Colin Jost and Pete Davidson’s Staten Island Ferry Venture Faces Legal Issues

Colin Jost and Pete Davidson’s ambitious Staten Island ferry project is currently facing challenges, with reports suggesting they are struggling to cover legal fees.

Alongside their partner, Paul Italia, who owns a comedy club, the duo owes $13,500 to a law firm in downtown. They hired Nicoletti, Hornig Namaji Eckart & Sheehan to manage the towing agreement related to their purchase of the John F. Kennedy ferry, which was auctioned for $280,000 in March 2022.

The plan was to rename the ferry Titanic 2 and transform it into a $34 million entertainment space, but progress appears to have stalled.

According to attorney Val Wamser, there was no justification for Italia to receive non-payment issues. He mentioned to the Post that they have made numerous attempts to secure payment for the legal services rendered, but have not received any responses.

Wamser noted that since April 2022, the law firm has not been in communication with the trio. Court documents from Manhattan’s Supreme Court indicate that the initial bill exceeded $27,000, with only partial payments made to date.

While some sources claim that Jost and Davidson were unaware of the outstanding bill, it has been reported that they were not involved in the daily operations of the ferry, which may explain the oversight.

Jost’s recent comments have turned the project’s challenges into the subject of humor, as he described buying the ferry as “the most ridiculous, most thought-through purchase I’ve ever made in my life.”

In January, Jost participated in a discussion on the Today Show with his wife, Scarlett Johansson, joking about the potential of selling the ferry for scrap. He also made a brief appearance in an SNL sketch last month.