{"id":210955,"date":"2026-04-27T09:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T09:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/210955\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T09:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T09:29:10","slug":"how-can-colin-jost-and-pete-davidson-offload-their-boondoggle-ferry-sink-it-artificial-reef-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/210955\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can Colin Jost and Pete Davidson Offload Their Boondoggle Ferry? Sink It, Artificial Reef Experts Say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Within the first minute of SNL\u2019s viral spoof<\/a> of the Barbie movie\u2019s song \u201cI\u2019m Just Ken,\u201d a bleached and toned Pete Davidson softly croons about his purchase of a 277-foot Staten Island Ferry: \u201cWhen I\u2019m high, I do things like call up Colin Jost and say, \u2018Homey, we should buy a boat.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It is one of the many references the comedians have made to their acquisition of the former John F. Kennedy Staten Island Ferry vessel for $280,100 in 2022<\/a> \u2014 a non-operational, 61-year-old ship they planned to transform into an event space with restaurants, bars, hotel rooms and a concert venue.<\/p>\n

But since then, the massive ferry has become an embarrassing white elephant, moored to a pier they rent out at Staten Island\u2019s Caddell Dry Dock and Repair. Meanwhile, Jost and Davidson have been sued <\/a>for failure to pay a law firm involved in the ferry\u2019s dockage and towing contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHelp our family,\u201d joked<\/a> Scarlett Johansson, Jost\u2019s wife, about starting a GoFundMe when asked about his purchase last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"StatenStaten Island Ferry owners Colin Jost and Pete Davidson. Credit: Kathy Hutchins\/Shutterstock, DFree\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Now, they have an option to offload their slowly sinking ship: the state wants to send it to a watery grave \u2014 as a home for sea life that could make it the first large vessel in New York to be reborn underwater as an artificial reef.<\/p>\n

The state official in charge of creating habitats for underwater creatures told THE CITY in no uncertain terms: He wants the ferry.<\/p>\n

Marine biologist and diver Chris LaPorta has spent the last 26 years working as the sole coordinator for the state\u2019s Department of Conservation\u2019s artificial reef program<\/a>, where he spends much of his time chasing leads on vessels that would make good reefs.<\/p>\n

And he\u2019s got his eyes on the John F. Kennedy.<\/p>\n

Unlike other states that sink boats to create habitat, New York has yet to land a large vessel for reefing. States like New Jersey<\/a> and Maryland<\/a> have sunken retired naval crafts, which LaPorta called the \u201cjewel in the crown\u201d of artificial reefs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething like a Staten Island Ferry would be approaching a naval vessel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are gorgeous. They would make fine habitat, for sure,\u201d he added. \u201cThink about the iconic look on the bottom for divers because you\u2019ve got that beautiful blazing orange and the navy blue. It would be something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Should New York obtain a large vessel of its own to sink, LaPorta would deposit it in one of the designated reef zones that create complex habitats which otherwise do not exist on the flat, sandy bottoms of New York waters.<\/p>\n

LaPorta took a tour of the John F. Kennedy when it went up for auction.<\/p>\n

Bill Cadden wanted it, too. He is a retired marine engineer who founded the nonprofit Long Island Reef Society to create artificial reefs out of concrete, rock or steel objects. He is often in touch with LaPorta at the DEC, and both men tap into their decades in the marine industry to source for reefing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that the Kennedy was going to be coming out of service because they were building three new boats down in Florida,\u201d Cadden said. \u201cWhen the new boats started rolling in, the Kennedy, being the last of her class, was going to be on the chopping block.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But they lost out to the pair of entertainers in the public auction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where Mr. Davidson and company came into the picture,\u201d Cadden said. \u201cThey had the winning bid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sea Creatures and Seafarers\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two groups benefit from artificial reefs: underwater species and humans who take an interest in them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Kennedy\u2019s large size, with the capacity to hold 3,500 passengers, would allow for currents and tides to flow through it, providing places for fish to swim in and hide from predators, Cadden explained. Its steel structure also means it has staying power to stick around for a long time.<\/p>\n

