Final Departure for 111-Year-Old Hudson Ferryboat

The Binghamton was an iconic presence in the river. The interior was built to high standards for passengers bound for the west on the Phoebe Snow of the DL&W. The outer lower decks were for cars and trucks and were essential for travel before the Holland Tunnel opened. The destruction of a core piece of history is beyond distasteful. For comparison, the smaller steamship Segwun is running on Lake Muskoka in Ontario. It is of the same vintage and was rebuilt by a small community - and it continues to function as a major attraction. The Binghamton deserves to be rescued.

Unsaid in the article was the fact that the Binghamton was operated by the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad, one of several railroads that operated ferry boat service from the New Jersey shoreline to Manhattan and Brooklyn. It's sister boat Elmira was the last to cross on the last evening of such service in, as I recall, in 1968.

What a shame, what a shame.

Please don't let this happen to our own Flagship the SS United States. Which is in need of repair. This once great ship broke all speed barriers which have never been broken.

Kind of defeats the whole purpose of being on the National Register of Historic Places, doesn't it? I thought making that list was a big deal, and basically required a commitment on the place receiving that designation to ensure that the entity doesn't deteriorate. I've read of business deals falling through because one of the properties to be sold was on the register, and the guardians of our cultural heritage didn't thing the new owners understood the implications and responsibilities.
I can't help but feel that the Gross family simply didn't care to invest sufficient funds on maintenance and upkeep. "I had a welder, a painter and a guy plugging holes, all on the payroll. " That sentence sounds like a disaster waiting to happen that fortunately didn't occur. Given the family history and connection to Nixon, is it any wonder? If the family lacks sufficient funds to restore the ferryboat, shouldn't the federal government have stepped in? I mean what's the point of having a national register of historic places in the first place?
Between the Gross family and our government, this just sounds like a dirty rotten shame.

So the curse came true after all. It appears that while visiting the U.N., and going for a tour on the Binghamton for a nice view of the city, Fidel Castro became violently ill due to undercooked shrimp gumbo. As soon as he disembarked, he grabbed up a megaphone and announced that the benighted ferry which had made him so ill (mistaking correlation for causation as he so often did), would be completely demolished in the same year of his death.

So despite all the doubts, their fates were intertwined after all. Perhaps it was even the impending finale of the boat that caused Castro's sudden and completely unexpected demise. I have no idea if it has anything to do with the Cubs win.

As for me, I've never been on this riverboat and now I never will, so I don't mind at all. I've never been on a ride in a zeppelin either and I bet that's way more fun.

It's sad but totally not expected, for it's long been known that nothing lasts forever. Who'd have thought, though, that litigation and the law could be more corrosive that seawater. It takes stories like this to make that fact obvious. Maybe there's a silver lining here someplace.

She and other vessels have and are dying long slow painful deaths. They do not catch the public's imagination as they once did.

Sail softly into the mist...

Honored here in photos and words, John Noble awaits in the boneyard of foundered souls.

From a preservation standpoint, it's done, but (with an enormous injection of cash) there's still the potential for a lot of historical education there. Original parts aren't the most important aspect of any historic site! It's too bad it'll have to be demolished.

A fond and sad farewell to Binghampton and boats of her era.
Growing up in and around Detroit the old ferries and excursion boats were a big part of my youth. Every summer we rode the wonderful Boblo Boats, SS Columbia and SS Ste. Clair, from downtown Detroit to the amusement park.
My dad was a steam power fan, and so we were always sailing on one old ship or another. He'd talk his way into the engine room every time! One 7-day cruise on the SS Assinaboia from Georgian Bay to Thunder Bay was especially wonderful.
A 1965 ship fire and resulting safety standards rang the death knell for these aging beauties. Boblo continued to run for some years since there was no overnight accomodation. Most were scrapped, a few, like Binghampton, were repurposed.

I love visiting working, historic ships, trains, houses, etc. It is a joy to be in them, to see the engineering. To hear, touch, smell, and move through the spaces.

This physical experience cannot be replicated by photos, written accounts, or artifacts in a museum. Such experiences give us a clearer, visceral feeling for what we read in literature, see in movies, and learn in historical accounts. These historical constructions allow the scientist and engineer to see in-place the genius solutions our predecessors discovered. Again, it is one thing to read about an engineering solution in a book, another to see it in action.

I hope funding can be found to help preserve more of our tangible history.

The dishes and trash visible in the photo is testament to the lack of care and responsibility.
A part of history, a shame it was allowed to deteriorate.

If there are still steam engines on board, I hope there is some way to save them. It's a technology that deserves preservation.

Has the owner of the Steamboat considered contacting a salvage company, like Salvage Dogs, to see if they would be interested in any of the boat for salvage?

Growing up in Englewood, this was one of our favorite places to party when we came of age. Wonderful memories.

Somehow my father in Dayton, Ohio, learned of the Binghamton and my parents stopped there on their way to visit me in NYC around 1990. Daddy loved vistas and views; he got plenty that day.

I remember TV ads a long time ago for the Binghamton when it was a restaurant and I also have seen it over the years from across the Hudson as drove down the West Side of Manhattan. Given its age and history, it is sad that it couldn't be saved.

A wonderful article detailing a piece of American Maritime History. I discovered Binghamton's when it was operated as a floating restaurant and can recall enjoying fantastic views of the Hudson, upper Manhattan and wonderful service. A great place to relax or entertain clients. A gem in Bergen County.