It’s something everyone should do at least once in their life. If they can. And that’s… take the ferry out to Staten Island.
I’ve done that a few times. You get on in lower Manhattan and go out to Staten Island and see the harbor, Statue of Liberty, etc. It’s a nice way to kill an hour.
The problem is this: once you are in Staten Island, there’s not a lot to do (plus you have no means of transportation other than cabs). So most people turn around and get on the ferry right back to Manhattan. Which is nice.
But the governing bodies of Staten Island think they’ve got a way to get you to stay out there… and it’s a good one.
Or, more precisely, a 630-foot-tall one that would become the world’s largest Ferris wheel.
It is the city’s latest and arguably most ambitious, if not audacious, attempt to draw tourists to Staten Island. Workers have begun laying the foundation for the wheel, which will carry as many as 1,440 riders at a time and will be visible across New York Harbor.
I like it.