Recently, at a Staten Island shipyard, activity buzzed around the Cuauhtémoc, a Mexican Navy sailing ship undergoing repairs after its collision with the Brooklyn Bridge in May, which tragically claimed two lives.
Nearby, however, sat a different kind of troubled vessel: the Staten Island Ferry belonging to comedians Colin Jost and Pete Davidson.
Once, the 277-foot John F. Kennedy ferryboat was a bustling hub, transporting over 3,000 passengers daily between Staten Island and Manhattan. Now, it rests on the Kill Van Kull tidal straight, its fate as uncertain as the murky waters it floats upon.
These proud Staten Island natives and former ‘Saturday Night Live’ co-stars, Colin Jost and Pete Davidson, acquired the out-of-service ferry almost four years ago for a cool $280,100.
Their vision for this massive 2,100-ton steel behemoth was grand: a spectacular floating event space, complete with two restaurants, six bars, a concert hall, and luxurious hotel rooms featuring private sundecks. Yet, as the years tick by, their ambitious $35 million dream remains stalled, suggesting their initial investment might have been significantly overvalued.
Jost, 43, openly admitted it was ‘the dumbest and least thought-through purchase’ of his life, while Davidson, 31, lamented it as ‘a lifelong problem for me and Colin.’
Adding to their headaches, the limited liability company ‘Titanic 2,’ formed by Jost, Davidson, and their partners, is now facing a lawsuit for unpaid fees from the law firm responsible for handling dockage and towing contracts.
Filed in June at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, the lawsuit by Nicoletti, Hornig, Namazi, Eckert & Sheehan alleges that ‘Titanic 2’ has failed to meet its financial obligations, totaling $13,500. Val Wamser, representing the plaintiffs, confirmed that as of this date, no payment or response to the lawsuit has been received.
From Heritage Park along Staten Island’s north shore, the bright orange John F. Kennedy is clearly visible on the brackish water. Rendered immobile by a pre-sale engine fire, it now drifts in the harbor, resembling a giant bathtub toy, all while accumulating hefty docking fees.
Steve Kalil, president of Caddell Dry Dock & Repair, remained tight-lipped about the exact monthly docking fees for Jost and Davidson’s ferry, but indicated that a reporter’s guess of $10,000 was ‘on the low side.’ He noted the unusual nature of a vessel remaining docked for so long without repairs and expressed uncertainty about the John F. Kennedy’s future departure.
Kalil commented, ‘I’d like to say soon, but who knows.’ He added, ‘The hope is that they will eventually succeed in their dream. And we would be part of that.’
Anyone familiar with the pitfalls of an ambitious fixer-upper project can surely relate to Jost and Davidson’s predicament. After all, who hasn’t made an impulse purchase during an online auction?
However, seasoned mariners understand that boats are notorious money pits, especially a 60-year-old vessel larger than a superyacht, requiring extensive repairs and prime dock space within one of the world’s most bustling and regulated harbors.
The Auction Begins
The New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services is tasked with offloading the city’s obsolete inventory. This can range from a handful of old office phones or cases of face masks to numerous outdated dictionaries. To clear out these items, the little-known agency frequently conducts public auctions.
The department also handles larger assets, such as decommissioned ferry boats. These are usually purchased by companies for their scrap value, which was the expectation when the John F. Kennedy went up for auction on January 12, 2022.
Larry Siegel, the city employee managing the auction, initially estimated the ferry’s scrap value between $60,000 and $100,000. However, considering its history and unique status, he set the starting bid at $250,000.
Siegel, now retired, aimed to maximize city revenue. When the ferry initially garnered no bids, he employed a classic sales tactic: he slashed the price in half.
Meanwhile, agency staff attempted to generate buzz on social media. Some posts unexpectedly gained traction, at least by typical government engagement standards. One Twitter user even directly messaged NBC, the broadcaster of ‘Saturday Night Live,’ suggesting they inform Davidson and Jost. This might be how these famous Staten Island natives became aware of the unique opportunity. (Both Jost and Davidson declined to comment for this article, with their representatives stating they would prefer to discuss the project ‘closer to completion.’)
The John F. Kennedy, launched in 1965, was the oldest vessel in the Staten Island Ferry fleet. Its auction listing made no attempt to disguise its condition, describing it as being in ‘poor condition’ and ‘decommissioned due to mechanical issues on the propulsion end.’ In essence, it couldn’t move.
Nevertheless, amidst the week-long auction, Jost sent a simple text to Davidson: ‘Split it?’
Both comedians harbored a deep affection for the Staten Island Ferry. Jost recounted riding it to Regis High School on the Upper East Side, a journey he described in his 2020 memoir, ‘A Very Punchable Face,’ with a humorous yet heartfelt tone: ‘Riding the ferry was not a ‘yacht life style.’ The ferry is known for its amazing views of the Statue of Liberty, but it’s also a great place to watch a raccoon eat a passenger’s leftover meth.’
