Every day during January, Billie Cohen is documenting a different commute for NYTimes.com/realestate, with additional details and reader comments here on City Room.
New York Water Taxi to Haverstraw
Jan. 4 | The people in the crowd on the top deck of the New York Water Taxi from Yonkers, N.Y., to Wall Street, said they got a special show as they came in from Yonkers, on a recent morning commute. An osprey careened close by the ship with a fish caught in its beak. “You don’t get that on Metro-North,” cracked one of the regulars.
Two nights later, as topsiders watched a storm brewing over Yonkers, a brilliant deep-colored rainbow stretched right over the pier. It was the same man who broke the awed silence and snapping of cell-phone cameras, saying, “You definitely don’t get that on Metro-North.”
On Thursday night I took the 5:30 ferry from Wall Street up to Haverstraw along the Hudson River, stopping at Yonkers along the way.
During my commute I learned that complimentary coffee and snacks are served in the morning, and even more unusual, there was a group of people who love their commute.
Former captives of convoluted car-bus-train-and-subway treks, they are now devoted fans who have created an ad hoc club on the ferry, complete with Friday evening onboard happy hours. This was the rare group of people who didn’t just endure their commute; they truly enjoyed it. And they’re not crazy.
