The Staten Island Ferry has a new port — a USB port.
The city’s Department of Transportation unveiled Wednesday new charging stations at its ferry terminals for commuters looking for a little juice.
A total of 36 new USB ports and 12 electrical outlets are now available to the public, free of charge, at 10 kiosks installed at both terminals’ waiting areas. Each kiosk is outfitted with two electrical outlets and six USB ports.
St. George Terminal has received six charging stations, while the other four were installed at Whitehall Terminal.
“The ferry enters the 21st century,” said Nicholas Zvegintzov, chair of the Transportation Committee of Community Board 1 on Staten Island. “I hope it’s part of a general trend that the ferry might become more passenger-friendly.”
The additional charging ports were installed after the DOT cut off power to the outlets accessible to the public on the Staten Island Ferry boats. The agency cited instances of unruly passengers fighting over the limited outlets.
Power has since been restored to the on-boat outlets, but the DOT hopes that the charging stations will ease the demand.
The boats’ outlets were installed for cleaning purposes and were not originally intended for passenger use, according to the DOT.
The agency said that it will look into installing the stations on the boats, but a timeline for a rollout was not immediately clear.
