View source for South Ferry (Manhattan)

{{Short description|Southern tip of Manhattan in New York City}}
{{Redirect|South Ferry Terminal|the New York City Subway terminal station|South Ferry–Whitehall Street (New York City Subway)#IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms|other uses|South Ferry (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2025}}
[[File:Manhattan Island Ferry Terminals photo D Ramey Logan.jpg|thumb|350px|View of the slips of the ferry buildings in South Ferry (December 2014)]]
[[File:Staten_Island_Ferry_Whitehall_Terminal_(48126534661).jpg|thumb|275px|Front entrance of the [[Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal]]]]
[[File:Battery Maritime Building.jpg|thumb|275px|The [[Governors Island]] ferry leaves from the [[Battery Maritime Building]]]]
[[File:Whitehall Street - South Ferry Station (cropped).JPG|thumb|275px|Entrance to the [[South Ferry/Whitehall Street (New York City Subway)|South Ferry/Whitehall Street]] subway station at [[Peter Minuit Plaza]]]]

'''South Ferry''' is at the southern tip of [[Manhattan]] in New York City and is the embarkation point for [[ferry|ferries]] to [[Staten Island]] ([[Staten Island Ferry]], through the [[Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal]]) and [[Governors Island]]. [[Battery Park]], abutting South Ferry on the west, has docking areas for ferries to [[Liberty Island]] and [[Ellis Island]]. Its name is derived from the more southerly route of service of the historical '''South Ferry Company''' in comparison to the [[Fulton Ferry (ferry)|Fulton Ferry]].

== History ==
The name "South Ferry" derives from a more southerly route of service than previous ferry lines between what were then the separate cities of New York and [[Brooklyn]], rather than from being at the southern tip of Manhattan.

The "Old Ferry" (later renamed the [[Fulton Ferry (ferry)|Fulton Ferry]]), crossed between Manhattan and Brooklyn from streets that in each city would eventually be renamed "Fulton Street". The "New Ferry" (also called the [[Catherine Ferry (East River)|Catherine Ferry]]) crossed on a more northerly route than the Old Ferry, between Catherine Street in Manhattan, and Main Street in Brooklyn.

As the [[City of Brooklyn]] grew, the area south of Atlantic Avenue, known as [[South Brooklyn]], began to become developed, but the area lacked easy access to the ferry terminals in the northern parts of that city. Calls for a new ferry on a more southerly route were first brought up before the New York City Council in 1825, the proposal being commonly known as the "New South Ferry" since 1826,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Committee |first=New York (N Y. ) Common Council Law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5FLstwAACAAJ |title=Report of the Law Committee on the Subject of a New South Ferry |date=1826 |publisher=The Committee |language=en |access-date=2022-01-26 |archive-date=2024-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730055721/https://books.google.com/books?id=5FLstwAACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> but progress stalled until the issue was taken up by the City of Brooklyn in 1833.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nHVAAAAMAAJ |title=All the Proceedings in Relation to the New South Ferry Between the Cities of New York and Brooklyn, from Dec. 1825 to Jan. 1835 |date=1835 |language=en |access-date=2022-01-26 |archive-date=2024-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730055721/https://books.google.com/books?id=4nHVAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> The '''South Ferry Company''' established the South Ferry on May 16, 1836 to connect [[Lower Manhattan]] to the foot of [[Atlantic Avenue (Brooklyn)|Atlantic Avenue]] in Brooklyn and the month-old [[Atlantic Avenue Railroad|Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad]] (renamed Atlantic Avenue Railroad, later the Atlantic Avenue Railroad's [[streetcar line]], later still part of the [[South Side Railroad of Long Island]], now the [[Atlantic Branch]] of the [[Long Island Rail Road]]) through the [[Cobble Hill Tunnel]]. "South Ferry" was also the name of the [[South Ferry, Brooklyn|Brooklyn landing and ferry house]]. In the 20th and early 21st centuries, the Brooklyn landing site served cargo as Brooklyn Piers 5 and 6, now part of [[Brooklyn Bridge Park]]

