The troubled saga of the decommissioned Staten Island Ferry boat that comedian Pete Davidson purchased for $280,000 in 2022 with Saturday Night Live costar Colin Jost has hit yet another snag.
Jost has said his decision to acquire the MV John F. Kennedy was “absolutely the dumbest and least thought-through purchase I’ve ever made in my life.” Davidson has also expressed remorse over the impulse buy, saying the two were “very stoned” when they successfully bid for the 60-year-old vessel that had been retired from passenger service six months earlier.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday and obtained first by The Independent, Nicoletti Hornig Namazi Eckert & Sheehan, a New York City firm specializing in admiralty and maritime law, says it “fully performed its obligations, represented Titanic 2, rendered legal services and made disbursements relative thereto” from March 3, 2022 to April 4, 2022.
However, the firm alleges it has not received $13,500 it is owed for helping the pair take physical possession of the ferry.
“There has been no reason given by Titanic 2 for the non-payment of the balance owed,” attorney Val Wamser of Nicoletti Hornig said in an email on Friday. “We have received no response to our repeated emails and phone calls to obtain payment for the legal services rendered. We handled the preparation of dockage and towage contracts in connection with the decommissioned Staten Island ferry John F. Kennedy for Titanic 2 back in March/April 2022. We tried to obtain payment from them without resorting to litigation, but our efforts were unfortunately unsuccessful.”
Representatives for Davidson and Jost declined to comment on the record for this article. But, a source close to the matter told The Independent, “Pete and Colin were unaware of this because they don’t handle day-to-day business interactions at the ferry.”
The Staten Island natives announced plans to turn the disused ferry into an entertainment venue, forming an LLC called Titanic 2 to make it happen. Then it was going to be towed to Miami and transformed into an upscale hotel – at a projected cost of $34 million. When that didn’t happen, Tommy Hilfiger presented his Spring/Summer 2025 collection aboard the Kennedy, which was docked at the time at Manhattan’s Pier 17. Several months after that, rumors circulated that Davidson and Jost were no longer on speaking terms (which Davidson subsequently denied).
Through it all, the Kennedy served as a bottomless money pit that was exacting a financial toll on all involved.
“If anybody out there would like to start a GoFundMe for the Staten Island Ferry, please be my guest,” Jost’s wife, actress Scarlett Johansson, joked on the Today show earlier this year. “I don’t know if I’m speaking for the Staten Island Ferry or against it, but help our family.”
Now, as the Kennedy continues to remain a work-in-progress, a law firm, Davidson, Jost, and business partner Paul Italia, hired to facilitate their initially taking physical possession of the ferry, claims the trio are refusing to pay their bills.
According to an email filed in New York State Supreme Court as an exhibit alongside Nicoletti Hornig’s complaint, the firm sent Titanic 2, LLC its first invoice, for $17,335, on April 12, 2022. But two years later, the Nicoletti Hornig accounting department discovered a discrepancy in the books.
“After reviewing client account receivables, we noticed that there are 2 invoices with remaining balance for client #00001524 – John J. Kenndy [sic]//Contract Negotiations dating back [to] 2022,” reads a December 4, 2024 email to Italia and project architect Ron Castellano.
It says Titanic 2 had remitted partial payments on one invoice, but that two others, for $13,005 and $495, had never been paid.
“Please find attached both invoices and are kindly asking if you could submit for processing,” the email concluded. “Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or concerns.”
Still, Nicoletti Hornig alleges the debt has been completely ignored.
“Invoices for services rendered were routinely submitted to Titanic 2 without objection, and in fact Titanic 2 had paid a portion of the amount billed,” the firm’s complaint says. “… By virtue of the services rendered and the costs incurred on Titanic 2’s behalf, Nicoletti Hornig is entitled to recover the reasonable value of its services and reimbursement of the costs incurred in the amount of $13,500.00.”
Nicoletti Hornig is asking a judge to force Titanic 2 to pay up, plus interest, lawyers’ fees, and court costs.
