Tag: Ferry

The Match is Set. Or is it?

Alana, Anat, and Marc were hanging out at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in St. George. Why did they choose to hang there? They loved Staten Island. They felt it was exotic.

SI Ferry

Jay was on the incoming Newhouse boat. Christy A. was across the street from the terminal near Staten Island Borough Hall. She was relatively calm for herself. She had a couple of slices at the nearby pizza place. She quenched her thirst with water.

SI Boro Hall

The boat docked, and the passengers got off. Some walked around to the section for the NYC-bound boats. Several headed to Empire Outlets, the bus stops, or the Staten Island Railway. It was a weekend. So, it was not running express. The fact that it was running at all is a shocker.

Christy was heading towards Empire Outlets. Jay was approaching the Old Navy outlet. His cousin was also approaching it. The good heroes split up. But were in sight of each other.

Pomegranate

All of a sudden, glass was flying everywhere. Pieces of moldy bread were knocking it down. Some missed, and the glass hit people. Alana, Anat and Marc furiously texted each other. They wanted to wait before they jumped in. But didn’t want to see people get hurt.

Raisins

Sadly, a piece of glass hit a little girl in the face. She started bleeding. She screamed. Her mother held her and started pressing herself against her to stop the bleeding. As she squeezed her child tighter, a piece of bread smacked her in the left eye. She fell.

Apple

The three had enough. Anat was standing on top of the roof of the Gap Outlet store. Dried fruit was deflecting the glass and bread. Alana raced out of the front door of the Guess outlet and began flooding the area with wine. From the Hagen Dazs store, pomegranates were flying. One nailed Christy A. in the head. Jay fell in a pool of wine. Christy tripped over a few raisins.

Wine

Apple seeds hit Jay in the eyes. Barley landed in his mouth. Apricots smacked Christy in the eyes. Some wound up in her nose. People were running to get away. Many jumped onto the departing Senator John J. Marchi boat. Pretty soon only the fighters were at Empire Outlets—those who didn’t get away sheltered in the stores. Anat jumped off the roof. As she landed, she kicked Jay in the head with her Timberlands. Marc pounced on Christy and poked her eyes with pomegranates. Alana kept the wine flowing.

Likes? Kindness? Courtesy?

Can We Be Polite When We Comment on Social Media?

By Mitchell Slepian 

Positively and negatively, social media has impacted our lives. Even if you’re not active and don’t have any accounts, it has made changes for you. I have not posted on my Facebook wall in nearly six years. I do run several sites for the organizations I belong to. We get thousands of hits, comments, etc. It has helped us grow. We’ve gotten financial and other donations. Our social media efforts have helped drive our narrative.

I do post on a few fun sites. The top two are Coney Island and Staten Island Ferry Friends. Who doesn’t love Coney Island? It has it all – The Cyclone, Nathan’s, the NY Aquarium, the Polar Bears, the Wonder Wheel and more. Much more. I am originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. I spend a lot of time at Coney Island. Funny thing, I spend more time there now than when I lived in Brooklyn. Sadly, I only lived there for a few years.

The holy medicinal waters at Coney Island

As someone who grew up on Staten Island, I have taken my share of rides on that big orange boat. That boat has taken Staten Islanders to and from Manhattan since 1817. It has an annual ridership of 22 million.

I focus heavily on my photography at these locations. My posts get hundreds of likes and comments. One shot of the ferry has over 10,000 views. I do not live for “likes” on Facebook. I once had a dear friend who got upset when his posts didn’t get too many likes. Years ago (Feb. 3, 2017), I wrote a blog post titled “Do We Live for Likes?” It got a few views and likes. 

Deck on the Dorothy Day: Over 10,000 views and 600 likes

It is nice to see my images generate comments and memories. People bring up fun times they had riding the Cyclone, munching on that great hot dog at Nathan’s, or when they heard the man yell, “Shine, shine” on the ferry. Don’t forget the ferry preachers. It is fun.

But what I do not understand is why people must be nasty about the posts. For the record, the people on the Coney Island pages are so positive. There are those afraid of the Cyclone and mention the moments they freaked out on the drop and its twists and turns. I rode it on Mother’s Day. Mom watched while she held my Yankee hat. Once my old Yankee hat blew off on the Cyclone. I am still hoping to find it under the tracks. Who knows what probably tried to eat it? I love it when people comment about how they ran into the ocean in February during a snowstorm. More power to you. 

The Cyclone

For the most part, people on the ferry page are just as nice. But people need to be polite. I recently posted a shot of the Sandy Ground boat docking at St. George. In the shot, the deckhand is at the gate. One person commented, “He looks lost.” Another wrote, “gay.”

Deckhand Getting Ready for the Sandy Ground to Dock

I can understand why people attack how filthy the boat bathrooms are. They need to be cleaned. Or when they are shocked by how clean the decks look in the images I shot. Bear in mind, I usually take photos on weekend morning runs. The ferries would be dirtier if I shot them during rush hour. But why can’t people just either be nice or refrain from commenting? There’s no need to say mean things about the deckhands. I can understand a comment about a needless pitching change that cost the Yankees a game. This is just a guy doing his job. Let’s love the drop on the Cyclone, ride our ferry, have fun, and support it all.

SI Ferry