NY Waterway, or New York Waterway, is a private transportation company running ferry and bus service in the Port of New York and New Jersey and in the Hudson Valley. While operations and much marketing come under the NY Waterway logo, the company works with other private companies and in public-private partnership with agencies such as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New Jersey Transit, New York City Department of Transportation, and Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to provide service and maintain docking facilities.
NY Waterway uses ferry slips at four terminals in Manhattan as well as terminals and slips in Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, and Edgewater, all located along the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. Commuter peak service is also provided on the Haverstrawâ€"Ossining Ferry, Newburghâ€"Beacon Ferry, and to the Raritan Bayshore. Excursions and sightseeing trips include those to Yankee Stadium, Gateway National Recreation Area, and Governors Island.
History
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Founding and early years
In 1981 Arthur Edward Imperatore, Sr., a trucking magnate, purchased a 2.5 miles (4.0Â km) length of the Weehawken, New Jersey waterfront, where the company is based, from the bankrupt Penn Central for $7.5 million, with the plan to redevelop the brownfield site as had others along the west bank of the Hudson River waterfront and to restore ferry service to it. In 1986 he established New York Waterway, with a route across the river between Weehawken Port Imperial and Pier 78 on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan. Three years later, it began operation between Hoboken Terminal and Battery Park City.
During the course of the next decade numerous routes across the Hudson were added. NY Waterway briefly also operated a high-speed ferry from Staten Island to East 34th Street in 1998, but discontinued it due to low ridership. This marked the first time that NY Waterway discontinued a route.
Expansion and near bankruptcy
The September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center destroyed the PATH terminal located there, greatly reducing cross-Hudson River passenger capacity. The company was well-positioned to take advantage of government investment in ferry service, receiving subsidies and generous agreements to docking at public facilities.
NY Waterway service quickly expanded by adding new routes and increasing the frequency of crossings. It borrowed heavily to fund the acquisition of additional vessels. After PATH service was restored ridership significantly declined, the loss of passengers bringing the company, unable to reduce its fixed costs, to brink of bankruptcy. By December 2004, there was deep concern that there would be a total shutdown of ferry service, disrupting the commutes of 30,000 daily riders. The Port Authority, as well as city and state agencies had already contracted the construction of new ferry terminals to be leased to private operators. The shutdown was averted when the new BillyBey Ferry Company LLC which had never before operated ferry services, founded by Manhattan lawyer William B. Wachtel, agreed to take over almost half of NY Waterway's equipment and routes. Other ferry and sightseeing boat operators were displeased that the Port Authority approved the transfer without a transparent bidding process.
In 2009, the fleet included 33 boats, 15 of which are operated by the company for its associate Billybey Ferry.
East River Ferry
In February 2011, NY Waterway was contracted to operate a route calling at slips in Brooklyn and Queens as well as the East River terminals. In June 2011, the NY Waterway-operated East River Ferry line started operations. The route was a 7-stop East River service that ran in a loop between East 34th Street and Hunters Point, making two intermediate stops in Brooklyn and three in Queens. The ferry, an alternative to the New York City Subway, cost $2.75 per one-way ticket.
Subsidized by the City of New York, the service was originally intended for commuters, but after a few months became popular with weekend users and tourists. It was used by two to six times the number of passengers that the city predicted would ride the ferries. From June to November 2011, the ferry accommodated 2,862 riders on an average weekday, as opposed to a projection of 1,488 riders, and it had 4,500 riders on an average weekend, six times the city's projected ridership; in total, the ferry saw 350,000 riders in that period, over 250% of the initial ridership forecast of 134,000 riders. The route was merged into NYC Ferry on May 1, 2017, coming under the operation of Hornblower Cruises.
Rescue operations
NY Waterway has played a role in a number of rescue and emergency operations. In the immediate after effects of September 11, 2001 attacks, the company was instrumental in the evacuation of passengers who otherwise would have been stranded in Manhattan due to the chaos created in the mass transit system. The ferry service also brought people across the river during Northeast Blackout of 2003 when service on New Jersey Transit and Port Authority Trans-Hudson trains could not operate. During the 2005 New York City transit strike it provided alternative transportation.
In 2009, the company was instrumental in the rescue of passengers of US Airways Flight 1549, which made an emergency landing on the Hudson River. The firm gained media attention both for its efforts to rescue passengers from airplane and for its hiring of 20-year-old Brittany Catanzaro as captain. Thanks in a large part to the successful efforts of Captains Vincent Lombardi and Catanzaro, together with their crews, all aboard were rescued.
On April 6, 2012, a NY Waterway ferry rescued the crew of the Katherine G, a tugboat that capsized near Liberty Island. The ferry's captain, Mohamed Gouda, had also commanded one of the ferries that participated in the flight 1549 rescue.
NY Waterway â€" NJ Transit partnerships
In June 2012, New Jersey Transit and NY Waterway began a fare-sharing program for riders transferring between the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and ferries at Port Imperial for ten-trip and monthly tickets. in a program called Surf and Turf In May 2013 NY Waterway initiated afternoon bus service along the NJT bus routes 158, and 159R, which travel north to Fort Lee, and 156R, with continuing service to Englewood Cliffs. Passengers who purchase a 10-trip or a Monthly Joint Bus-Ferry pass take the bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal during mornings and travel by ferry in the evening. In December 2014 it was announced that NJT will buy ten buses for NY Waterway's use on its Manhattan bus routes. In January 2016, NY Waterway and NJT introduced the Hudson GoPass, allowing for unlimited use on light rail, ferry and bus routes 156, 158, 159. NJ Transit has also provided funding for boat maintenance and bus purchases.
Terminals and routes
West Midtown Ferry Terminal
Battery Park City Ferry Terminal at the World Financial Center
Pier 11 at Wall Street
Raritan Bayshore route
Upstream Hudson routes
Bus routes in Manhattan
NY Waterway operates connecting bus service for ferry passengers on different routes in Manhattan.
See also
References
External links
Media related to NY Waterway at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
