I live in New York City. One of my friends used to teach an art history course at the4 College of Staten Island.
She once told me that she'd had students who'd never travelled the 12 miles to get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. The Met is considered one of the top museums in the world, but going there was too much hassle
The Staten Island Ferry is such an awesome ride, though. It's free and goes past beautiful views of the skylines and the Statue of Liberty.
I live in New York City, and when I'm hosting or hanging with visitors from out of town I always take them to ride the ferry to Staten Island and back if I can.
I mean, from SI to Manhattan, you either need to take a ferry or come into Bayonne, so that's a whole thing. Then again, I'll admit, I prefer the Cloisters to the main Met.