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Same location, different name


nostalgia

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This also applies to the subway forum but I'm posting the thread here.

 

Why are the M5 and M20 southern terminus named SOUTH FERRY but the Staten Island Ferry terminal is named WHITEHALL?

 

I guess it's to try to get people to take the M5 and M20 buses to South Ferry. Also, since the ferry is the "South Ferry" itself, it just needs a station named on the street it serves (Whitehall St.)

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But outisde ferry terminal in Manhattan has huge sign that says, "STATEN ISLAND FERRY"

That's true. But the ferry schedule lists the Manhattan Terminal as Whitehall. I guess it is to separate it from the other terminal building for Governor's Island.

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Yep,WHITEHALL=Staten Island Ferry

BATTERY MANHATTAN=Govenors Island Ferry

Did the Staten Island ferry ever operate out of Battery Manhattan? Battery Manhattan can handle cars and the ferry has car carrying boats.

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No,Whitehall before renovation handled cars,but cars are banned from the SIF

They must be banned because there aren't any car facilities at Whitehall. But the ferry bought 3 car carrying ferries (Molinari, Spirit of  America, and Marchi) since 2003 so I guess they are open to the possibility of resuming car service.

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South Ferry is the name of the the southern tip of Manhattan. The buses use the neighborhood at the destination. That's why it says South Ferry. At one time ferries left Brooklyn from Atlantic Avenue. That area was then also called "South Ferry" So the boats traveled from South Fery to South Ferry. If the signs in Staten Island said "South Ferry", people would not know if the boats are going to Brooklyn or to Manattan, so they started calling it Whitehall to distinguish it from Brooklyn. They never changed it when the boats stopped leaving Atlantic Avenue which I believe happened not that long after the Brooklyn Bridge was completed, maybe ten years later or so.

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