Pete Davidson and Colin Jost made headlines last year with their purchase of a decommissioned Staten Island Ferry with hopes to turn it into a floating bar and restaurant. But giving an update on their aspirations at Monday’s premiere of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the former “Saturday Night Live” cast member admitted that not only were they “very stoned” when purchasing the ferry — but they still aren’t quite sure about what to do with the big orange boat.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Davidson laughed at a suggestion that the after-party for the movie premiere would be held on the former MV John F. Kennedy.
“Yeah, if it’s not sunk!” Davidson said as he walked the red carpet for the latest installment of the Hasbro Franchise.
“I have no idea what’s going on with that thing,” he added. “Me and Colin were very stoned a year ago and bought a ferry. And we’re figuring it out… Hopefully it turns into a Transformer and gets the f–k out of there so I can stop paying for it.”
Davidson made a memorable appearance after the purchase in a “Weekend Update” sketch as “Guy Who Just Bought a Ferry,” in which the comic was barely able to make it through as he fought back laughter amid a series of boat-related puns from Alex Moffat.
In the sketch, Davidson called the boat, “the windowless van of the sea.”
The two Staten Island natives initially said that the 3,500-passenger ferry they paid $280,100 for at auction would become a floating live entertainment space. Their partner in the purchase, Manhattan real estate agent Paulie Italia — which Davidson said “is the name of a real person and not a mafia-themed wrestler” — last year said the development was “in the early stages, but everybody involved had the same ambition — not to see this thing go to the scrapyard.”
The boat, with its name removed, is now at a dry dock on Staten Island, a few miles from the ferry terminal where it boarded and disembarked passengers for over 50 years.
