1,613 Comments for Staten Island Boat Graveyard

What no-one has yet pulled Carl up on is the physics of this. It's been made clear, both in this discussion and in previous ones, that the water is very dirty and polluted, that it's very shallow, and that the silt is exceedingly dangerous. Thus, I imagine that there is a limit to the angles one can achieve in photographing these desolate wrecks. From some of the pictures, it looks like Motts was in a motorboat of some sort. I doubt it would be possible to manouever completely round each of these hulls to achieve what Carl believes is s decent shot. He seems to forget that this isn't on land, where the photographer can position his subjects to achieve the perfect shot.

For myself, I think the standard of photography is very high, especially given the subject matter, and the condition of the places Motts photographs. I agree with the others; Motts has an eye for photographing subjects that bring out an emotional response.

i believe that this is used to keep the ships tempeture for the engine at a average temp and not to high.

can i ask wat happened here if you know email me at jdarkqueen@aol.com

A number of railroad-owned tugs years ago had short stacks, to enable them to travel up the Harlem River and under bridges that were not obliged to open for them as they pushed carfloats and covered barges to and from railroad-owned freight stations in the Bronx. One such railroad tug with a short stack was also one of the very last DL&W steam tugs, the HARLEM.

The old NYCRR tugs, based at Weehawken until the Penn-Central merger of 1968, were perhaps the most famous of all NY Harbor railroad tugs. One of them even had a brief "co-starring" role with Barbra Striesand in "Funny Girl" back around 1967. The NYCRR had one of the largest and most diverse marine fleets in the harbor right into the 1960s. Truly, this pic symbolizes an era long since departed down the echoing corridors of time.

This is all that remains of the old Erie-Lackawanna RR ferryboat "LACKAWANNA". Originally built as the HAMBURG in 1891, she was renamed CHATHAM during the World War One. In 1949, she was dieselized and renamed LACKAWANNA. Her diesel engine gave off a high-pitched whining noise (I recall this growing up in the 60s) and was nicknamed "WHINING WILLIE" by the commuters riding her. She was one of the last active boats in the E-L fleet when all ferry service between Hoboken and Barclay St. was shut down in November of 1967. She also was the only Lackawanna boat to have radar installed on an experimental basis. As recently as the 1980s, this once-beautiful old ferry was still basically intact, albiet decaying and weatherbeaten.

Truly a sad and melancholy scene, one that truly saddens the heart of any enthusiast of classic harbor ferries. That ferry was one of the old diesel-electrics operated by the City Of New York from 1959 to 1966. The wreck in this picture is either the remains of the SEAWELLS POINT or her sister, JAMESTOWN. These two ferries were built in 1926 by the American Brown Boveri Electric Corporation of Camden, NJ. During the 60s, these two boats operated between E. 134th St in the Bronx, and Rikers Island, until a bridge was built in 1966. The ferries last ran on October 31, 1966, and were both sold for scrap to Wittes .

I love these old decaying boat photos
I see them as very unique art
Something about old derelect boats
Either high and dry on land laying in the weeds
Or slowly sinking in their berths and weathering away that fascinates me
I would like to visit that place
And I am searching for other places like this one

Well, what a wonderful journey this has been!
When my dad still had his boat, every few years we'd make a round-trip around Staten Island, and I ALWAYS thought the Island's most fascinating side was the Arthur Kill & Kill Van Kull. There's stuff back there that can ONLY be seen from a boat. Exploring it in a kayak must be even better - cause when you're in a 30 ft power boat, you just don't dare to get in nice & close. So, I recommend to anyone who finds these photos interesting, to find someone with a boat & take a ride on "the other side". Most people are only familiar with the Raritan Bay side, with it's beaches & nice homes. Trust me - you won't regret a tour of the Arthur Kill. And you might even get some free "Cheap thrills" if a tug passes & throws a big wake at you! Yee-haw! Happy sailing.

Here's another (shorter) poem:

Just my luck
I lie in the muck
I wouldn't be here
If I'd been born a truck.

:) Just a little competition for Mike.

I'm amazed that this tug was built over 100 years ago! I had no idea they were that old. And to think she offered over 1/2 century of service before being laid to rest with her buddies. That's a good, long useful life for a working vessel.

I doubt there was a whole lot of dancing on any of these ships. From what I see, most are work boats: tugs, tankers, ferries, etc. Sorry if I burst any of the imaginative bubbles going on out there! These were no Poseidons or Titanics...

I was born in NYC. When I was a little blue eyed, blonde haired angel, my dad used to take me down to the docks when the Queen Elizabeth (the first one) and the Queen Mary docked at the piers. I would stand on the pier, holding onto my dad's hand, and look up at the ship at the front (is that the aft?, I dunno) Well, looking at this shot reminds me of those long ago times. I guess I'm aging myself, but as I told Tom Tom, I'm older than dirt, so that will suffice. But I feel sadness looking at these derelicts. The Queen Elizabeth went down somewhere in the Pacific and the Queen Mary is berthed in Long Beach, Ca. , which I have been on. These vessels have some stories to tell!

oh! Please tell me you didn't stand in that water!

Fantastic pic by the way. I love boats =^__^=

Anyone know which ferry this happens 2 be ?