Robert Fulton, at the behest of Brooklyn magnate Hezekiah Pierrepont, secured a 25-year lease on the ferry in 1814. The first trip of the steamboat "Nassau" was made on May 10, 1814, and brought with it the first predictable passage between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Trips took no longer than twelve minutes, and there was no chance of the ship being swept upstream or downstream, or held to the whims of the wind. Brooklyn Heights became known as "America's First Suburb" as residents could commute to Manhattan with ease.