Pete Davidson and Colin Jost have big plans for their retired Staten Island Ferry!
The Saturday night live The comedians made headlines when they first bought the boat for $280,000 at auction in January 2022. The New York Times. Soon after, the comedians – both from Staten Island, New York – said that owning the ferry quickly became a headache, with Davidson even joking that he was “highly pumped” when they joined the group of investors that made the winning bid. at the auction.
Now, more than two years since they first became stewards of the iconic New York ferry, one of Jost and Davidson’s partners in the project, architect Ron Castellano, is sharing an update on the design process.
In an interview with Curbed, Castellano confirmed that renovations on the ship will begin soon — but right now, he and the comedians are hard at work on designs to transform the ferry into a $34 million destination with hotel rooms, two restaurants and six bars.
Pete Davidson opens up about the ferry he bought with Colin Jost and jokes it’s now their ‘problem for life’
“It will have a lot of things,” the architect told the outlet. “I think right now we have six bars and two venues that operate separately or in combination. We have outdoor event space, we have restaurants – two restaurants. It’s a big ship, almost 300 feet long, 65,000 square feet. It’s one and a half times the size of of the Nine Orchard Hotel.”
According to Castellano, Jost and Davidson — who are also co-investors along with The Stand comedy club owner Paul Italia — were pretty hands-on as he redesigned the massive barge.
“They have input. They see everything. We have meetings as needed, sometimes twice a week, sometimes every three months,” he said of the pair. “Right now, honestly, I’m trying to get the design work done as quickly as possible.”
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Among the many amenities will also be 24 hotel rooms on the ship’s fifth level, complete with private sun decks. However, a pool is not in the cards, Castellano said — at least not yet.
“The pool is something that keeps coming up. We go back and forth,” he told Curbed. “There is a small jacuzzi, but not a full pool. We would have to make a floating pool.”
The architect also announced that the partners have tentative plans to tow a barge between New York and Miami.
“I think that’s still the plan. It doesn’t have to be in one place. It can move around, so we’re exploring both locations,” he said.
“We have kind of an initial phase of construction going on, like, we’re just putting out an offer until it’s done,” Castellano continued. “It will last a year, and like that happens, we tighten the drawings, and as It is happens, we’ll find the location.”
Despite many jokes about the difficulties of owning such a boat (Jost once clarified that he was “cold sober” when they decided to buy it), Davidson told PEOPLE in February 2020. that he has high hopes for the purchase.
“There’s going to be a bar, there’s going to be a nice restaurant and … the lower level, the big space is going to be an entertainment space and we’re going to anchor it in the city,” he said.
He jokingly added: “Or it could all go to s… and I’ll have lots and lots of concerts next year.”
Pete Davidson and Colin Jost Joke About Buying Staten Island Ferry on ‘SNL’: ‘We’re People on Boats Now’
During the interview with PEOPLE, Davidson also pointed a camera from his apartment window to show off his purchase alongside several other boats. “It’s literally in my backyard,” he explained.
“I was taking a picture as a joke and I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if one of these was ours,’ and then they texted me and circled it and they said, ‘That’s actually the one.’ ”
In a more recent 2023 update, Davidson said Late night hosted by Seth Meyers on Family Travel with the Meyers Brothers podcast that the ferry will be updated while retaining its original 1965 charm.
“It’s the biggest ferry, it’s significantly bigger than all the others,” Davidson said during the episode. “I’m just glad it wasn’t turned into scrap or whatever. It’s actually funny that this is going to be a lifelong problem for me and Colin.”
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