Davidson’s connection to the ferry was evident in ‘The King of Staten Island,’ his 2020 semi-autobiographical comedy. The film’s emotional climax features the protagonist on a Manhattan-bound ferry, sharing a poignant kiss with his love interest, set against the backdrop of the iconic orange vessel, captured from an aerial perspective with stirring music.
As the 2022 auction approached its close, Siegel observed a sudden surge of bids from unfamiliar accounts. He recalled thinking, ‘Oh, this is different. We have breached the scrap metal industry!’
The highest bid came under the name Paul Italia. Upon learning Italia was a co-owner of a Manhattan comedy club, The Stand, Siegel initially feared the entire auction might be a prank.
However, it was no joke. Italia was indeed part of the investment group, alongside Jost, Davidson, and New York architect Ron Castellano, who was tasked with overseeing the transformation of the dilapidated vessel into a dazzling hospitality complex.
Italia expressed the group’s sincere intentions to The New York Times after their winning bid: ‘Everyone who came together on this has a sincere motive to see the right thing happen, to restore a piece of New York.’
Shortly after the auction, on a chilly day, Davidson visited the St. George Ferry Terminal on Staten Island, where the Department of Transportation was holding the inoperable ferry.
Sporting a puffy brown coat, wool cap, and sunglasses, he shared with a New York Post reporter memories of his youth, riding the ferry to Manhattan for stand-up gigs. Gazing at his new acquisition, he appeared somewhat awestruck, exclaiming, ‘It’s sick,’ a clear sign of approval.
The very next day, during a ‘Weekend Update’ segment on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ Jost and Davidson publicly addressed the widely reported story.
Davidson quipped with a smirk, ‘We bought a ferry — the windowless van of the sea.’
Jost added with characteristic sarcasm, ‘Yes, it’s very exciting. We thought the whole thing through.’
Rough Waters Ahead
New York City absolves itself of all responsibility for the delivery of its divested property, be it a filing cabinet or a ferryboat. This left Jost and Davidson with a mere ten days to retrieve their purchase.
Since the ferry lacked a functional engine, towing was essential. While New York Harbor boasts 30 tugboat companies eager to assist for about $1,700 an hour, the true challenge lay in finding a suitable docking location in a city notorious for its scarcity of space, even for parking.
The city’s waterfront offers only a handful of operational private shipyards, where space is a premium. Securing a spot at a public pier along the Hudson or East Rivers would necessitate navigating a maze of approvals from numerous city and state agencies.
Italia diligently scoured satellite images of New York Harbor and reached out to every waterfront property owner he could locate. However, the initial ten-day deadline for retrieval passed without a solution.
In February, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration granted an extension, but the ferry remained at St. George Terminal until April.
On April 11, 2022, Jost finally embarked on a symbolic ‘victory cruise,’ overseeing the three-mile tow of the John F. Kennedy to a Staten Island shipyard, with his father, Daniel, a retired schoolteacher, by his side.
Five months later, during an appearance on ‘Late Night With Seth Meyers,’ Jost appeared to be fully grappling with the repercussions of his impulse purchase. He confessed, ‘This is why idiots should not be allowed to do things. Pete and I bought this boat and then, like, there’s so many immediate decisions you have to make.’
Among these crucial decisions was naming their limited liability company. Their choice, ‘Titanic 2,’ quickly proved unpopular in the business world.
Jost explained to Meyers, ‘Suddenly, we’re looking for insurance, which we have to buy, because it’s a giant deathtrap boat. And then every insurance company is like: ‘It’s called Titanic 2?’’’
As months turned into years, the public didn’t forget Jost and Davidson’s costly escapade. They were frequently pressed for updates during talk show appearances and red carpet events.
Even Colin Jost’s wife, actress Scarlett Johansson, found herself fielding questions. During a June 2023 appearance on ‘Live With Kelly and Mark,’ host Mark Consuelos began, ‘I heard that your husband, Colin Jost, and Pete Davidson bought a — ‘
Johansson, with a sigh and a shake of her head, finished his sentence: ‘The Staten Island Ferry! Yeah.’
She remembered her husband’s ‘secretive phone calls’ just before he texted her about their ferryboat purchase. Her reaction? ‘I guess surprised. I was like: ‘What are we doing with this?’’’
At the New York premiere of ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ on June 5, 2023, ‘Entertainment Tonight’ asked Davidson if he planned to host an after-party on his new boat.
His candid reply: ‘Yeah, if it’s not sunk!’
