staten island

we rode the ferry to staten island today and went to the alice austen house for a dance performance (exerpt below). the view of manhattan and the verrazano was breathtaking, and the breeze coming off the water felt so fresh. m. and her friend said, "it smells so good out here!" is staten island really a part of new york city? there were no coffee shops from which one could buy a cappuccino, and k. and i were craving one, but we weren't so desperate that we resorted to buying from dunkin donuts. there was a little italian trattoria, but they didn't make cappuccinos to go. to go! how gauche!
the ferry rides in the afternoon and at night were very crowded. it's been many years since i've ridden the staten island ferry, and i don't remember there being so many people!! maybe i just never rode in the summer or at rush hour? is the ferry more popular than usual with the tourists? i don't know, but my memories of riding the ferry are of hardly anyone out on deck and today i could hardly get by to take a picture. i guess i'll have to go again in the winter. and i have to add that i really miss all the state flags that used to hang along the wall of the old st. george terminal building. i wonder if they are in storage somewhere? maybe hanging in a new space? trashed?