St. George Terminal

History

A ferry and rail terminal at the St. George site (then called St. George's Landing) and an extension of the Staten Island Railway (then called Staten Island Rapid Transit) north from Vanderbilt's Landing (today's Clifton Station) had been proposed in the 1870s by the owners of the Staten Island Railroad, George Law, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Erastus Wiman, to replace the various ferry sites on the north and east shores of Staten Island. St. George was selected due to it being the closest point from Staten Island to Manhattan, about a 5 mi distance. An extension of the line to Tompkinsville was opened in 1884, and the tunnel between Tompkinsville and the terminal was constructed from 1884 to 1885. The terminal's entrance building would be opened in 1897.

The St. George rail terminal as originally built was constructed of wood, with no overhead obstructions.

After the municipal takeover of the Staten Island Ferry service, a new St. George Ferry Terminal Complex was designed by Carrère and Hastings and opened in 1905. As part of this construction, the St. George tunnel was lengthened. In 1930, civic leaders proposed a $2.5 million ferry terminal to replace the existing complex, with an underground train terminal below a 26-story office development. However, this plan was never carried out.

On June 25, 1946, a large fire destroyed both the wooden ferry and rail terminals, killing three people. Full service was restored in July of that year. The new facility cost $21 million. The former freight yard was replaced by a New York City Department of Transportation municipal parking lot when the new terminal opened; the parking lot has since been replaced by Richmond County Bank Ballpark.

The station served as the northern (eastern) terminus for the Staten Island Railway North Shore Branch to Arlington and Port Ivory until its closure in 1953. The line used tracks 11 and 12 on the north end of the terminal, which are currently unused.

Plans for a renovation of the ferry terminal were announced in March 1997, 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. St. George's direct rail-boat connection is one of a few remaining in the United States.

The MTA announced in late 2022 that it would open customer service centers at 15 stations; the centers would provide services such as travel information and OMNY farecards. The first six customer service centers, including one at St. George Terminal, were to open in early 2023. St. George Terminal's customer service center opened at the beginning of March 2023. In 2025, the U.S. federal government provided a $5.75 million grant for the replacement of bus ramps and chillers at St. George Terminal, with assistance from U.S. Representative Nicole Malliotakis.

Ferry terminal

St. George Terminal is the southern terminal of the Staten Island Ferry; it runs only to Whitehall Terminal, on the southern tip of Manhattan near Battery Park. The Staten Island Ferry runs a 24-hour service between the terminals. Ferries usually run at 15-to-20-minute intervals during rush hours and every 30 minutes at other times.

In January 2019, NYC Ferry announced that it would start operating its St. George route in 2020. The route was originally supposed to run from the St. George Terminal to Battery Park City Ferry Terminal and West Midtown Ferry Terminal in Manhattan. However, due to concerns that the massive Staten Island Ferry boats and the small NYC Ferry craft might not be able to share a dock, the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced in January 2020 that a NYC Ferry dock would instead be built close to the existing terminal, on the opposite side of Empire Outlets closer to the Richmond County Bank Ballpark. NYC Ferry service began operating in August 2021.

Staten Island Railway station

St. George, Staten Island | Staten Island Ferry (at St. George Terminal) | NYCT Bus: \uvENDEa\uvENDEa\uvENDEa\uvENDEa\uvENDEa\uvENDEa \uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M) \uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M) numN315\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M)\uvPSTR(M) \uSTRc2\uSPLg+3\uvÜSTl\udSTR\uv-SHI2g+r\uvSHI2g+l-\uvSHI2g+l-\udSTR uENDEaq!~uSTRc2\uABZ1+3r\uSTRc24\udSTR3\uSPLg+2\udSTRc3\uvSTR\uv-STR\uvSTR3-~L uSTRq!~MFADEgq\uABZq1\uSTRq+c4\uABZr+12\uSTRc34\uSTRc1~R\udSHI2g+r\uvSTR-\uvABZg+1-\uSTRc4\d ~~ ~~ ~~ \uSTRc1\uSTR2+4\uSTRc3\uvÜST\uv-STR \uSTRc1\uSTR2+4\uSTRc23!~uvSTR\uv-STR3 \\uSTRc1\udKSTR+4!~utvSTRa@f\udKSTR+1\uSTRc4 \\utvSTRe@f \\uvÜSTr \\uvSTRfg \\uvSTR!~MFADEf ~~ ~~ ~~ to Tompkinsville | mapframe-zoom = 15 | mapframe-marker-color = # | mapframe-marker = rail-metro The railroad station, which is known as the St. George station, opened on March 7, 1886. It is the northern terminus of the main line of the Staten Island Railway, which operates 24/7. It is also one of two stations that require the US$2.90 fare on entry and exit, the other being Tompkinsville. This station is handicapped-accessible.

