Edward: As a kid I used to commute to Marvel comics where I was an intern. My commute was a half-mile walk, a bus, the ferry, and two trains. Took about an hour and forty-five minutes. IT sucked.

But the ferry ride was always a pleasure, even in crappy weather.

Still, the city really needs to sling some tracks under the Verrazano Br. so I can get to Brooklyn without driving or stopping in Manhattan first. The tracks are already there on the ground and they could link up with the R train in Bay Ridge. The Ferry would still be the fasted way into Manhattan though.

That's the only real draw back to Staten Island (assuming that the Urban Hillbillies are a given). Getting to the rest of the city is a pain. The Island is basically like Queens 50yrs ago, or Brooklyn a 100yrs ago -everyone wanted to get to Manhattan but access was limited.

Edward: As a kid I used to commute to Marvel comics where I was an intern. My commute was a half-mile walk, a bus, the ferry, and two trains. Took about an hour and forty-five minutes. IT sucked.

But the ferry ride was always a pleasure, even in crappy weather.

Still, the city really needs to sling some tracks under the Verrazano Br. so I can get to Brooklyn without driving or stopping in Manhattan first. The tracks are already there on the ground and they could link up with the R train in Bay Ridge. The Ferry would still be the fasted way into Manhattan though.

That's the only real draw back to Staten Island (assuming that the Urban Hillbillies are a given). Getting to the rest of the city is a pain. The Island is basically like Queens 50yrs ago, or Brooklyn a 100yrs ago -everyone wanted to get to Manhattan but access was limited.

Ferry rides around Manhattan are generally cool. For a while, I was catching the ferry from Wall Street to Jersey City to get to work, and it was often the highlight of the day. Just long enough to get a nice chunk of reading done and riding on boats (that aren't making you seasick) is cool. I kept thinking I should start bringing a camera with me in the mornings to get a picture of the Statue of Liberty every day for an Internet photo record, Auggie Wren-style, except I was always too lazy to do it despite having an Awesome name for the site (“The Price of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance”).

There was also the moment on the 1-year anniversary of 9/11, when everything stopped in NYC at around 10 to 9 AM. I was on the ferry ride over, and all the boats shut down for the moment of silence. The only sound you could hear was the bells of Trinity Church and the water slapping against the hull. Then everything started up again, and it was back to “normal” in NYC. It was eerie and touching and strange all at once, and the only vaguely comparable moment I can think of is the way the ballroom dancing scene starts and then ends abruptly in “The Fisher King.”