Pete Davidson and Colin Jost’s Staten Island Ferry Will Feature Hotel Rooms, 2 Restaurants and 6 Bars

Pete Davidson and Colin Jost have big plans for their decommissioned Staten Island Ferry!

The Saturday Night Live comedians made headlines when they first bought the boat for $280,000 in a January 2022 auction, according to The New York Times. Soon after, the comedians — both of whom are from Staten Island, New York — said that their ownership of the ferry had quickly become a headache for them, as Davidson even joked that he was "very stoned" when they joined a group of investors who placed the winning auction bid.

Now, more than two years since they first became the stewards of the iconic New York City ferry, one of Jost and Davidson's partners in the project, architect Ron Castellano, is sharing an update on the design process.

In an interview with Curbed, Castellano confirmed that renovations on the vessel will begin soon — but right now, he and the comedians are hard at work creating designs to transform the ferry into a $34 million venue complete with hotel rooms, two restaurants and six bars.

"It’s going to have a lot of things," the architect told the outlet. "I think right now, we have six bars and two venues operated separately or combined. We have outdoor event space, we have restaurants — two restaurants. It’s a big boat, almost 300 feet long, 65,000 square feet. That’s one and a half times the size of Nine Orchard Hotel."

According to Castellano, Jost and Davidson — who are also co-investors alongside The Stand comedy club owner Paul Italia — have been pretty hands-on as he redesigns the massive barge.

"They have input. They see everything. We have meetings as needed, sometimes twice a week, sometimes every three months," he said of the pair. "Right now, honestly, I’m trying to get the design work done as fast as possible."

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Also among the many amenities will be 24 hotel rooms on the ship's fifth level, complete with private sundecks. However, a pool is not in the plans, Castellano said — at least not yet.

"A pool is something that keeps coming up. We’re going back and forth," he told Curbed. "There’s a little Jacuzzi kind of thing, but not a full-on pool. We’d have to do a floating pool."

The architect also announced that the partners have tentative plans to tow the barge back and forth between both New York and Miami.

"I think that’s exactly still the plan. It doesn’t have to be in one place. It can move, so we’re exploring both locations," he said.

"We have sort of the initial construction phase underway, like, we’re just bidding it out as it gets done," Castellano continued. "That’s going to take a year, and as that happens, we’re tightening the drawings, and as that’s happening, we’re going to find the location."

Despite the many jokes about the hardships of owning such a boat (Jost once clarified that he was "stone-cold sober" when they decided to buy it), Davidson told PEOPLE in February 2020 that he has high hopes for the purchase.

"There is going to be a bar, there is going to be a nice restaurant and… the lower level, the big space is going to be an entertainment space and we're going to dock it in the city," he said.

He jokingly added, "Or it could all go to s--- and I'll be doing lots and lots of gigs next year."

During PEOPLE's interview, Davidson also panned the camera outside from his apartment window to show off his purchase alongside several other boats. "It's literally in my yard," he explained.

"As a joke I took a picture and I was like, 'Wouldn't be funny if one of these was ours' then they texted me back and circled it and they were like, 'That's actually the one.' "

In a more recent 2023 update, Davidson told Late Night host Seth Meyers on the Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers podcast that the ferry would be updated while still maintaining its original 1965 charm.

"It’s the biggest ferry, it’s substantially bigger than all the other ones," Davidson said during the episode. "I'm just glad it's not turned to scrap or whatever. It’s actually funny that this will be a lifelong problem for me and Colin."