NEW YORK \u2014 “Saturday NIght Live’s” Pete Davidson and Colin Jost\u2019s Staten Island Ferry boat is being looked at as a possible attraction at NYC\u2019s South Street Seaport during the World Cup, sparking concern among community members that a \u201csix-story nightclub\u201d could soon be floating in their midst, the Daily News has learned.<\/p>\n
Details of the under-the-radar plan are sketchy at this point, with reps for Davidson and Jost, as well as City Hall, not returning calls.<\/p>\n
But the Daily News has learned that an effort is underway to try to fast-track bringing the John F. Kennedy, the two comics\u2019 300-foot-long decommissioned Staten Island Ferry boat, to the Seaport for both the five-week-long FIFA soccer tournament<\/a> \u2014 which kicked off Thursday \u2014 and the America250 celebrations in early July.<\/a><\/p>\n According to a source, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is very much behind \u201cputting the boat in in a hurry\u201d at the Seaport, specifically at Pier 15 \u2014 and the World Cup is the driving force behind the rushed plan.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a level of expedience here that\u2019s surprising,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n The ferry group\u2019s lobbyist \u2014 Ariel Palitz, the city\u2019s first \u201cnightlife mayor\u201d from 2018 to 2023, who now heads Venue Advisors \u2014 also did not respond to questions from The News.<\/p>\n In 2022, the two \u201cSNL\u201d stars, along with comedy club owner Paul Italia and a fourth partner, bought the 60-year-old ferry for $280,000 at city auction, in hopes of turning it into a floating event and party space. Since then, though, the tangerine-colored, former transport vessel has sat at a dry dock on Staten Island.<\/p>\n The hulk has made it to the Seaport once \u2014 in September 2024 when it was towed to Pier 17 for a Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Week event. One weekend last November it was tugged around the harbor wrapped in a pink Nike ad. But a promotional presentation for the vessel a few years ago \u2014 with the tagline \u201cA Look at 6 Decks of Food, Drink and Entertainment\u201d \u2014 made the owners\u2019 dreams for it clear.<\/p>\n However, the South Street Seaport Museum says the comedy duo\u2019s big \u201cparty boat\u201d is the wrong fit for the landmarked historic district. Meanwhile, the chairperson of Lower Manhattan\u2019s Community Board 1<\/a> says the ferry team has yet to make their plan public.<\/p>\n A design rendering, created just a few weeks ago and obtained by the Daily News, shows the powerless ferry berthed on the north side of Pier 15, tucked in behind the replica schooner Pride of Baltimore.<\/p>\n Tammy Meltzer, the CB 1 chairperson, said the ferry group first reached out to the board only last month, after which she met virtually with Italia and lobbyist Palitz. In March, the city\u2019s Economic Development Corporation told the board it was in \u201cexploration conversations\u201d with the ferry team for use of Pier 15, though offered few details.<\/p>\n According to Meltzer, the JFK has a stated capacity of 3,500 \u2014 and could possibly hold up to 5,000.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are very few event spaces in New York City that can hold 3,500 people,\u201d she said, \u201cand this has the capacity to be bigger than that.\u201d<\/p>\n The hope is the ship would be more than merely a massive event space with bars and restaurants, but could also offer public space and programming, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re going to bring something that\u2019s equal to a seven-story building to the waterfront, you should have a plan before you park it (here),\u201d Meltzer told The News. \u201cI think there should be community engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n