Tourists Pay More, See Less: The Ticket Sellers of Battery Park

Right outside the Bowling Green subway station near Battery Park, a ticket seller in a red cap, red sneakers and a neon safety vest was yelling at two visitors. “Why did you give them your credit card?” he said. “Do you know what you’re paying for?” One visitor, clutching a receipt nearly 20 inches long, stuttered: “I... um...”

Not knowing what was happening, I took a picture. A guy sitting on an orange plastic barrier nearby gestured me over. “Ma’am, you could go to jail for doing that,” he said. Another guy jumped down and approached me. “You know what? This is New York. Mind your business.”

They were ticket vendors selling sightseeing cruises around the Statue of Liberty. For years, visitors arriving at Battery Park have encountered sellers advertising Statue of Liberty tours that are not affiliated with the official ferry service to Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

On a hot Wednesday in June, around 15 vendors clustered around the Bowling Green entrance. A vendor in a red T-shirt, red shorts and red sneakers approached me. “You go to Statue of Liberty? Want ticket?” I nodded.

”What time do you want? One hour or four hours?”

”How much?”

”$39 for one, $42 for four.”

I asked whether the boat would stop at Liberty Island and Ellis Island. “No. The boat just goes around the islands.”

”Is this the official place to buy tickets?” I asked. “Do you have a license?” He quickly flashed a plastic badge with tiny black lettering. All ticket vendors are required to hold a valid Department of Consumer and Worker Protection license. Most visitors would have no way of knowing whether it was valid.

A few steps later, another vendor approached me with nearly the same pitch. This time he said the trip lasted either 1.5 hours or four hours for the same price. “The boat is leaving now. If you wait, you’ll miss it,” he said. Instead, I sat on a nearby bench and watched.

Business at Bowling Green was booming. I watched two vendors lead customers they had just sold tickets to in different directions. I followed the group heading right, but stopped when they crossed the street.

Back at my spot, a blue-jacketed vendor led five or six visitors in the opposite direction. I followed them. They were heading to a shuttle bus. Other visitors were already standing in the sun beside a white bus.

Navi Singh and five family members were among them. He had paid $38 per ticket. Singh, a New Yorker, said this was his second time taking the tour and knew the boat would simply circle the Statue of Liberty. Asked why he hadn’t bought the cheaper Statue City Cruises ticket, he shrugged. “I don’t know what to buy.”

As the vendor headed back, I moved to a bench farther from the bus. Two visitors from Idaho joined me in the shade. They were visiting New York for the first time. Their tickets, like Singh’s, listed no price, but their receipt showed they had paid $100 for two.

When I told them official tickets were cheaper, one groaned and put his hands on his head. “Oh noooo.” The bus was about to leave. They rushed toward it before I could ask their names.

I moved closer to a nearby construction site. A couple stepped off the white bus just before it pulled away. They introduced themselves as Gaston and Perla Claverè from Uruguay. They had paid $40 each.

“The bus is full. There are no seats,” Gaston said, sweat soaking his face and shirt. “That’s not fair.” When I mentioned the cheaper official tickets, he shook his head. “New York, they cheat visitors.” The couple walked off in search of shade.

Inside the park, the signs for Statue City Cruises are easy to miss. They are the only authorized operator that takes visitors to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Tickets cost about $26.

For first-time visitors, finding the official ferry isn’t always easy. Vendors line Bowling Green, South Ferry and Battery Place, representing several different companies. The red-and-blue team at Bowling Green appeared to belong to Liberty Sightseeing Tour. Near South Ferry, vendors wore purple and yellow. The yellow shirts belonged to Big City Tourism, which sells tickets for $49.

”We couldn’t call the police because technically they operate outside the park,” one Statue City Cruises staff member said. “They target tourists. They tell people that if they don’t buy the tickets, they can’t go inside the park.”

Near South Ferry, David Barry, a New Yorker, pointed toward a cluster of vendors. “They sell tickets for $60 while the only place to buy the official tickets is in there,” he said. “They pull you in. They harass you. You have to act like they don’t exist.”

Tourists frequently arrive at the Statue City Cruises dock with fake tickets. “We tell them to do their own research,” one staff member said. But that can be difficult. A Google search for “Statue of Liberty tickets” returns dozens of competing websites, and Statue City Cruises doesn’t appear at the top.

The confusion hurts more than tourists. “It’s a shame for NYC, because the city is losing $2 million to $3 million annually since the city gets a small piece of each ticket and fewer people are going through Battery Park,” a spokesperson for Statue City Cruises told Our Town last year.

The work can be lucrative. “If you’re a newbie, you get $15 per ticket you sell,” said a vendor from Big City Tourism. Veteran sellers earn a larger commission.

”On a good day, I sell around 25 tickets,” said another vendor who has worked summers for the company for three years. He said the job earns enough money to help pay for college.

The vendors insist they are simply selling a different product. “They take people to the islands. We take people around them.”

But the vendors are only one part of the operation. Last year, City Council members argued enforcement should target not only sellers but also the companies that employ and profit from them.

On June 8, the City Council released an investigation into unauthorized ticket sellers. The report documented many of the same practices observed at Battery Park and recommended stronger consumer education and enforcement. The Council did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

While officials debated enforcement, business at Battery Park continued as usual. Twenty minutes later, another crowd had gathered at the bus stop. A black bus arrived. As Gaston walked past me, he offered a warning. “The guy in the blue jacket found you,” he said. “Watch out.”

It was time to call it a day. First, I still had to get through Bowling Green station to catch the train home. I took off my hat and glasses, let down my hair and hoped the vendor wouldn’t recognize me.

Around me, the sales pitches continued. “Statue of Liberty? Need tickets?” Within seconds, the vendors had moved on to the next group of tourists.