Ellis Island

In 1907, Ellis Island’s busiest single year, inspectors processed over a million people. Most of them, the ones who passed the medical chalking system, who had enough cash in their pockets, who answered the questions correctly, walked through in three to five hours. The other 10 percent stayed longer. Some were detained for days, some for weeks. Women travelling alone were particularly vulnerable: an unescorted woman could be held until a male relative arrived to claim her, and if a man she did not know tried to leave with her, she could be detained on suspicion of prostitution. By 1922 the island employed 25 matrons to manage these cases and interview detained women. Most Ellis Island coverage skips this part.

That gap between the immigration myth and the actual experience is what makes the National Museum of Immigration worth a serious visit rather than a cursory one. The building processes around two million visitors a year now, almost as many people as it processed immigrants at its peak, but the museum does not try to pretend the experience was uniformly triumphant.

The Museum

The museum occupies the restored Main Building on the south side of the island, the vast Beaux-Arts structure completed in 1900 after fire destroyed the original wooden building in 1897. As of 2025, a $100 million renovation is underway, structural upgrades, new HVAC, a 120-foot video screen, expanded family history research facilities. The work is being done in phases so the museum stays open throughout. Expect some areas closed and some scaffolding, but the core galleries are fully accessible.

The Registry Room on the second floor is the centrepiece: a vast vaulted space with tiled herringbone ceilings (designed by Rafael Guastavino, whose firm also vaulted Grand Central and dozens of other New York landmarks). Immigrants were funnelled through this room for the oral examination stage of processing. The doctors had already done their work downstairs and in the corridors, chalking letters on jackets and coats, X for suspected mental defect, H for heart, L for lameness, K for hernia. The chalked immigrants were separated out for further examination; everyone else climbed the stairs and stood in line.

The exhibits explaining this medical inspection process are among the strongest in the museum. The genealogy centre allows you to search passenger manifests; if your family came through Ellis Island, bring names and dates.

Getting There

The only authorized operator for the ferry is Statue City Cruises. Tickets cost $23.50 for adults, $18.00 for seniors (62+), and $12.00 for children 4-12. The ferry departs from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan and from Liberty State Park in Jersey City. Both are NPS-run locations; the Liberty State Park option is often less crowded. Ferry tickets include entry to both Ellis Island and Liberty Island.

Book tickets in advance, especially in summer. Same-day tickets are available but sell out. The ferry also stops at the Statue of Liberty on most tours, so factor in the additional time if you plan to do both in one day.

Hours are typically 9:30am to 5:15pm, with the last ferry departing earlier. Check current times at the Statue City Cruises website before visiting.

Liberty Island and the Statue

Most people combine Ellis Island with the Statue of Liberty. The standard ferry ticket gets you onto Liberty Island and into the grounds, but if you want to access the crown of the statue, you need a separate Crown ticket, which must be booked months in advance and costs $24 additional. The Pedestal Reserve access (inside the base and up to the viewing platform) books out weeks ahead. If this matters to you, plan early.

The statue itself was restored from 1984 to 1986 and the torch was replaced. The original torch sits inside the lobby of the monument, worth a look before heading outside. From Liberty Island the Manhattan skyline view across the water is, objectively, better than most views from within Manhattan.

What to Know About the South Side

The south side of Ellis Island, a separate landmass from the north, connected by a small bridge, contains the ruins of the hospital and detention dormitories, overgrown and unrestored. These buildings are only accessible on a ticketed Hard Hat Tour organised through Save Ellis Island, which runs occasional tours of the abandoned wards and corridors. The visual contrast between the restored grandeur of the Main Building and the decaying hospital is jarring. If the tours are running during your visit, they are worth booking.

Getting Around: Battery Park and the Lower Manhattan Area

The ferry terminal at Battery Park is at the southern tip of Manhattan. The 4 and 5 trains stop at Bowling Green; the 1 train stops at South Ferry. From Midtown it is a straightforward subway ride.

The area around Battery Park merits some time before or after the ferry. Castle Clinton (the circular stone fort in the park) is a free NPS site and one of the older surviving structures in New York City. The Skyscraper Museum on Battery Place is small but precise, and the view of the harbor from the promenade is unobstructed.

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum are 15 minutes’ walk north through the Financial District. These two sites, Ellis Island and the 9/11 Memorial, are thematically connected in ways that the city itself makes no effort to force on you, but standing at both in the same day produces a particular kind of reckoning about what the city has been and what it becomes.

Where to Eat Near Battery Park

Fraunces Tavern, Pearl Street: The oldest surviving building block in Manhattan, built in 1719. George Washington delivered his farewell address to his officers here in 1783. The restaurant inside is a steakhouse with pub fare and serves Americana without embarrassment. Worth a beer and a meal for the room alone.

Dead Rabbit, Water Street: In the Financial District, one of the most acclaimed cocktail bars in the city for the past decade. The Taproom downstairs serves Irish food; the Parlour upstairs is where the serious drinks happen. If you time the ferry return for the evening, this is a worthwhile stop.

Pier A Harbor House, Battery Place: Large, busy, with a covered outdoor terrace looking toward the Statue of Liberty. The seafood is decent and the draft beers are well chosen. The convenience of the location is the main selling point.

Where to Stay

Jersey City side: The Liberty Science Center hotels and the Hyatt House and Westin properties near Liberty State Park put you a five-minute walk from the Jersey City ferry terminal and offer significantly cheaper rates than Manhattan equivalents. If you are not committed to staying in New York proper, this is the practical choice.

Downtown Manhattan: The Brookfield Place area has newer hotels (Conrad New York Downtown) in the $300-400/night range. The Wall Street Inn and similar older properties are more affordable but the area is very quiet on weekends when the office workers have gone. That quiet is either an appeal or a drawback depending on what you want from a New York stay.

Practical Notes

Ellis Island is part of New Jersey, not New York, by a 1998 Supreme Court ruling. The Main Building sits on the original 3.3-acre natural island, which was determined to be in New Jersey. The surrounding 24.5 acres of landfill, created after 1890, are legally in New York. This distinction matters for almost nothing practical but comes up in every pub quiz.

Photography inside the museum is permitted and encouraged. The Registry Room in particular photographs well in the morning light.

Accessibility: the Main Building is fully accessible, including the Registry Room on the second floor (elevator available). The ferry has accessible boarding. The grounds of Liberty Island are also accessible. The Hard Hat Tours of the south side hospital are not accessible and involve significant walking on uneven surfaces.

Allow three to four hours for Ellis Island alone if you engage with the exhibits properly. A combined visit with Liberty Island is a full day.