Ferries
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operates a number of ferry services which connect the island of Manhattan with Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and several other destinations in New Jersey and New York State.
The Staten Island ferry is a free public access ferry that operates between the ferry terminal at Whitehall Street in Manhattan and the St George Terminal on Staten Island. This ferry service is the only direct connection between Manhattan and Staten Island. This ferry service operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Apart from transporting commuters between the boroughs, these New York City ferries are also used for providing sightseeing cruises to the many tourists that visit New York City all year round.
More information about routes, schedules and fares can be found at the websites of the individual ferry operators listed below.
Bridges and Tunnels
The various boroughs of New York City are connected by a large network of bridges and tunnels. Perhaps the most famous of all these bridges is the artistic Gothic revival Brooklyn Bridge which, when it was constructed, was the longest suspension bridge in the world. This bridge was used as a getaway path by hundreds of New Yorkers on the day of the devastating terrorist attacks which leveled the city’s famous ‘Twin Towers’. This bridge which spans the East River connects Brooklyn to Manhattan. Other bridges that also span the East River and connect these two boroughs are the Williamsburg Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge.
Queens is connected to Manhattan via the cantilevered Queensboro Bridge while Staten Island is connected to Brooklyn via the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The Triborough Bridge which is now called the Robert F Kennedy Bridge connects the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx while The Throgs Neck Bridge and the Bronx Whitestone Bridge connect the Bronx to Queens. The Henry Hudson Bridge connects Northern Manhattan to the Bronx.
New York City has been famous over the ages for tunnel construction and today the island of Manhattan which is the epicenter of all activity in New York City is connected to the other boroughs and states through four major tunnels. The Lincoln Tunnel which is built under the Hudson River links Manhattan to New Jersey and transports nearly 120,000 vehicles a day, the Holland Tunnel which is also built under the Hudson River is primarily used by vehicular traffic as it also connects Manhattan to New Jersey. The Queens Midtown tunnel connects Queens to Manhattan while the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel which is the longest underwater tunnel in North America links Brooklyn to Manhattan.
Most of these bridges and tunnels have tolls associated with them and the payments collected go to fund the various transit projects in New York City. While you can pay cash for the tolls it may be inconvenient if you are using these bridges and tunnels on a daily basis. In that case you can opt to use an EZ- Pass which is an electronic toll system that is used in most of the North East of USA. You can sign up for an EZ- Pass at.
With an EZ-Pass which is affixed on your windscreen, the appropriate toll is always deducted from your credit balance as you pass through the toll stations. Moreover, you have the privilege of passing through a designated EZ-Pass lane, which often tends to move much faster than the cash lanes.
