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Other NYC Ferries 1

Other NYC Ferries

In addition to the vessels chronicled on the previous pages the City of New York ran smaller sized ferryboats from various locations on the East Side of Manhattan to points in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. These boats were referred to officially as Category B Vessels and were commissioned between 1922 and 1931. As a boost to their already large egos Mayors John Hylan and James Walker ordered these vessels were named after living local politicians. This practice ceased in the late 1920’s during the Mayor Walker corruption scandals and would officially change in 1934 when Mayor La Guardia signed a law mandating any city owned vessel named in someone’s honor must be done so posthumously. The original names given to these smaller ferry boats were immediately changed to local city neighborhoods.

Bird S. Coler (Fordham)

Commission Date

1922

Gross Tonnage

Passengers / Cars

Builder

Kyle & Purdy Ship Builders

Engines

Propulsion

Horsepower

Length / Width

Built in 1922 on City Island, NY, by the Kyle & Purdy Ship Builders. Was originally used to transport staff and patients from the Bronx to North Brother Island. Later used by the NYC Department of Correction as for inmate transport from Rikers Island to Potter’s Field on Harts Island. Bird S. Coler was prominent in municipal and State politics, and served as first Comptroller of Greater New York. In 1902. In 1905 he was elected president of the Borough of Brooklyn.

Murray Hulbert (Rockaway)

Commission Date

1925

Gross Tonnage

Passengers / Cars

Builder

Todd Shipyard

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Propulsion

Horsepower

Length / Width

Built in 1925 in Brooklyn, NY, by the Todd Shipyard. While under the Hulbert name was used on the Broadway Ferry route between Broadway in Brooklyn and Grand St in Lower Manhattan. Murray Hulbert was a United States Representative from New York. Hulbert became Commissioner of Docks and director of the port of New York City. He was elected president of the Board of Aldermen of New York City in November 1921 and served as acting mayor during the long illness of Mayor Hylan which is probably why Mayor Hylan named a ferryboat after him.

Edward Riegelmann (Bushwick)

Commission Date

1861

Gross Tonnage

892

Passengers / Cars

Bishop & Simonson

Builder

1 Cylinder Vertical Beam

Engines

Steam Paddle Wheel

Propulsion

700

Horsepower

Length / Width

210' / 30'

Sold to U.S. Government 1861. Lost in combat March 21, 1864.The first Clifton , a side wheel steam ferryboat, was built in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1861 and purchased 2 December 1861 by the Navy Department. She was outfitted by J. A. Westervelt of New York, and placed in commission late in 1861 or early 1862, Acting Lieutenant C. H. Baldwin in command. Clifton sailed from New York 22 February 1862 and arrived at Ship Island, La., 18 March for duty with the Mortar Flotilla of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. She was commended by Commander D. D. Porter for assisting in towing the 21 vessels of the flotilla across the bar into the Mississippi River. She joined in the bombardment and capture of Forts Jackson and St. Philip below New Orleans between 18 and 24 April 1862; the attack on the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg, Miss., during which on 28 June 1862 she took a shot through her boiler which killed seven men; and the capture of Galveston, Tex., from 4 to 9 October 1862. After capturing the bark H. McGuin in Bay St. Louis on 18 July 1863, she fired with telling effect on Sibley’s Brigade on 28 July 1863 during a reconnaissance up the Atchafalaya and Teche Rivers. Captured by the Confederates at Sabine Pass, Tex., 8 September 1863, she ran aground there 21 March 1864 when an attempt to run the blockade failed. The Confederates burned her to prevent re-capture.

Julius Miller (Stuyvesant)I

Commission Date

1925

Gross Tonnage

Passengers / Cars

Builder

Todd Shipyard

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Propulsion

Horsepower

Length / Width

Built in 1925 in Brooklyn, NY, by the Todd Shipyard. Was used on various NYC ferry routes mainly between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Miller was a Manhattan Borough President from 1922 to 1930, who is best remembered for pushing through the West Side Elevated Highway from 72nd Street to the tip of Manhattan.

