South Ferry (Manhattan) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

South Ferry is at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

and is the embarkation point for ferries

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

to Staten Island (Staten Island Ferry

Staten Island Ferry

The Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry service operated by the New York City Department of Transportation that runs between the boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island.-Overview:...

, through the Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal

Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal

The Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal is the terminal in the South Ferry area of Lower Manhattan used by the Staten Island Ferry, which connects the two island boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island...

) and Governors Island

Governors Island

Governors Island is a island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City...

.

South Ferry is served by subway stations including:

South Ferry on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line; serving the train
Whitehall Street – South Ferry on the BMT Broadway Line
BMT Broadway Line
The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan, New York City, United States. , it is served by three services, all colored yellow: the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks...

; serving the trains
Bowling Green
Bowling Green (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
Bowling Green is a station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at Broadway and Battery Place , in the Financial District of Manhattan...

on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line
IRT Lexington Avenue Line
The Lexington Avenue Line is one of the lines of the IRT division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Downtown Brooklyn or Lower Manhattan north to 125th Street in East Harlem. The portion in Lower and Midtown Manhattan was part of the first subway line in New York...

; serving the trains (some Lexington Avenue Line trains went to South Ferry until 1977)

Also serving the ferry terminal directly is the M15 Select Bus Service route via a bus loop directly at the front door of the terminal; other bus routes servicing the area stop on nearby streets.

In earlier years, South Ferry also hosted a four-track elevated terminal

South Ferry (IRT elevated station)

South Ferry was an elevated station at the southern terminal of the IRT Second, Third, Sixth and Ninth Avenue Lines. Two tracks came from the combined Second and Third, and two from the Sixth and Ninth, making four tracks at the terminal, with platforms on the outside and between each pair of tracks...

with access to all Manhattan elevated train lines running up Second

IRT Second Avenue Line

The IRT Second Avenue Line, also known as the Second Avenue El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan, New York City, United States, operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company until city takeover in 1940...

, Third

IRT Third Avenue Line

The IRT Third Avenue Line, commonly known as the Third Avenue El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City. Originally operated by an independent railway company, it was acquired by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and eventually became part of the New York subway...

, Sixth

IRT Sixth Avenue Line

The IRT Sixth Avenue Line, often called the Sixth Avenue Elevated or Sixth Avenue El, was the second elevated railway in Manhattan in New York City, following the Ninth Avenue Elevated. In addition to its transportation role, it also captured the imagination of artists and poets.The line ran south...

and Ninth

IRT Ninth Avenue Line

The IRT Ninth Avenue Line, often called the Ninth Avenue El, was the first elevated railway in New York City. It opened in 1868 as the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, a cable-hauled line. It ceased operation in 1940....

Avenues. These lines were closed in stages from 1938 to 1955.

The origin of the name South Ferry is probably one of the more misunderstood trivia, even to New Yorkers accustomed to using it in a geographical sense. One would suppose that it is so called because it is at the southern tip of Manhattan, and it hosts ferries. In actuality, it was the name of the South Ferry
South Ferry (ferry)
The South Ferry was a ferry route connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York City, United States, joining Whitehall Street and Atlantic Avenue across the East River...

, one of several ferries between what were then the separate cities of New York and Brooklyn. The "Old Ferry", which later was renamed the "Fulton Ferry

Fulton Ferry

Fulton Ferry can refer to the following:*Fulton Ferry , a former ferry connecting Manhattan's and Brooklyn's Fulton Streets*Fulton Ferry Company, which operated the Fulton Ferry*Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, the neighborhood around the former ferry landing...

", crossed between Manhattan and Brooklyn from streets that in each city would eventually be renamed "Fulton Street" after the ferry company. The "New Ferry" crossed further east, between Catherine Street in Manhattan, and Main Street in Brooklyn.

As the City of Brooklyn grew, the area south of Atlantic Avenue (known as "South Brooklyn

South Brooklyn

South Brooklyn is a region or composite neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, encompassing areas of Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Gowanus, Park Slope, and Boerum Hill. Thus it is roughly encompassed by Brooklyn Community Board 6, which in turn approximates the southern half of the 18th...

") began to become built-up, but lacked easy access to the ferry terminals in the northern parts of the city of Brooklyn. Thus, a new ferry was established in 1836 to take passengers directly to Atlantic Avenue and the southern parts of the City of Brooklyn, and so was called the "South Ferry". The ferry connected to the foot of Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad (later part of the Long Island Rail Road

Long Island Rail Road

The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...

) through the Cobble Hill Tunnel

Cobble Hill Tunnel

The Cobble Hill Tunnel of the Long Island Rail Road is an abandoned railroad tunnel beneath Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn, New York City. When open, it ran for about between Columbia Street and Boerum Place...

. In addition, South Ferry

South Ferry, Brooklyn

South Ferry was a ferry landing on the Brooklyn side of the East River, at the foot of Atlantic Avenue at the border of the neighborhoods of Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights. The ferry known as South Ferry traveled to South Ferry, Manhattan...

was the name of the Brooklyn landing and ferry house of the aforementioned ferry.

Battery Park

Battery Park

Battery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...

, abutting South Ferry on the west, has docking areas for ferries to Liberty Island

Liberty Island

Liberty Island is a small uninhabited island in New York Harbor in the United States, best known as the location of the Statue of Liberty. Though so called since the turn of the century, the name did not become official until 1956. In 1937, by proclamation 2250, President Franklin D...

and Ellis Island

Ellis Island

Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...

See also