“Saturday Night Live” comic Colin Jost said his wife, actor Scarlett Johansson, only had one thing to say when he told her he’d scooped up a decommissioned Staten Island ferry back in 2022.
During an interview on the Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes’ “SmartLess” podcast set to air next Monday, the “Weekend Update” anchor said he couldn’t stop thinking about buying the vessel after realizing it was the same ship he used to ride from his childhood home to the prestigious private high school he attended in Manhattan.
When Jost learned the 6-decade-old ferry would be sent to the scrap yard if it wasn’t sold at auction, he reached out to another Staten Island boy: his former “SNL” colleague Pete Davidson.
Jost, who openly admitted Davidson was probably the “wrong person to text with when you have an idea like this,” remembered receiving a resounding “Fuck yeah” after telling the “King of Staten Island” star his plan.
Although the boat didn’t have working engines, it still appeared to be a hot commodity. Jost, Davidson and investment partner Ron Castellano ended up in a bidding war with an anonymous rival before winning it at auction with a last-minute $280,100 offer.
