All aboard!
These die-hard New Yorkers have spent decades doing what most would find unthinkable — showing tourists the sights of the Big Apple.
This year, Circle Line Cruises celebrates 80 years of sailing around Manhattan. Many of the workers have been boarding the boats for nearly that long — and they wouldn’t trade their jobs for anything.
“The city is just electric. It’s just exciting,” Captain Kenneth Corcoran recently told The Post about cruising through his career. “And you feel that energy from the passengers that come aboard, too. It doesn’t get boring at all.”
It’s not a tourist trap: it’s a family business.
Corcoran — aka Captain Kenny — as well as Senior Deckhand Richard “Richie” Redmond, Captain Joe Volini (Captain Joe), Tour Guide Chris Mason and Senior Port Captain Mike Duffy (Captain Duffy) have all grown up on the boats.
They began by visiting their dads, uncles, cousins and brothers on the job, then worked alongside them and eventually moved up the ranks to run the operation.
Circle Line Cruises is more than just a boat tour — with crews helping to shuttle thousands of people to safety during 9/11, as well as bringing police and firefighters to downed US Airways Flight 1549 during the 2009 “Miracle on the Hudson.”
But whether they’re taking in the same skyline for decades or helping a city in need, these seafarers insist it’s always a special trip.
“Our route showcases the greatest city in the world,” a proud Corcoran said.
Captain Kenneth Corcoran, 62
Kenneth Corcoran’s uncle Maurice started with Circle Line in 1956 after emigrating from Ireland and securing jobs for his two brothers and nine nephews. Corcoran was recommended for the job by his uncle and godfather, Kevin Reynolds — making it 10 cousins in total.
In May 1983, at age 19, the younger Corcoran began as a pier hand and worked up to captain in 1992 when he was 29 years old.
He’s the last family member still with Circle Line, which he calls “Broadway on the Hudson” for its “magical” scenes from the Statue of Liberty and iconic skyline to views of the Brooklyn Bridge.
“We’re showing off the city,” he said, “and the city sells itself.”
He also recalls many “special moments” onboard, like marriage proposals, anniversaries and renewed wedding vows.
Corcoran reminisced about a time he photographed a couple — who originally met on a cruise — celebrating their 25th anniversary. That same duo was back to celebrate their 50th and Corcoran was once again there to photograph their milestone.
“Meeting all these people from all over the world, that’s why I continue working here,” he said.
But one of his favorite moments is “the focal point of every trip” — the Statue of Liberty, an especially emotional view for him.
“That’s the first sight my mom had seen when she came to this country as an immigrant [from Leitrim, Ireland, by ship],” Corcoran shared, “so it means that much more to me.”
Senior Deckhand Richard ‘Richie’ Redmond, 64
Richard Redmond has worked for Circle Line for 46 years. He confessed to The Post that when he applied for the job, he told them he was 18, not 17.
“Eh, they can’t fire me,” he said with a laugh.
Redmond was trained by his father, Richard Sr., a senior Circle Line deckhand, and commuted with him every morning on the 1 train from their home in the Bronx.
“He really taught me a lot: how to do things and respect people,” Redmond noted.
His father was with the boat line until the end; he died from a heart attack in his car in the pier parking lot about 30 years ago. He was 55 years old.
“I tell people I see my father every day because his ashes are in the water at the Statue of Liberty,” he said, before joking, “I tell people I run him over every day.”
Stepping into his dad’s shoes, Redmond warmly greets every guest, including celebrities, like George Clooney, Jane Fonda, Michelle Pfeiffer and former Speaker of the House Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr.
Redmond was also working on the morning of Jan. 15, 2009, when the “Miracle on the Hudson” jet hit a flock of geese and lost power, forcing pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger to famously land on the river.
From the pier, Redmond looked out onto the water and saw people crowded on the downed jet’s wings.
“It looked like they were waiting for a New York City bus to come and pick them up,” he marveled.
Senior Port Captain Mike Duffy, 69
Mike Duffy — who started as a ticket seller at age 18, right out of high school in 1974 — had been promoted to senior port captain only a few weeks prior when he helped coordinate the spectacular Hudson River rescue.
Duffy and Redmond took firemen, police, EMTs and divers to the plane, and the boat’s main deck was used for medical triage, staying with the aircraft for about three hours.
Later, the crew received handwritten thank-you letters from Captain Sully.
“Every day is an adventure,” Duffy, whose father also was a captain, told The Post. “You don’t know what’s around the corner.”
In 1980, at age 22, Duffy became a captain himself and now manages the operation, with plans to stick around for another nine years and retire after a solid 60 years on the job.
“If you enjoy working, you never work a day in your life. And that’s why it was easy to be here for 51 years,” Duffy said.
Captain Joe Volini, 55
Joe Volini has spent nearly his whole life on Circle Line Cruises, and his father Joseph Volini Sr., uncle, cousins and brother all worked on the boats at some point.
Now, he’s the last one onboard.
“My father used to tell everybody, ‘He’s going to be here one day, and he’ll be the captain,’” said Volini, who has been with Circle Line Cruises for 38 years — 26 of those commanding the bridge.
Volini joked to The Post that his job is just a lot of staring — which came in handy when he was working on Sept. 11, 2001, and saw billowing smoke. He watched as the second plane crashed into the South Tower.
He remembers watching as crowds rushed to the water’s edge, trying to escape the horrific scene. The crew boarded them and headed across the Hudson River to New Jersey.
He commanded several trips, and in the end, Circle Line Cruises alone carried about 40,000 to 50,000 people to safety, according to Violini.
It was just another reminder of how supportive the New York community can be.
“Every boat came to the shore to help out,” Voilini recalled.
Tour Guide Chris Mason, 62
Brooklyn-born Chris Mason — whose father Jason began as a tour guide in 1962, one year before he was born — has fond memories of visiting his dad as a kid.
“I just fell in love with it, working on the water, watching him do his performance … I was amazed at how he held the audience in the palm of his hand,” Mason told The Post. “It really left an incredible impression upon me. I was so proud of him.”
Like the others, Mason has a favorite view. Besides Yankee Stadium, he loves Hudson Yards — a tourist location many locals groan about.
“There’s a point in the trip where you can look through the new buildings of the Hudson Yards, and you can capture the Empire State Building right in between,” he noted. “So it’s a great contrast of the old and the new. I love that part of the trip.
This year, Mason is celebrating 40 years as a tour guide, but he got his first job there in 1979 at age 16, answering phones and helping in any way he could.
He’s become especially nostalgic since his father died last year — who “would do the job even if they didn’t pay him,” Mason said. His father retired only two years ago at age 90 after about 60 years with Circle Line.
“He was so emotional,” Mason said of his combined retirement and birthday party. “It was one of the highlights of his life. He loved working here [and] working with the crews as I do.
“He brought me to tears when he said he was so proud of me.”
Deckhand Latisha Conover, 33
She’d been on a cruise once as a child, but deckhand Latisha Conover — one of only two female Circle Line employees, including Kamika Lovely — had never considered a waterbound career.
The New Jersey native started with Circle Line in 2018 — and now couldn’t imagine setting sail anywhere else.
“I love it. I always wanted to be on the water as a kid, and now I’m here,” she told The Post.
Conover considers it “calming and very peaceful” — quite the opposite of how other New Yorkers would probably describe their jobs.
“It’s different every day out in the water. The energy, the people, the views,” she said. “And I love meeting new people, different personalities, from all around the world.”
The people are really what keep her coming back, especially “just seeing the excitement on their faces, making sure that I do my job and protecting them,” Conover told The Post..
“It never gets boring here,” she added. “I definitely plan on being here for a very long time.”
