Staten Island Ferry; image by Tom Adkinson.

NEW YORK, NY – You can spend a bundle on attractions and sightseeing in New York, but the Staten Island Ferry should be at the top of your activity list for a free diversion. Make your way to the tip of Manhattan and step on board one the nine distinctively orange ferries that scurry back and forth to Staten Island. Watch the helicopters overhead and the many types of boats and ships navigating through New York Harbor on the 25-minute ferry crossings. The highlight for most leisure passengers is passing spectacularly close to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

Statue of Liberty; image by Tom Adkinson.

Nine ferries are in the fleet, and most of their 22 million passengers a year are commuters. There are 117 crossings a day on weekdays, and the daily passenger count is about 70,000. Weekends are somewhat less hectic, with 96 trips a day. An attraction barely a 10-minute walk from the Staten Island ferry terminal is the National Lighthouse Museum, where volunteer Bob Eisle fills you with information and then asks you whether you know what the most famous lighthouse in the world is. The answer is obvious when you think about it – it’s the Statue of Liberty.