Staten Island Ferry service disruptions had commuters frustrated Friday morning.

Instead of a ferry every 15 to 20 minutes, there was just one every hour, on the hour.

What You Need To Know

  • Staten Island Ferry service Roland until further notice is running on an hourly basis.

  • DOT said in a statemetn, "the vast majority of captains, assistant captains, and mates scheduled to operate Staten Island Ferry vessels that afternoon called out sick."

  • The union representing these workers denies it was an organized sick out

“I am very upset right now,” ferry rider Carol Gore said. “Why did I get here at seven to take the 7:15 boat, then you are here an hour? That is crazy.”

According to the Department of Transportation, beginning Thursday morning and continuing through Friday, the “vast majority” of captains, assistant captains, and mates scheduled to operate Ferry vessels called out sick.

The DOT said all employees eligible for overtime to backfill the spots did not pick up their phones or return calls.

So now there are only enough employees for service on an hourly basis.

“It is going to make me late to work,” complained Josh Gomez, who works at the World Trader Center.

"This is gonna cause people to lose their jobs,” explained fellow rider Don Silver. “People don't have cars. See these people over here? They're gonna wait the whole hour. There's a lot of people that don't tolerate lateness. People will lose their jobs over this type of stuff.”

The union that represents ferry workers denied it was an organized sick out.

In a statement, a representative said, in part, “The fact is the Staten Island Ferry service has been working with a skeleton crew for years due to a failure by the OLR (Office of Labor Relations) and DOT to settle our long overdue labor contract, which has caused excessive overtime, financial anxiety and exhaustion for crew members.”

Some riders had sympathy for the ferry workers.

"I support the workers. They should be getting paid more,” said Marc Rolla, who usually takes the 6:20 a.m. ferry but had to wait until around for the 7:00 a.m. “Unfortunately, it falls down on us. I can't take fault with them. I understand that so it is what it is.”

The DOT said these service changes will be in effect until further notice. Departures will continue to be on the hour at St. George and on the half hour at Whitehall Terminal.

NYC Ferry Service from St. George is running as normal to Battery Park and Midtown West.

The agency said it expects any employee who is not sick to report to work.