a food destination, but it is a real one, which is more than most ferry terminals can say.

What's here

  1. The Staten Island FerryFree

    St. George / Whitehall · Staten Island

    You are here because of it: free, every fifteen to thirty minutes, twenty-five minutes past the statue. Everything on this page is built around the gap between boats, and the terminal's own departure boards mean you never need a schedule. Ride back at dusk for the skyline.

  2. SIUH Community ParkUnder $25

    St. George · Staten Island

    Two minutes' walk west of the terminal, which makes it the easiest ballpark trip in New York, and the skyline over the outfield wall makes it the best-looking. Tickets are a fraction of a Yankees game; on a non-game day the promenade beside it is the free view.

  3. Staten Island MuseumUnder $25

    Livingston / St. George · Staten Island

    The borough's museum, small admission, with its main galleries at Snug Harbor and a history by the ferry — the one place to understand what Staten Island is before you go further into it. Check the current site and hours; they have moved before.

  4. Snug Harbor Cultural CenterUnder $25

    Livingston / New Brighton · Staten Island

    Ten minutes on the S40 from the terminal ramps: eighty-three acres of Greek Revival buildings and gardens, the grounds free to walk, the Chinese Scholar's Garden worth its small admission, and free events on the lawns most summer weekends. This is the thing to get off the boat for.

Common questions

Can I do this without a bus?

The terminal, the ballpark, the promenade and the streets of St. George, yes — all on foot, all within ten minutes of the boat. Snug Harbor is the one that needs the S40 or S44, ten minutes, same tap as the subway. Everything else on the island — the Greenbelt, the fort, the beaches — is further and is on the Staten Island free-things list and the one-day itinerary.

How long should I allow?

Two hours gets you the ferry both ways and the promenade; three adds the ballpark if there is a game or the museum if not; four to five adds Snug Harbor properly. The ferry runs all night, so there is no last boat to worry about — only the bus back from Snug Harbor, which stops running late in the evening.

Is the ballpark worth it if I'm not a baseball fan?

For the view and the price, yes, on a summer evening: the skyline behind the outfield as the sun goes down is the best seat in the city for the money, and the game is incidental. If there is no game, the promenade beside the park gives you most of the view for nothing.

Who should skip this

Anyone who wants more than the edge of the island — St. George is the gateway, and the green, quiet Staten Island that justifies the trip starts a bus ride past it.

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