A trio of ferry riders pulled off a five-borough sprint through all 25 NYC Ferry stops in 6 hours, 53 minutes and 35 seconds, shaving five minutes and 45 seconds off the standing Guinness World Records mark. Ayush Maini, Val He and Andy Chen launched their attempt from Yankee Pier on Governors Island at 9:33 a.m. on August 4, working through seven ferry trips and carefully timed transfers before reaching the Rockaway landing after crossing all five boroughs.
The previous record of 6 hours, 59 minutes and 20 seconds was set on July 18, 2025 by a five-person team — Johnny Cruz Buckingham, Liesel Christensen, Colin Christensen, Erin Dienst and Haolun Qu — according to Guinness World Records. Maini was no stranger to the title before this attempt; he previously held a Guinness record himself, having set the original mark for visiting every NYC Ferry stop back in 2023 alongside Eva Salzman and Olivia Thomas, finishing in 7 hours, 19 minutes and 9 seconds. That earlier run was certified by Guinness in January 2024, according to Brooklyn Paper, before the 2025 team reclaimed the crown and pushed the bar to just under seven hours.
Speed wasn't the only obstacle the team faced. Maini finished the 2026 challenge with a sprained ankle, while Chen completed the running portions of the route while dealing with gout, per the outlet's report. Chen, who is 56, said he was happy to be with his nephew and his friend during the attempt, per the same account.
Retracing a Route Reshaped by NYCEDC
The record attempt has been submitted to Guinness World Records for formal review and certification, the report notes. Along the way, Val He, an upcoming high school graduate, collected signatures from witnesses along the route — including a man named Mike, who agreed to serve as a witness and offered He advice to listen to others and approach problems from unexpected directions.
He said the ferry journey helped him meet New Yorkers and hear their stories, the outlet reported. NYC Ferry's 25 stops include landings serving Sunset Park, Red Hook, DUMBO, Williamsburg and Greenpoint, connecting residents to Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and Governors Island.
The system the trio raced through looks nothing like the one Maini navigated in 2023. NYC Ferry underwent its first systemwide route reconfiguration since launching in 2017 back in December 2025, when the New York City Economic Development Corporation split the East River route into peak-hour skip-stop lines, connected Staten Island directly to Brooklyn, and merged the Rockaway and Soundview routes into one continuous line. Hoodline previously covered the new St. George-to-Bay Ridge route that came out of that overhaul, which cut down on the transfers needed to cross the system's 25 landings.
A System Built for Speed and Scale
NYC Ferry now spans 70 nautical miles with 38 vessels running across six routes and 25 landings, making it the largest passenger-only ferry fleet in the country, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The network has been setting its own records this year: NYC Ferry logged a single-day high of 53,375 boardings on June 20, 2026, a surge tied in part to the roughly 37,000 boardings generated by the New York Knicks championship parade two days earlier, as reported by WorkBoat. NYC Ferry also surpassed 260,000 boardings during its busiest week, per the Brooklyn Paper report.
That growth builds on a longer trend. NYC Ferry logged 1,014,317 total boardings in August 2025, surpassing 1 million monthly passengers for the first time in system history and marking a 17 percent jump over August 2024, according to the Queens Gazette. This summer's schedule, running through September 13, is the system's largest yet, with $12 reservable seats available again on the Rockaway Reserve and Rockaway Rocket express routes.
Fares, Transfers and What's Next
Standard single-ride tickets currently run $4.50, with 10-trip passes priced at $29 — about $2.90 per ride — and discounted fares of $1.45 for eligible seniors, students and low-income riders, according to NYC311. Free transfers between routes remain valid for 120 minutes, a rule that matters for any rider trying to string together multiple legs quickly.
Maini has already set his sights on more transit challenges later in August 2026, having previously attempted the MARTA world record in Atlanta. He has said NYC Ferry's consistency and reliability stood in contrast to unsuccessful BART world-record attempts, per the Brooklyn Paper account. For comparison, the Guinness record for visiting all 472 New York City Subway stations stands at 21 hours, 28 minutes and 14 seconds — a reminder of just how much smaller and more nimble the ferry system is against the city's much larger rail network, according to Untapped New York.
Behind the scenes, the fleet that made this speed run possible is also changing. In August 2026, 61 of 65 eligible marine diesel technicians and welders at NYC Ferry voted unanimously to join the Transport Workers Union, marking the first time the union will represent workers on New York City's waterways, according to The Chief. NYCEDC has also announced plans for new landings at East Harlem's 125th Street and MADE-Bush Terminal in Sunset Park, along with expansions at the East 34th Street terminal, meaning future speed-run attempts will likely look different from Maini, He and Chen's record-setting trip through the five boroughs.
