Thoughts for Commute Red Hook to Staten Island (New York, Whitehall: how much, transfer)

[jorgevazquez87]

Hi everyone,

My job has a support position posted for Staten Island, to be specific the local is right off the ferry in St. Georges.

I live in Red Hook and I'm trying to explore as many effective options as possible. Due to my location I MUST take a bus in order to get into either Borough Hall for the 4,5 and stop at Bowling Green to catch the ferry or 4av 9sts for the R and stop at Whitehall Terminal.

The bus are 99% reliable meeting times BUT going into Downtown Brooklyn in the rush hour times is definitely a concern if I want to make it on time.

The local is on a mall so I guess the earliest I might have to show up will be at 7 and leaving at 9 as latest. My shifts will vary with opening, mids and closing.

Now my question is: how reliable is the 4,5 train to Bowling Green and the R to Whitehall, what about the SI Ferry? How realistic and logic is doing this?

I been browsing about the NYC Water Taxi with the Ikea Express but is not 24/7 and dont accept Metrocards and the NYC Ferry is the same thing.

Thanks in advance!

[checkmatechamp13]

On normal days, it's reliable enough in terms of following the posted schedule (I wish it ran more frequently, but that's a different story).

On foggy/snowy/rainy days, they reduce the frequency and extend the trip times (You can sign up for alerts: How do I get Staten Island Ferry service updates? | City of New York ) Generally, boats run every 20-30 minutes instead of every 15-20 minutes. Depending on the exact situation, trip times may get extended from 25 minutes to 40-45 minutes (Sometimes they reduce the frequency and keep the trip times the same).

I live on Staten Island, so I know when they reduce the frequency to every 20 minutes, that schedule runs from 7-9AM Manhattan-bound and 5-7PM Staten Island-bound. (So ferries leave St. George at 7AM, 7:20AM, etc and Whitehall Street at 5PM, 5:20PM, etc). It's stupid that they don't actually put up the modified schedule, and expect you to guess as to when the ferry is going to come. I can't speak on the reverse-peak direction (Normally, they just leave the other end 30 minutes later, but in inclement weather like I said, the travel times get extended as well).

In any case, I can't speak personally on the reliability of the NYC Ferry, but I would still recommend it over the subway. It's the same price as the bus-subway (the SI Ferry is free either way) and it's also faster and saves you the stress of transferring (and in the case of Downtown Brooklyn, the traffic). The 4/5 are usually frequent/reliable (albeit crowded) but you should check the MTA website before you go to see if there are delays. I recommend you also use the SubwayTime app/website which tells you when the next train is coming (sometimes, the MTA website might show good service, but there's a 15 minute wait for a train, so if you check, you can take a backup subway line which might back the difference between making and missing the ferry).

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by jorgevazquez87

Hi everyone,

My job has a support position posted for Staten Island, to be specific the local is right off the ferry in St. Georges.

I live in Red Hook and I'm trying to explore as many effective options as possible. Due to my location I MUST take a bus in order to get into either Borough Hall for the 4,5 and stop at Bowling Green to catch the ferry or 4av 9sts for the R and stop at Whitehall Terminal.

The bus are 99% reliable meeting times BUT going into Downtown Brooklyn in the rush hour times is definitely a concern if I want to make it on time.

The local is on a mall so I guess the earliest I might have to show up will be at 7 and leaving at 9 as latest. My shifts will vary with opening, mids and closing.

Now my question is: how reliable is the 4,5 train to Bowling Green and the R to Whitehall, what about the SI Ferry? How realistic and logic is doing this?

I been browsing about the NYC Water Taxi with the Ikea Express but is not 24/7 and dont accept Metrocards and the NYC Ferry is the same thing.

Thanks in advance!

Second subway (R) to ferry then reverse going home.


Once you get into the routine you'll know how much extra time to give as a cushion in case boats are running behind schedule and or there are subway issues.


If weather is nice the walk from Bowling Green isn't that bad, but you'll appreciate being right across the street at Whitehall if you've got literally minutes to make that boat.

[checkmatechamp13]

Originally Posted by BugsyPal

If weather is nice the walk from Bowling Green isn't that bad, but you'll appreciate being right across the street at Whitehall if you've got literally minutes to make that boat.

The R runs less frequently than the 4/5. As a Staten Island resident, I know I'd rather walk/run the extra two minutes (especially since Whitehall Street involves more stairs) than stand on the platform for a longer time, checking my watch. Also, the R train involves a backtrack (he has to head east to 4th Avenue to travel west to Manhattan).

[jorgevazquez87]

Thank you everyone for your advice!