President Connolly (Elmhurst)

Commission Date

1925

Gross Tonnage

Passengers / Cars

Builder

Todd Shipyard

Engines

Propulsion

Horsepower

Length / Width

Built in 1925 in Brooklyn, NY, by the Todd Shipyard. Was used on various NYC ferry routes mainly between Queens and the Bronx. Named for Maurice E. Connolly who was elected borough president of Queens in 1911. Resigned in disgrace in April 1928 during an investigation of a sewer graft scandal. In October 1928 he was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the city, and was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $500.

John H. McCooey (Sea Gate)

Commission Date

1925

Gross Tonnage

Passengers / Cars

Builder

Todd Shipyard

Engines

Propulsion

Horsepower

Length / Width

Built in 1925 in Brooklyn, NY, by the Todd Shipyard. McCooey was an American politician most notable for his involvement as a political boss in the Democratic Party political machine of Brooklyn. McCooey served as chair of the Kings County Democratic Party from 1910 until his death in 1934. Vessel ran mostly between various locations in Upper Manhattan/Bronx and Queens.

William T. Collins (Astoria)

Commission Date

1925

Gross Tonnage

Passengers / Cars

Builder

Staten Island Ship Builders

Engines

Propulsion

Horsepower

Length / Width

Built in 1925 in Staten Island, NY, by the Mariners Harbor Staten Island Ship Builders. A grocer by trade and a Republican power broker from Brooklyn, NY. He was a one time candidate for Mayor of the City of Brooklyn. While under the Meyer name was used on the Broadway Ferry route between Broadway in Brooklyn and Grand St in Lower Manhattan

Henry A. Meyer (Williamsburg)

Commission Date

1925

Gross Tonnage

Passengers / Cars

Builder

Staten Island Ship Builders

Engines

Propulsion

Horsepower

Length / Width

Built in 1925 in Staten Island, NY, by the Mariners Harbor Staten Island Ship Builders. A grocer by trade and a Republican power broker from Brooklyn, NY. He was a one time candidate for Mayor of the City of Brooklyn. While under the Meyer name was used on the Broadway Ferry route between Broadway in Brooklyn and Grand St in Lower Manhattan.

Joseph A. Guider (Flushing)

Commission Date

1925

Gross Tonnage

Passengers / Cars

Builder

Staten Island Ship Builders

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Propulsion

Horsepower

Length / Width

Built in 1925 in Staten Island, NY, by the Mariners Harbor Staten Island Ship Builders. A grocer by trade and a Republican power broker from Brooklyn, NY. He was a one time candidate for Mayor of the City of Brooklyn. While under the Meyer name was used on the Broadway Ferry route between Broadway in Brooklyn and Grand St in Lower Manhattan.

Frank A. Cunningham (Flatbush)

Commission Date

1925

Gross Tonnage

Passengers / Cars

Builder

Staten Island Ship Builders

Engines

Propulsion

Horsepower

Length / Width

225' / 61'

Built in 1925 in Staten Island, NY, by the Mariners Harbor Staten Island Ship Builders. Brooklyn political power broker and alternate delegate to the 1944 Democratic Convention from New York. Vessel ran mostly between various locations in Upper Manhattan/Bronx and Queens.

Henry Bruckner (Tremont)

Commission Date

1925

Gross Tonnage

Passengers / Cars

Builder

Engines

Propulsion

Horsepower

Length / Width

Built in 1925 in Staten Island, NY, by the Mariners Harbor Staten Island Ship Builders. State Assemblyman from the Bronx, Commissioner of Public Works. Unexceptional, Bronx Borough President from 1918 to 1933. “The job, at that point, just kind of asked you to sit on your hands and do nothing. And that’s what he did” according to Bronx Historian Lloyd Ultan. One of the Bronx’s main freeways, the Bruckner Expressway, is named in his honor. The Tremont served the South Bronx to North Brother Island and was utilized on other routes as a reserve boat.

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