STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Foggy weather dropped the anchor on the first 2 a.m. ferry boat scheduled to leave Whitehall Ferry Terminal early Saturday morning, forcing riders to wait for the 2:30 a.m. boat instead.

The additional, late-night ferry rides have been a long time coming for Staten Islanders. Back in October of 2013, after a bipartisan campaign by local officials,

, rather than hourly, around the clock, by May of 2015.

. The first phase was to begin early Saturday morning. It required the city to increase weekend service to once every half hour from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.

The second phase is planned for May 1 of next year, when boats will start running every 30 minutes, all night.

Then-Councilman James Oddo, Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore) and Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) played a large role in passing the bill.

Back in October, Ms. Rose (D-North Shore) called it a victory for all Staten Islanders.

"Together with the Staten Island community, we made demands known and we're ultimately going to have better service because of it," Ignizio said upon hearing the news of the bill's passing. He called it a great day for Staten Islanders and commuters.