New York City in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of regolith, leaving the bedrock that serves as the geologic foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet contributed to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. In the precolonial era, the area of present-day New York City was inhabited by Algonquian Native Americans, including the Lenape, whose homeland, known as Lenapehoking, included Staten Island; the western portion of Long Island, including the area that would become Brooklyn and Queens; Manhattan; the Bronx; and the Lower Hudson Valley. The first
Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal Island Ferry. The City subsequently banned other operators from using the Terminal, so ferries from Communipaw Terminal in Jersey City were re-routed to Liberty Street Ferry Terminal in lower Manhattan. The original Whitehall Terminal, called the "Whitehall Street Ferry Terminal," served Brooklyn, Governors Island, Staten Island, and Jersey City, for passengers who traveled mainly by a system of elevated trains (the "els"). The ferry began operating under the municipal authority of the Department of Docks and Ferries on October 25, 1905, seven years after the five boroughs were consolidated into New York City. The "Municipal Ferry Terminal" was erected in