Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Staten Island Ferry

Friday’s Headlines: Staten Island Ferry Dinner Theater Edition

There is a LOT going on in this picture.

Could this be the big break that our old man editor, and Off- Off- Off-Broadway (the Broadway in Bushwick, that is), producer has been waiting for?

This is not a doctored photo. In 2016, then Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams endorsed our editor's play, "Murder at the Food Coop."
In 2016, then Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams endorsed our editor's play, "Murder at the Food Coop."
This is not a doctored photo. In 2016, then Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams endorsed our editor's play, "Murder at the Food Coop."

News broke yesterday that the city had sold its decommissioned Staten Island Ferry boat, the John F. Kennedy (NY Post), but then the news was later re-broken to reveal that the buyers were none other than "Saturday Night Live" castmates and Rock natives Colin Jost and Pete Davidson — and they want to turn it into some kind of floating comedy, music, dining venue (Vulture).

This has been our old man's dream, minus the boat, for 20 years. Ever since he produced the award-winning "SUV: The Musical!" and the award-winning "Murder at the Food Coop" at the NYC Fringe Festival, all he's been talking about is giving up his award-nominated journalism career to find a venue (or boat!) to turn into a dinner theater/community center/comedy room/New Wave moviehouse/bar/apartment.

So now his dream is only one phone call (from Jost or Davidson) and a few Dramamine pills away! Mayor Adams obviously wants this to happen (see photo, right), so let's hope some people are working the phones today.

Until then, here's yesterday's other news:

    • Speaking of ferries, daily ferry service starts on Monday to Governors Island. (Brooklyn Paper)
    • We'd been working for more than a week on our big story about the challenges facing Gov. Hochul's "Interborough Express" (aka the Bi-Boro), but then the governor and MTA Chairman Janno Lieber scooped us by revealing many of those very challenges (NYDN). The Post, the TimesGothamist and amNY played it straight.
    • As we have been pointing out for weeks, Council Member Erik Bottcher of Hells Kitchen is emerging as a leader on garbage. (amNY)
    • DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez was on NY1's Inside City Hall last night and he didn't make news — and that should tell you something. Rodriguez talked about creating more bike lanes, more pedestrian space, and reusing public space previously seized by drivers ... and it felt normal, not some radical vision like it did when the former mayor took over in 2014. So that's nice.
    • One reason more and more people are realizing we have to change is because more and more kids are being hurt and killed. On Thursday, a Queens boy was badly injured when a driver struck him on Thursday (amNY). And that incident happened four days after a Park Slope man and his 9-year-old daughter were gravely injured by a driver on Eighth Avenue. That crash was just a few blocks away from where hero nanny Celi Muschamp was killed last month as she saved a child from the path of a pickup truck.
    • In addition to the stuff Dave Colon wrote about on Thursday, Gov. Hochul's budget proposal also freezes any transit fare hikes this year. (NY Post)
    • Our old man editor was featured in a sad look back at the demise of Buzz-a-Rama, the slot-car racing institution in Kensington, which closed last week. (Time Out)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

SQUEEZED: Welcome to the Newly Unsafe Bedford Avenue ‘Bike Lane’

Bike riders are now endangered by parked cars and fast-moving traffic between Willoughby and Flushing avenues, as drivers revert to doing ... exactly what they had been doing.

Eric Adams May Veto Grocery Delivery Minimum Wage that Eric Adams Championed

A 2022 report from the former Democrat promised to expand labor protections to more app delivery workers, but he won't commit to supporting Council bills trying to do just that.

August 6, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: Blow Canada Edition

Wow, something is really putrid in the air over New York City, and it's not the hometown ball clubs. Plus other news.

August 6, 2025

OPINION: Actually, Amazon’s Cargo E-Bikes are Good!

Amazon’s e-cargo bikes alleviate the need for delivery vans and reduce traffic collisions. They also look rad.

August 5, 2025

Inside Instacart’s Astro-Turf Group Opposing Worker Minimum Wage

Instacart is trying everything to pressure the mayor to veto a bill that would require the company to pay its workers minimum wage.

August 5, 2025

Zivarts: How ‘Week Without Driving’ Is Having An Impact

Needing to drive in a car-dependent society is not some sort of moral failure. A one-week teach-in can help elected officials see that.

August 5, 2025
See all posts