The Fulton Ferry Company, which then operated only the Fulton Ferry, merged with the South Ferry Company in 1839 to form the [[Union Ferry Company of Brooklyn|New York and Brooklyn Union Ferry Company]].<ref name=LI>{{cite book |first=Nathaniel Scudder |last=Prime |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=elEOAAAAIAAJ |title=A History of Long Island: from its first settlement by Europeans, to the year 1845 |pages=376–380 |year=1845 |publisher=R. Carter |access-date=2022-12-03 |archive-date=2024-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730055721/https://books.google.com/books?id=elEOAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=[[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]] |location=[[Brooklyn|Brooklyn, NY]] |url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50333279/ |title=History of South Ferry |date=22 August 1886 |page=5 |access-date=4 June 2017 |archive-date=30 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730055722/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50333279/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Transportation connections ==
South Ferry is served by several [[New York City Subway]] stations.

* [[South Ferry/Whitehall Street (New York City Subway)|South Ferry–Whitehall Street]], a station complex consisting of three components:
** [[South Ferry (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)|New South Ferry]] on the [[IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line]]; serving the {{NYCS trains|Broadway-Seventh South Ferry}}
** [[South Ferry loops (New York City Subway)|South Ferry loops]] on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and the [[IRT Lexington Avenue Line]]; (there are two platforms, both are closed to passengers; the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line temporarily reopened to provide replacement service from 2013 to 2017, after the new station was flooded by [[Hurricane Sandy]].)
** [[Whitehall Street (BMT Broadway Line)|Whitehall Street]] on the [[BMT Broadway Line]]; serving the {{NYCS trains|Broadway south}}
* [[Bowling Green (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)|Bowling Green]] on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line; serving the {{NYCS trains|Lexington south}} (some Lexington Avenue Line trains stopped at [[South Ferry (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)|South Ferry]] until 1977)
* [[Broad Street (BMT Nassau Street Line)|Broad Street]] on the [[BMT Nassau Street Line]]; serving the {{NYCS trains|Nassau}}

Also serving the ferry terminal directly is the [[M15 SBS (New York City bus)|M15 Select Bus Service]] route via a bus loop directly at the front door of the terminal. The {{NYC bus link|M15|M20|M55|prose=y}} local routes stop on nearby streets.<ref>{{cite NYC bus map|M }}</ref>

Starting in 1877, South Ferry also hosted [[South Ferry (IRT elevated station)|a four-track elevated terminal]] with access to all Manhattan elevated train lines running up [[IRT Second Avenue Line|Second]], [[IRT Third Avenue Line|Third]], [[IRT Sixth Avenue Line|Sixth]] and [[IRT Ninth Avenue Line|Ninth]] Avenues. The station was closed in 1950 after the cessation of Third Avenue Elevated service.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Parke |first1=Richard H. |date=December 23, 1950 |title=Old 'El' Link End Its 72-Year Uproar—Lower East Side Residents Are Happy and Mission Head Now Expects to Sleep |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/12/23/archives/old-el-link-ends-its-72year-uproar-lower-east-side-residents-are.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=30 July 2024 |page=30 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Battery Maritime Building]]
* [[Battery Park City Ferry Terminal]]
* [[Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn]]
* [[List of ferries across the East River]]
* [[Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal]]
* [[Peter Minuit Plaza]]
* [[South Ferry, Brooklyn]]
* [[Weehawken Port Imperial]]
* [[West Midtown Ferry Terminal]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commonscat-inline|South Ferry (Manhattan)}}

{{Financial District, Manhattan}}
{{Wikidatacoord|Q7567223|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:South Ferry (Manhattan)| ]]
[[Category:East River]]
[[Category:Ferries of New York City]]
[[Category:Ferry transportation in New York City]]
[[Category:Long Island Rail Road]]
[[Category:Port of New York and New Jersey]]
[[Category:Staten Island Ferry]]
[[Category:Transportation in Manhattan]]