And you thought the story about that Ground Zero street vendor who was ripping off tourists with $30 hot dogs and pretzels was bad, right?

Well, clueless tourists are now coughing up top dollar-- up to $200/each-- to fake vendors for “tickets” to the Staten Island Ferry (which, for anyone who's never ridden it before, has been free for the past 18 years).

"They’re targeting people who are tourists, because they just don’t know better,” a Parks source told The New York Post. "Usually, the people we’re seeing are complaining that they’ve been charged $25 [for a Staten Island Ferry ride], but this guy was charging $200 each way."

The Post reported that Gregory Reddick, 54, was arrested just this past Wednesday, after Parks Enforcement Patrolman Jean-Baptist Joseph observed him ripping off two tourists at the South Street Seaport's Pier 15.

Reddick, of Jamaica, Queens, was wearing an "Authorized Ticket Agent" at the time of the arrest and the NYPD says he has "at least five aliases, six Social Security numbers and seven dates of birth-- and has spent at least nine years in prison for burglary and credit-card fraud."

Sounds like summer tourists visiting New York City could use a quick crash-course on how to blend in with us New Yorkers, right?

Check out 17 Touristy Things Every New Yorker Needs to Cross Off Their Bucket List. 

[via The New York Post]