Ferry Named for Renowned Catholic Activist Who Lived and Worked on Staten Island
$85 Million State-of-the-Art Ferry to Set Sail Later This Year
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today officially commissioned the Dorothy Day, the third and final new, 4,500-passenger Ollis-class Staten Island Ferry vessel joining the fleet this year. The $85 million, state-of-the-art ferry is named for Day, the legendary 20th-century Catholic peace activist. The Dorothy Day has completed harbor trials and passed U.S. Coast Guard inspections — and will serve passengers for the first time later this year.
“Dorothy Day represents so much of what is great about New Yorkers and our city, and we are proud to honor her by commissioning this Staten Island Ferry,” said Mayor Adams. “Having her name on this boat will remind New Yorkers and visitors alike of her fight for peace and against hunger, fights that we are continuing every day. Thank you to all of those carrying on her legacy.”
“The Staten Island Ferry is a staple of life in New York — shepherding almost 10 million people to and from Staten Island every year. It’s only right that we modernize our fleet to ensure the country’s busiest ferry route operates effectively,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “Dorothy Day was an incredible activist and a stalwart New Yorker. I’m glad that we are honoring her memory with our newest ferry. I am grateful to the crews at DOT that tirelessly keep this gateway to our great borough open, and I can’t wait to take a ride on the Dorothy Day.”
“We at DOT and the incredible Staten Island Ferry staff are proud to celebrate Dorothy Day today, and we are excited to bring the ferry with her name into service later this year,” said DOT Commissioner Rodriguez. “During her life, Day loved riding this ferry — as she knew how a short ferry ride can serve as a peaceful, even meaningful, escape from the hustle and bustle of the life in our city. Best of all, given her lifetime commitment to equity, Day would be thrilled at how DOT is committed to keeping admission to this ferry free for all.”
The newest Staten Island Ferry, the Dorothy Day, is preceded by two new ferries this past year, all constructed by Eastern Shipbuilding in Panama City, FL. The Staff Sergeant Michael H. Ollis — named for a war hero from New Dorp killed saving the life of a fellow soldier in Afghanistan — began passenger service in February. The Sandy Ground — the second Ollis-class boat, which honors one of the nation’s first Black settlements that was located on Staten Island’s South Shore and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad — was commissioned by Mayor Adams in February and began regular passenger service in June.
The three new Ollis-class ferries commissioned this year come with support from funds provided by a range of federal agencies and elected officials, including U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The new ferries are larger, more modern, and safer in extreme weather than earlier fleets. They feature popular design elements of past Staten Island Ferries, including phone-charging outlets and more comfortable seating, as well as an oval upper-deck promenade that serves, for the first time, as an outdoor “walking track” for riders.
“My grandmother loved the Staten Island Ferry, so what an honor to have one named after her,” said Martha Hennessy, social justice activist and granddaughter of Dorothy Day. “In these days of global instability, let us use this moment to remember her efforts to make peace.”
“Dorothy Day is one of the most significant figures in the history of the church in the United States, and we pray she will one day be a saint,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York. “She was also a devoted resident of Staten Island and Manhattan. It is fitting that this ferry will keep her name alive, and, please God, help introduce new generations to her radical love of God and neighbor.”
Dorothy Day (1897-1980) was a convert to Catholicism who led the Catholic Worker movement, founded during the Great Depression. As editor of The Catholic Worker newspaper, she maintained the movement’s pacifism even during World War II, while operating soup kitchens, including one on the Lower East Side of Manhattan that remains in operation today. Day was repeatedly arrested for her postwar protests during New York City’s air raid drills, which criticized nuclear war preparation. Hailed by Pope Francis in his speech to the U.S. Congress in 2015, Day has been submitted to the Vatican as a candidate for canonization by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Day regularly rode the Staten Island Ferry to reach her cottage on Staten Island’s South Shore and is buried in Pleasant Plains.
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