New York was built because of its harbour, and for most of its history the way to get anywhere was by boat. The bridges and tunnels ended that, and then the ferries came back — first as a novelty, then as a genuine part of the transport network.
For a visitor they are the best value in the city. A harbour crossing that would be a paid excursion anywhere else costs a subway fare here, or nothing at all.
The free one
Staten Island Ferry — Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan to St George, Staten Island. Twenty-five minutes, every thirty minutes or better, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and completely free.
It passes within about half a mile of the Statue of Liberty, gives you the whole Lower Manhattan skyline from the water on the way out, and has open outdoor decks at bow and stern.
Stand on the starboard side going out and the port side coming back; that is the side Liberty is on both ways.
The catch: you cannot stay on board. Everyone disembarks at St George and re-boards for the return, which takes about ten minutes.
NYC Ferry
A network of routes run by the city since 2017, at slightly more than a subway fare per trip. It does not accept OMNY — buy on the NYC Ferry app.
The routes worth knowing:
East River — Wall Street, DUMBO, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Long Island City, East 34th Street. The best sightseeing in New York for the money, passing under the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges.
Rockaway — Wall Street to the Rockaways in about an hour, which turns a beach day into an easy one.
Astoria, South Brooklyn, Soundview and Governors Island routes fill in the rest.
Bicycles are carried for a small surcharge on most routes.
The harbour islands
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island — Statue City Cruises from Battery Park in Manhattan or Liberty State Park in New Jersey. This is the only legal way to land on either island. Every other boat you are offered on the waterfront sails past without stopping, and the people selling those are not always clear about it.
One ticket covers both islands. Allow half a day minimum; a full day is better.
Governors Island — from the Battery Maritime Building next to the Staten Island Ferry terminal, eight minutes. Small fare, free on weekend mornings before a cutoff time and always free for under-13s and over-65s. Also a seasonal service from Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
The cable car
Roosevelt Island Tramway — from 59th Street and Second Avenue, over the East River, alongside the Queensboro Bridge, in about four and a half minutes. It runs on a standard subway fare and accepts OMNY, which makes it the cheapest aerial view in New York.
Roosevelt Island itself is worth the trip: Four Freedoms Park at the southern tip is a Louis Kahn memorial of enormous granite blocks, finished forty years after his death, and it is one of the calmest places in the city.
Private cruises
Circle Line runs the classic full circumnavigation of Manhattan — about two and a half hours, and genuinely good if you want the whole island explained. Classic Harbor Line runs sailing yachts and 1920s-style motor yachts. Bateaux and Hornblower do dinner cruises.
All of them cost many times the ferry fare. The Circle Line full loop is the one that offers something the free boats do not, because it goes all the way round including the Harlem River.
Kayaking, free
Volunteer boathouses offer free kayaking on the Hudson in summer at Pier 26 in Tribeca, Pier 96 in Hell’s Kitchen and Governors Island, and on the Brooklyn side at Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Red Hook boathouse. Twenty-minute sessions in a protected embayment, no experience needed, no charge.
The waterfront on foot
Hudson River Park runs four miles down the west side of Manhattan with a continuous greenway.
Brooklyn Bridge Park runs 1.3 miles from DUMBO to Atlantic Avenue.
The Battery at the southern tip.
Domino Park and Gantry Plaza State Park across the East River in Brooklyn and Queens, both with the Manhattan skyline in front of them and hardly anybody on them.