In 1998, Matthew Gill, 14, of Staten Island, got a summer job answering phones, giving directions and collecting tickets. Because Experience the city Statue of traveling in the city. This year 38 years old, he still works at the company, but he has moved up to be a port captain. Among his responsibilities on the water are safely ferrying thousands of tourists across New York Bay to visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
“People love seeing her,” he said of the statue. “They were lined up from the moment we opened until we closed.” So far, boat travel accounts for about 70% of what it was before the pandemic, he said.
Gill lives in Bayonne, NJ, with his girlfriend, Lacey Skowronski, 35, a data expert at New York University, his twin sons, Colin and Conner, 10, are staying with part-time couple and her son Skowronski, Hudson, 7 years old.
EARLY TELEPHONE BUSINESS The alarm on my iPhone wakes me up at 5:55, I change the ringtone periodically. Right now, it’s “Float On” by Modest Mouse. It’s enough to startle you but not annoying enough to make you want to throw it out the window. I check my phone to make sure I don’t get bad news overnight from my port engineer, and I check the weather. I’ll lie down until another alarm goes off in 30 minutes.
CONFIRM I’m half-Italian and grew up drinking espresso, so I make the Pacific Roast from Costco as strong as possible and drink that black stuff out of a Yeti. I’ll click on the MLB Network and see what happened on the West Coast. At 7:30, I’m in my Dodge Durango. It’s an efficient van with a third row of seats and enough trunk space to carry our baseball gear, looking like a sporting goods store blown up. I stopped at Hot & Toasty Bagels in Bayonne. I’m a guy who bakes onions with butter.
HOME PAGE I drove to the Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City. We currently run five of our nine crews: Miss Liberty, Miss New York, Miss New Jersey, Miss Liberty and Miss Ellis Island, where I grew up and was my favorite team. I; that’s my house.
WATER LAMP I got on the boat at 8:15. We test first to make sure everything is watertight. We were a team of six, including the snack guy. Our ships can accommodate from 564 to 799 passengers. We have a streamlined, airport-like process. Everyone goes through metal detectors. We run every 25 minutes. For each trip, we make three stops within an hour: Ellis Island, Liberty Island, then back to where we started.
MORNING I make seven round trips. Morning travelers are the ones who are prepared. They did their research. They know there will be crowds, so they want to get there early. I drive from the wheelhouse, which is the front of the boat. I love being part of the passenger experience. If I see a curious child or family, I invite them in. After our first ride, I had about 30 minutes to enjoy a second cup of coffee at the Statue of Liberty’s Crown Café. They serve the most heavenly black Starbucks coffee.
THE FOLLOWING TRIP Guests have changed a bit on the third and fourth trips. They are more spontaneous and wake up later; maybe they went out the night before. They didn’t get their tickets online a few days earlier. The nature of our business has a lot to do with the weather, so maybe they woke up and decided to do this.
PAGES The Statue of Liberty opens up from its pedestal, giving you a bird’s-eye view. The crown hasn’t reopened yet because it’s tight and they haven’t figured out how to socially distance there yet. There is also a new museum on the premises with original torches and artifacts. At Ellis Island there is a wall with the names of immigrants and a register of all immigrants who have touched the ground. You can find your family on the wall and then go inside the museum.
QUICK LUNCH At the end of the fourth trip, I will eat a packed lunch, leftovers from the night before; a meatball hero or chicken parm. My grandmother started packing it for me when I was a kid. Now my girlfriend does it. In this industry, you learn to eat quickly.
ACTIVE WATER LINE Later, the waterway traffic becomes denser; it’s a natural waterway with the most famous symbol in the world. You start seeing lunches, brunches and other tours – and they want a moment with the statue, too. The weekend brings jet skiers, paddlers and kayakers. I do not recommend kayaking in front of the statue at noon. It’s like riding a tricycle in Times Square.
MONEY SHOES The boats were all empty for the last two trips so we could bring everyone back which we had given earlier. The last boat departs from the statue at 6:15. People are either cold and tired, or hot and tired. It was a full day. But I could see in their faces, they saw something unbelievable. I tried to get as close as I could to the Statue of Liberty on the right side during my trip there and did the reverse so they could see the port side of the ship as we departed. Those are money shots.
ACCOMPLISHED We docked at the marina. I said goodbye to all the guests, then the crew. I made sure no one was left on the boat. I take the boat out of the gear, turn off my appliances and engines, and make sure nothing happens to them throughout the day.
STATE ISLAND STORAGE I’m in the car at 7. I have my sons Wednesday through Friday, and other Saturdays. I coach their Little League team, the Bayonne Clippers. If they were playing an evening game, Lacey and I would play it. Otherwise, we drove to the Bayonne Bridge and walked across Staten Island. That’s how I get started, de-stress and get my breath back. You can see everything, the sun goes down, planes take off from Newark and New York City. Sometimes we have pizza at By Denino and Italian rock at Ralph’s Famous Italian Items, located across the street, on Staten Island. Or we have dinner at home. Lacey will make the meatballs and pasta.
DIFFERENT GROUPS We retreat to the couch and watch whatever show we’re engrossed in. We just finished “Ozark.” Or we watch live sports. I love the Yankees; she loves the Mets. I am not against her.