He added, ‘I have no idea what’s going on with that thing. Me and Colin were very stoned a year ago and bought a ferry. And we’re figuring it out.’
Nine days later, Jost took to Instagram to offer a humorous clarification: ‘Is it worse that I was actually stone-cold sober when we bought the ferry?’
Shortly thereafter, Davidson sounded more optimistic, detailing plans for a restaurant, concert venue, and movie theater, and even mentioned towing the party barge 1,100 miles to Miami for winters during a ‘Family Trips With the Meyers Brothers’ podcast appearance.
As the owners’ emotions swung from initial elation to growing despair, costs continued to mount. Storage fees for the John F. Kennedy alone are estimated to have surpassed $600,000, more than double its purchase price. This is in addition to insurance, towing, and legal fees; for instance, the Nicoletti, Hornig law firm reportedly billed the owners $27,335 in just one month, as per the lawsuit.
Additional expenses stemmed from architect Ron Castellano’s design work with Persak & Wurmfeld, a New York naval architecture firm. The vessel’s renovation presents a complex challenge: like many boats of its era, the John F. Kennedy contains asbestos, requiring costly and specialized removal before it can clear state or city inspections.
Patrick Quincannon, president of New York-based ship broker Quincannon Associates, explained, ‘The thing about asbestos is, it’s not an issue until you go to take it out. It has to be done in hazmat gear. You’re looking at salty numbers to do asbestos remediation.’
While a Manhattan or Brooklyn pier on the East River would be an ideal spot for a floating entertainment venue, achieving this is far more challenging than it sounds, according to Quincannon. He outlined numerous practical considerations that the well-intentioned but inexperienced owners might have overlooked.
He noted, ‘Those ferries are big, so you would need dolphin heads to secure it,’ referring to a multipoint mooring system. ‘On the East River, the current rips along there.’
Christopher O. Ward, interim head of the Waterfront Alliance, a New York advocacy group, highlighted another obstacle: underwater shadows.
Ward clarified that large vessels obstruct sunlight, potentially harming marine ecosystems and aquatic life over time. He added that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation maintains a ‘strident’ stance on regulating shadows in waterfront areas.
Now, even if Jost and Davidson chose to sell the boat for scrap, it wouldn’t offer much financial respite. Tommy O’Toole, a partner at Compass Maritime, a New Jersey-based ship brokerage firm, noted that scrap markets are currently weak.
Ferries, being lighter than oceangoing vessels, hold less value for recyclers. Moreover, the top-paying ship recyclers in the U.S. are situated far off, stretching from Mobile, Alabama, to Brownsville, Texas, meaning the John F. Kennedy would incur significant towing costs to reach them.
O’Toole performed some quick calculations: ‘Let’s say something weighed 2,000 tons. If it’s worth $150 a ton to scrap, that’s 300 grand. If the tow cost you $350,000, you’d have to pay someone $50,000.’
Kevin Hennessey, the John F. Kennedy’s former captain, wished Jost and Davidson well, despite revealing to The Daily News in 2022 that the boat harbored a significant cockroach infestation. Hennessey bluntly stated, ‘This was an impulse buy by two guys with a lot of money who don’t know anything about maritime vessels.’
In May 2025, ‘Saturday Night Live’ featured a sketch on a ferry, where two passengers in parked cars argued during a crossing. When Mikey Day’s character professed his love for ferries, Jost made a sudden cameo, shouting, ‘If you love ferries, would you like to buy one? Please buy it!’
The John F. Kennedy has only departed its Staten Island slip once: in September 2024, when it was towed to Pier 17 in Manhattan for a Tommy Hilfiger presentation during New York Fashion Week. Dressed impeccably, Jost greeted guests, including Brooke Shields and members of Staten Island’s very own Wu-Tang Clan.
That event provided a brief, tantalizing vision of the ferry’s potential. ‘I always had faith that it will be something really fun,’ Jost remarked that day.
Jost and his partners are not trailblazers in this endeavor; in 1966, entrepreneur Herbert R. Axelrod bought four decommissioned Staten Island ferries, hoping to convert them into floating restaurants, but his vision never materialized.
Similarly, in 1976, marina owner George Searle purchased an out-of-service Staten Island Ferry with similar aspirations. It languished at his New Jersey marina along the Raritan River for over three decades before ultimately being dismantled for scrap.
Regardless of the ultimate fate of Jost and Davidson’s ambitious project, one truth remains undeniable, as Quincannon succinctly stated: ‘They’re paying out a lot to have this thing just sitting there while they figure out what to do.’
Despite the challenges, Davidson has not abandoned hope. ‘We have a really good plan,’ he shared during a recent appearance on the YouTube talk show ‘Hot Ones.’ ‘It’s fun to have a dream.’