Heading to NYC in a few days. This will be a quick trip on the cheap. Couple of Staten Island Ferry questions:

1. How long is the trip? Over and back?
2. Is there anything to do in the immediate area on the Staten Island side?
3. Just where do you catch the ferry? Nearest subway stop?

Thanks.

Trip takes about a half hour each way (plus some time between the trips). There's really nothing to do on the SI side, but you can just stay on and come back, it is a nice ride.
Ferry leaves from South Ferry, right next to Battery Park (you can take the 1 or 9 train to South Ferry, the N or R to Whitehall St. or the 4 or 5 to Bowling Green, all very close.

Just an FYI - All the times I've ridden it (last time was a couple years ago, though) they have made all passengers disembark at SI. You can turn the corner and get right back in line to get on the ferry, but they were not allowing passengers to stay on for the return trip.

This is a GREAT way to see the Statue of Liberty, but it will probably be VERY cold, so bundle up!

Interesting. I've never been asked to disembark and get back in line. I'd say try to avoid it.

I did the return trip this past October. They did not make us get off. We just stayed on for the 10 or 15 minutes before returning.

We took the ferry in December and they made everyone disembark on the SI side. We got off, walked through the SI station, got right back on and went back to Manhattan. The whole trip took less than an hour