By Admin 
When your husband casually texts you that your family has just acquired a former commuter ferry, most people would be allowed to respond with something between confusion and panic. That’s exactly what happened when Scarlett Johansson learned that her husband, Saturday Night Live star Colin Jost, had gone ahead and bought the decommissioned Staten Island Ferry with his friend Pete Davidson.
Jost recently revealed the moment on the SmartLess podcast, describing how he messaged Johansson with the news: “Guess what? We own a ferry now.” Her reply, as he told it, was a simple but incredulous “‘We?’” It was a split‑second snapshot of a Hollywood wife trying to reconcile the idea that she may have somehow become a co‑owner of a 70,000‑square‑foot vessel that once carried thousands of New Yorkers between Staten Island and Manhattan.
A Quirky, Questionable Investment
The story of Colin Jost and Pete Davidson’s ferry purchase is one part Staten Island nostalgia, one part celebrity whim, and one part tongue‑in‑cheek real‑estate gamble. The duo, both longtime Staten Island natives and SNL veterans, snapped up the decommissioned ferry back in 2023 for a reported $280,100 after learning it was heading to auction. For Davidson especially, the purchase has become a running joke, with him claiming (to Jost’s playful protest) that they were “very stoned” at the time and are now “in the hole” financially.
From the outside, the buy looks like the kind of impulsive, larger‑than‑life stunt you’d expect from a pair of comedians who have made careers out of absurdist humor. To Scarlett Johansson, however, it was a moment of “Wait, we own a boat?”—a reminder that being married to a late‑night star sometimes means waking up with new, unexpected assets.
Nostalgia, Sentiment, and a Real Estate Vision
Jost, however, insists the purchase wasn’t just a punchline. He explained that the very vessel they bought once carried him every day as a student from Staten Island to Regis High School on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The ferry had a real, personal history for him, which made the idea of owning it more than just a novelty.
Once Davidson jumped on board with his trademark enthusiasm—“F— yeah, we’ve got to do this,” Jost recalls—the two went through with the deal, outbidding the competition and becoming the new owners of the aging boat. Only after the purchase did Jost begin the delicate process of breaking the news to the people who most matter to him.
First, he told his father, a teacher on Staten Island, who responded with the perfect mix of parental skepticism and educator precision: “Did you do your homework?” Jost laughed, telling his dad it was less of a homework assignment and more of a done‑deal, before then moving on to the far more high‑profile, and emotionally loaded, step: telling Scarlett Johansson.
“We Own a Ferry Now” – Scarlett Johansson’s Perspective
For Scarlett Johansson, the ferry suddenly became not just a punchline on a talk show, but a potential real‑life financial and logistical commitment. As Jost outlined on SmartLess, the plan is to turn the vessel into a traveling event space or a waterfront “club” where people can host parties and gatherings. The idea, in theory, is to treat the ferry almost like a floating building on the Manhattan waterline, repurposing its 70,000 square feet into something social and aspirational.
Jost also floated a more community‑spirited vision, inspired by the Great Hills Swim Club he attended growing up in Staten Island. He imagined a place that isn’t a snobby, invite‑only members’ club, but a middle‑class escape where families and kids can relax, swim, and socialize. The long‑term, slightly audacious dream includes moving the ferry to Miami during the winter months, where the climate and beach culture would make such a waterfront venue more than just a novelty.
Yet, even as Jost talks about the scale of the project, he admits they are tangled in a “long process” of permits, docking regulations, and environmental rules. When pressed on the financial side of the plan, Jost sums it up with a phrase that made his SmartLess co‑hosts laugh: “It’s going to be fine.” That classic line—equal parts reassurance and denial—is exactly the tone that has defined the whole venture.
The Global Headline: from Shipping to Public Life
The ferry purchase became a national story not because of its real‑estate potential, but because of who it involved. For a generation of SNL fans, Pete Davidson and Colin Jost are already household names. Adding Scarlett Johansson’s stunned “We?” into the mix turned the whole saga into a blend of celebrity gossip, financial curiosity, and Staten Island folklore.
While the rest of the world may mostly see the story as a bizarre celebrity anecdote, for Johansson it may feel closer to the everyday experience of being married to someone whose “crazy idea” doesn’t end with a phone call, but with a contract and a deed. The Staten Island Ferry may never become the next Times Square or the Hamptons’ hottest club, but as long as it exists as a real, if slightly bewildering, dream project, it will carry the memory of that one text message: “Guess what? We own a ferry now.”
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