Colin Jost says ferry he bought with Pete Davidson is not a 'money pit'
Colin Jost says ferry he bought with Pete Davidson is not a 'money pit'
Melina Khan, USA TODAYTue, April 28, 2026 at 7:20 PM UTC
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Colin Jost isn't jumping ship on the ferry he bought with fellow comedian Pete Davidson.
In a new interview on the "SmartLess" podcast, Jost said "it's very misreported" that a Staten Island ferry he and Davidson own is "some sort of crazy money pit."
In 2022, the former "Saturday Night Live" costars bought a decommissioned, 277-foot-long ferry from a New York auction for $280,100.
"I joke about it a lot, but it is, we've done some events on it where we really have already made back the money we've invested and the money we've spent on stuff to dock it and all that," Jost told hosts Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes.
Davidson and Jost, both Staten Island natives, have poked fun at the seemingly obscure purchase over the years, including quipping that the ferry set them back millions of dollars.
The vessel, which Davidson and Jost purchased alongside comedy club owner Paul Italia, is named after former President John F. Kennedy and was used to shuttle commuters between Manhattan and Staten Island from 1965 until it was taken out of service in 2022.
Jost's interview on SiriusXM's "SmartLess" podcast will be released widely on May 4, but came out a week early on April 27 for SiriusXM subscribers.
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Colin Jost says he was 'thinking in a real estate way' about Staten Island ferry purchase
The decommissioned Staten Island Ferry John F. Kennedy, which was purchased by actors Colin Jost and his former Saturday Night Live co-star Pete Davidson, is pictured docked in Staten Island, New York, on July 12, 2023.
Jost said in the podcast interview that the John F. Kennedy vessel he now owns is the same ferry he often took when commuting to his high school as a teenager.
"It was usually the 7 a.m. ferry that I took, because I went up to this high school called Regis High School that's up on the Upper East Side. And it's free if you get in. It's a really great school," he said.
As for what he and Davidson plan to do with the vessel, Jost said they want to use the ferry as either an event space or entertainment venue, but added that it's "a long process" to find a place to dock it.
"I was thinking in a real estate way, if you put it somewhere, it's 70,000 square feet. So I was like, if you put that on a dock in Manhattan, you've suddenly got basically a building on the waterfront," Jost said.
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Pete Davidson, Colin Jost have joked about ferry purchase in the past
Pete Davidson (left) and Colin Jost on "Saturday Night Live" on Nov. 8, 2025.
Jost's latest comments about the ferry are a departure from the pair's past jokes about the vessel.
Last year, when Davidson made a surprise return to "Saturday Night Live" to co-host "Weekend Update" with Jost, he responded to a New York Times article dubbing the ferry purchase a "fiasco."
"In case you're wondering why I had to do a show in Saudi Arabia, we're losing millions on this ferry," Davidson joked. "I assume that's what the (New York Times) article says. I can't spend $5 on a paywall when I got a kid on the way."
On "The Tonight Show" in January 2025, Davidson also defended his "extensive" plans for the ferry, saying he and Jost needed more time to accomplish their goal, which includes "doing something interesting" on each of the vessel's four floors. He mentioned a movie theater, a hotel and shopping kiosks.
"It's only been two years, and people are like, 'I guess it's dead.' We need like $100 million, give us a second," Davidson said.
In 2023, Jost also responded on Instagram to a Page Six headline that read he and Davidson weren't sober when they bought the ferry.
"Is it worse that I was actually stone-cold sober when we bought the ferry?" he wrote on the social media platform.
Jost added that, "We’re excited to prove the non-believers wrong. You’re going to be BEGGING to get on this ferry in two years. Mark my words."
Contributing: Brendan Morrow and Joy Ashford/ USA TODAY
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on X @melinakh and Instagram @bymelinakhan.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Colin Jost says he, Pete Davidson bought a ferry for real estate
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