FERRY SAVED!
NYC lawyer to take over Hoboken, Jersey City routes from NY Waterway

Originally appeared in the Jersey Journal on Tuesday, February 15, 2005
By Bonnie Friedman

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a private investor have reached a tentative agreement to ensure continued ferry service from Hudson County to New York, according to a statement released by the Port Authority.

Under the terms of the agreement - which is subject to the approval of the federal Maritime Administration and the board of commissioners of the Port Authority - NY Waterway will turn over ferry routes from Hoboken and Jersey City to BillyBey Ferry Company LLC, which is owned by New York City attorney William B. Wachtel.

The contract will remain in effect until 2009, with an option to extend it for an additional five years.

In turn, BillyBey will assume $19.1 million in federal maritime loans for 16 boats that will operate between Hoboken and Jersey City.

NY Waterway will continue to own and operate routes in Weehawken, as well as in Belford and Haverstraw, N.Y.

In a separate agreement, Weehawken-based NY Waterway will provide personnel and continue to manage and operate the Hoboken and Jersey City lines.

Last year, NY Waterway closed its route between Newport in Jersey City and Pier 11 in Manhattan and threatened to close routes from Port Liberte and Hoboken Terminal to Pier 11.

The Port Liberte and Hoboken routes will continue to operate, though the Newport route will not be restored, officials said.

The private operator can only raise fares on the Hoboken routes by 50 cents per one-way trip per year. There are no limits on the Jersey City fares, officials said.

BillyBey is also planning to add an additional route - from Hoboken to Pier A in Lower Manhattan, officials said.

The Port Authority has also

agreed to waive the $50,000-a-month fee it charges to dock at Hoboken Terminal.

In lieu of that fee, the Port Authority will collect a 10-cents-per-passenger fee for Hoboken departures, a share of receipts from advertising and concession services, and fees from other operators that use the docks at Battery Park City and at 14th Street in Hoboken.

Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority, estimated the per-passenger fees would bring in $10,750 a month, adding that projections for advertising, concession and the others fees were not available.

The figure will increase to 15 cents per passenger if the deal is extended for an additional five years, Coleman added.

Officials acknowledged that the revised formula likely will generate less than half of what the agency had been collecting from NY Waterway.

The fee had been one of the factors that put NY Waterway's busy Hoboken routes in the red, officials said.

Acting Gov. Richard Codey and officials at the Port Authority praised the deal, which will preserve ferry service for the estimated 15,000 daily riders.

"As our roads and rails become more congested, ferry service has provided an alternative for thousands of New Jersey residents to get to and from Manhattan," Codey said in a written statement.

"I applaud the hard work and perseverance of our Hudson County elected officials, as well as the Port Authority staff, for making sure that service on this vitally important transportation mode is not interrupted."

Not everyone is thrilled about the agreement between Wachtel and the Port Authority.

"This is scandalous," said Deborah Jack, one of the founders of Ferry Friends, an activist group. "This sounds like they're getting into business with a private operator."

Jack questioned the wisdom of the revised payment formula.

"If the concessions and the advertising revenues were so great to begin with, then NY Waterway wouldn't be in the jam that it's in," she said. "Somehow Wachtel has gotten a great deal for himself. Waterway gets to keep its ferries running. But what about the passengers? Who's watching out for us?"

Wachtel, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, provided a written comment through the Port Authority.

"We are pleased to be part of this private sector solution that is being facilitated by the Port Authority and officials of New York and New Jersey," he said. "The ferry system has grown to become an important, environmentally sensitive part of the region's transportation system."

Jim McQueeny, a spokesman for Wachtel, refused to provide additional information about his client or the deal, except to say that the name of the company -BillyBey - is an honorific title used in Turkey.

"The term conveys his winsome recollection of his love of ferries in that area," said McQueeny, adding that Wachtel plans to disclose more about his plans in the coming weeks.

News of the agreement came on the same day the Assembly Transportation Committee met at the West New York Middle School and unanimously authorized NJ Transit to take over the ferry system if a private operator was unable to maintain adequate service.

The bill, sponsored by Speaker Albio Sires, the mayor of West New York, is largely a last resort option, and many who testified spoke about the need for a more permanent solution.

George Warrington, executive director of NJ Transit, noted the importance ferry service played on Sept. 11, 2001 and during the August 2003 blackout.

"Ferry service emerged as an important safety net and relief valve," Warrington said. "We worked to create a backup plan that calls for the commandeering of maritime vessels to be used for evacuation."

Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, Hoboken Mayor David Roberts and Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner, who had proposed a plan for the Hudson County Improvement Authority to buy the ferry system, also testified at yesterday's hearing.

After hearing about the agreement, Turner said the passage of the Assembly bill is even more apropos.

"We always have to have a concern," Turner said. "When you look down the road, and if something indeed happens, if oil prices go up, if it proves not to be successful, with all the variables, we are setting the stage for some government action, if it's needed, but we are still giving the private sector as much chance to succeed as possible."

Newhouse News Service contributed to this report.