Carl Lobue, senior marine scientist at The Nature Conservancy in New York who also does work on local artificial reefs, said the areas around man-made habitats are lively.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve taken some underwater videos of these areas, and they\u2019re really full of different critters,\u201c he said. \u201cIt\u2019s quite a diverse amount of marine life, from the little anemones that live on the structures, to the little crabs, shrimp and all of the fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HousesHouses sit along Jamaica Bay on Broad Channel, May 21, 2024. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

Artificial reefs also boost the \u201ceconomic engine\u201d that fishing is in the New York and New Jersey area by creating new spots for fishermen to find game, according to Lobue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would become a destination for people and marine life,\u201d he said about the Kennedy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most of New York\u2019s ocean bottom is a marine life \u201cdesert,\u201d without rock reefs and structures for certain species to cling to. According to Cadden, \u201cThe only place where there\u2019s structure for marine life, for fish and other critters, is from vessels that have been sunk or material that has been put down for that purpose<\/p>\n

Buyer\u2019s Remorse\u00a0<\/p>\n

For many, an impulse purchase entails a late-night fast food order, but for the two Staten Islanders who struck big performing on SNL, it was a 2,100-ton steel vessel.<\/p>\n

Now, the pair apparently has buyer\u2019s remorse, shown through self-deprecating humor. (Neither Jost nor Davidson\u2019s representatives responded to THE CITY\u2019s inquiries about their future plans for the ferry.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why idiots should not be allowed to do things,\u201d Jost said on Late Night with Seth Meyers less than a year after the purchase.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn case you\u2019re wondering why I had to do a show in Saudi Arabia, we\u2019re losing millions on this ferry,\u201d Davidson said on SNL five months ago, referencing his much-criticized performance<\/a> at the Riyadh Comedy Festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou watch SNL every so often, he\u2019ll be joking, \u2018Here, take my boat,\u2019\u201d Cadden told THE CITY about Jost.<\/p>\n

In fact, the japes about their \u201cmistake\u201d have become so common, Lobue at the Nature Conservancy has started collecting them.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time it gets mentioned on Saturday Night Live as a little side joke, I\u2019m constantly clipping the videos and sending them to the artificial reef unit at DEC,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jost and Davidson are far from the first people to purchase a vessel with a dream but without any seafaring expertise. There have been a series of unsuccessful endeavors to repurpose old ferries<\/a> in New York \u2014 like the Prudence Ferry purchased over a decade ago by the Long Island City-based company Plaxall with the idea of turning it into a floating beer garden. Cadden will now sink that ship for a reef in June, as previously reported by THE CITY<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single vessel was bought with a fantastic idea of reuse, but bought by someone who is not in the marine business,\u201d Cadden said. \u201cSounds good on paper, but putting it into practice is going to be very, very expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cadden estimated the cost of Jost and Davidson\u2019s not-yet-realized plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could probably add two zeros to the number that they paid,\u201d he told THE CITY, \u201cthen maybe double it, between what it\u2019s going to cost them to upgrade and make the vessel compliant, and find a place to berth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe John F. Kennedy Staten Island Ferry transports passengers, June 30, 2016. Credit: rblfmr\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

LaPorta underscored the easiest way to stop the cash flow: let the boat flood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always have my eyes out, and if there\u2019s any opportunity, I certainly will be in communication with them,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even selling it for scrap metal wouldn\u2019t be a great option, Cadden said; the costs of transporting and cutting it up would likely outweigh the value of the material.<\/p>\n

Lobue, for his part, said he recognizes Jost and Davidson\u2019s vision for the Kennedy and what it symbolizes for the borough they hail from.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But ultimately, he thinks they may be falling victim to a literal sunk-cost fallacy: not wanting to give up on something you\u2019ve already put time and money into.<\/p>\n

As a scientist, Lobue put it in entomological terms, likening them to a type of wasp that must dig a hole down to the water line to lay eggs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point in time, the wasp will realize, \u2018I started digging in the wrong spot,\u2019\u201d he said. But the wasp won\u2019t change course and \u201cwill invariably dig one hole.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will never give up, and if they don\u2019t reach water, they\u2019ll just die digging. I do think that it\u2019s human nature to do something like that, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Within the first minute of SNL\u2019s viral spoof of the Barbie movie\u2019s song \u201cI\u2019m Just Ken,\u201d a bleached…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,22882,9,24,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-210955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-brooklyn","9":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","10":"tag-brooklyn-news","11":"tag-ferries","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-nyc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}