Earlier this spring, two of the three splendid new Staten Island ferries went into service, and with a generous amount of open deck pace, they serve as cool summertime platforms to view the urban skyline, Upper New York Bay and its harbor traffic.

Ferryboat Sen. John J. Marchi enroute to Manhattan.

The two currently operating are the 4,400-passenger Guy V. Molinari and the Sen. John J. Marchi, and the third, the Spirit of America, is expected to arrive in August for trails before going into regular service. The boats have the capacity to carry up to 30 cars but due to security restrictions, they are passenger only, and neither has food service counters resulting in cleaner boats.

Built at Marinette Marine on the Great Lakes in Wisconsin at a cost of $40 million each, the 310-foot boats had their longest journey on the delivery voyages via Lakes Michigan, Huron, Eire and Ontario, Welland Canal, St. Lawrence River and Seaway then the open Atlantic to a Providence shipyard and finally via Long Island Sound and the East River to their homeport on Staten Island.

Andrew J. Barberi leaves Whitehall St. with Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges in backgroud.

The four-deck ferries, compared to three decks for the Kennedy-class and the Barberi-class, feature outdoor spaces fore and aft on the Main, Saloon and Bridge Decks, covered promenades with bench seating on the Bridge Deck and small side decks with seating flanking the funnel on the highest Hurricane Deck. Overall the design reflects the popular 1965-built Kennedy-class rather than the mostly enclosed nature of the Andrew J. Barberi and Samuel I. Newhouse. Inside, the cabins offer a choice of open seating areas and more intimate spaces.

The Gov. Herbert H. Lehman at the new Whitehall St. Terminal.

The new trio will eventually replace the now 40-year-old John F. Kennedy, The Gov. Herbert H. Lehman and American Legion, with the first-named being kept as a training vessel and spare boat. While the new ferries are not as rounded and sleek as the Kennedy trio, they nonetheless present a handsome if a slightly chunky, high profile.

Ferryboat Guy V. Molinari with passengers on Bridge and Hurricane Decks leaves Whitehall St..

The schedules for the new boats vary, so you take your chances, but during rush-hour service when four boats are required to maintain the 15-minute headways, the likelihood is one if not both in service. The more normal every half-hour off-peak service uses two boats. On Thursday, July 28th, more trips were added late at night and during the morning rush hour.

The Manhattan skyline from Main Deck aboard Sen. John J. Marchi.

Both the Whitehall Street, Manhattan and the St. George, Staten Island ferry terminals have been rebuilt, and for the first time, intending passengers may see the next boat arriving in the slip through a tall expanse of glass. And the ride is free.

Passengers on Bridge Deck aboard Guy V. Molinari.

Passengers on Hurricane Deck aboard Guy V. Molinari.

Passengers enjoying three open decks enroute to Staten Island aboard Sen. John J. Marchi.

View of Bridge Deck down to Saloon and Main Decks aboard Sen. John J. Marchi.

Bridge Deck viewing leaving Staten Island aboard Sen. John J. Marchi.

The official DOT website - http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/masstran/ferries/statfery.html#schedule

A private website - http://www.siferry.com/

(Photographs by the Author.)