This station is situated in an open cut below street level, with a four-lane bus terminal and parking lot above it. The station has five active platforms and ten tracks, numbered 1 through 10 from east to west. All tracks end at bumper blocks at their railroad northern (geographic eastern) ends. There is also a sixth island platform with two additional tracks (11 and 12) to the west (geographic north) no longer in revenue service, which historically served the Staten Island Rapid Transit's North Shore Branch. It currently acts as a passageway to the North Municipal Parking Field on Richmond Terrace, and towards Richmond County Bank Ballpark, one of two access points to this station. The track ballast is present through this construction zone. The mezzanine area has separate fare control areas: the east side for passengers entering, and the west side is for passengers exiting. Station booths and OMNY vending machines are located on both sides. Just before each platform bay are the old destination indicators to the left and right of each platform entrance, corresponding to each departing track. There are green bulbs above these displays that indicate where the next train will be leaving from. This station originally opened with nothing overhead; no bus bays and no ramps. It was the site of a 1946 fire that nearly destroyed the terminal.

Just south of the station towards Tompkinsville, the Staten Island Railway runs in the system's only tunnel, known as the St. George Tunnel.

Station layout

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New York City Bus

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates a number of bus routes in Staten Island, New York, United States. Some of them are the direct descendants of streetcar lines (see list of streetcar lines in Staten Island).

Departures are given below by loading bay.

Nearby attractions

• National Lighthouse Museum
• St. George Theatre
• Staten Island September 11 Memorial

Notes

References

References

1. (January 17, 1886). "Rapid Transit on Staten Island".
2. (May 25, 1893). "Staten Islanders Worried: Anxious to Know Who Will Run the Ferryboats to This City".
3. (May 26, 1929). "Staten Island Ferry Terminal Named to 'Canonize' George Law". The New York Times.
4. (July 19, 1987). "If You're Thinking of Living in: St. George". The New York Times.
5. (March 27, 2011). "For Erastus Wiman, St. George was a golden opportunity". [[Staten Island Advance]].
6. (1925). "The City of New York Board of Estimate and Apportionment: The Narrows Tunnel". [[New York City Board of Estimate]], [[Brooklyn Historic Railway Association]].
7. (November 13, 1899). "Two Fires on Staten Island: Ferryhouse at St. George and Overhead Trolley Structure Badly Damaged—Blaze at Cricket Club".
8. "Terminal Death Toll 3; Ferries Using Pier Six", Staten Island Advance, June 26, 1946.
9. (February 11, 1930). "Staten Island Asks $2,500,000 Terminal – Commerce Chamber Presents Plan for 26-Story Ferry and Rail Station at St. George – Rentals Would Finance It – Upper Stories Designed as Borough Offices—Shops to Line 350 Foot Arcade". The New York Times.
10. Barron, James. (December 5, 1983). "Fire at Staten I. Ferry Terminal". The New York Times.
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13. Chen, David W.. (March 20, 1997). "Sleeker Design for Staten Island Ferry Terminal Is Unveiled". The New York Times.
14. Dunlap, David W.. (April 7, 2002). "Launching a Flotilla of Ferry Terminals". The New York Times.
15. (August 2011). "St. George, Staten Island: The Borough's Transit, Civic and Cultural Hub". [[New York City Economic Development Corporation]].
16. Garcia, Deanna. (December 14, 2022). "'Customer Service Centers' to open at 15 subway stations".
17. Chasan, Aliza. (December 15, 2022). "MTA opening subway customer service centers".
18. Bascome, Erik. (March 1, 2023). "New MTA Customer Service Center opens at St. George Ferry Terminal".
19. Parry, Bill. (March 7, 2023). "MTA opens new customer service center at Main Street-Flushing transit hub".
20. Matteo, Mike. (June 11, 2025). "City awarded $5.75M federal grant for upgrades to St. George Ferry Terminal".
21. (June 9, 2025). "Malliotakis Announces $5.75 Million for St. George Ferry Terminal Upgrades".
22. Sanders, Anna. (May 6, 2015). "Staten Island Ferry expected to run at least every 30 minutes starting this fall". SILive.com.
23. Fitzsimmons, Emma G.. (April 1, 2015). "Staten Island Ferry to Add More Early Morning Trips". The New York Times.
24. "Routes and Schedules: St. George". NYC Ferry.
25. Barone, Vincent. (January 10, 2019). "NYC Ferry is adding 2 new routes".
26. Plitt, Amy. (January 10, 2019). "NYC Ferry will launch service to Staten Island, Coney Island".
27. "2020–2021 Expansion".
28. Michel, Clifford. (January 30, 2020). "NYC Ferry's a No-Go at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal".
29. Gartland, Michael. (August 23, 2021). "De Blasio touts NYC Ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan".
30. Liotta, Paul. (August 23, 2021). "NYC fast ferry is finally citywide as St. George route launches".
31. "Main Line".
32. (March 9, 1886). "Staten Island's Rapid Transit: The New System Which Lessens Time and Increases Facilities".
33. "North Shore line".
34. "MTA NYC Transit – Staten Island Railway Strip map (including bus transfers and parking)".
35. (March 2004). "Feasibility Study of the North Shore Railroad Right-of-Way Project Assessment Report March 2004". [[Borough president#Richmond/Staten Island Borough Presidents.
36. Pitanza, Marc. (2015). "Staten Island Rapid Transit Images of Rail". Arcadia Publishing.
37. (January 2002). "State Island Rapid Transit: The Essential History". The Third Rail Online.
38. (August 23, 2012). "The Wheels That Drove New York: A History of the New York City Transit System". Springer Science & Business Media.