Ferry to Tottenville
*Photo Courtesy of Barbara Booz
On Sunday, July 9th, in the early evening, we were making a right hand turn onto Amboy Avenue from New Brunswick Avenue in Perth Amboy. As we approached Brace Avenue, we ran into what looked like a large train of cars with New York plates. The cars appeared to becoming from a from a funeral viewing.
When we parked the car, we asked some of the people in this huge procession what was going on. One man looked at us like we had three heads and said, “I’m just trying to get home.”
At this point, I decided to contact someone I know from the police department to see if there was a special event going on in Perth Amboy.
When they called me back, they said headquarters told him that this traffic mess had been happening especially on Sundays for the last couple of weeks.
Speaking to one of the residents who lives in the Budapest section, he said that there always has been heavy traffic, especially during the summer and holidays but never like this.
Unfortunately, especially if you live in Staten Island, the logical choice to go home is over the Outerbridge.
The Bayonne Bridge has been closed for the past two weekends creating even more deadlock. The Perth Amboy residents who live off of Amboy Avenue before and after Rte. 440 are going to be inconvenienced. It’s a no-win situation.
We saw Mayor Diaz on TV the next day (July 10, 2017) discussing the inconvenience and hazards of all this traffic.
South Amboy Mayor Henry has spoken about the progress of bringing back the Ferry Service in South Amboy at the State of the City Addresses for the past few years. South Amboy Residents are looking forward to this happening for some time.
Cars lining up to go on the Ferry in Perth Amboy circa 1950
*Photo Courtesy of Barbara Booz
Maybe Perth Amboy should consider brining back the Ferry to Tottenville as well. The Ferry Service first began in 1684 and continued to 1963.
On one website, people reminisced about taking the Ferry Perth Amboy to Staten Island into New York.
One person stated that in 1948 he took a bus from his house (5 cents) and the Ferry into Staten Island (25 cents) and the Rapid Transit Train to St. George, Staten Island (50 cents), then the Staten Island Ferry to lower Manhattan (5 cents) and the New York Subway (15 cents). The entire round trip via public transportation ($2.00). That’s $20.64 by today’s standards.
The Ferry to Tottenville was big enough to carry cars. Families would often go to Staten Island to a very popular park called Wolf’s Pond for a Fourth of July Picnic. After an enjoyable day there, people would pile back into their cars and take the Ferry back into Perth Amboy to enjoy the fireworks.
Between the price of gasoline and the tolls on bridges and tunnels, it might be worth it to institute the Ferry again. Millions are spent on studies to alleviate traffic. We might as well throw Ferry Service into the mix. Perhaps the City of Perth Amboy and the political leaders of Staten Island and maybe South Amboy, too should send out surveys to residents to see if it will be beneficial to all sides. C.M. & K.M.
