Fort Lee Ferry Magnate Chosen For N.J. Hall Of Fame

FORT LEE, N.J. — A borough man and former owner of an NHL hockey team is being honored for making it possible for residents to get to work, everyday and on time.

Arthur Imperatore, 91, will be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in May for being the founder of NY Waterway.

Imperatore began his business career in 1947, founding what would become the fourth largest trucking company in the country.

In 1981, he purchase 2 and a half miles of waterfront property in Weehawken and West New York from the Penn Colonial Railroad. Five years later, NY Waterway began ferrying people from Weehawken to Manhattan.

Imperatore purchased the Colorado Rockies NHL hockey team in 1978 and tried to move the team to New Jersey, according to a post on sportsecyclopedia.com said. He sold it just four years later to shipping tycoon John McMullen — who moved the team to New Jersey for the 1982-83 season and the team was renamed the New Jersey Devils.

The Arthur E. Imperatore School of Sciences and Arts at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken is named in his honor.

"Induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame is the highest civilian honor that our state can bestow on someone,” said John Keegan, chairman emeritus of the NJHOF Foundation Board. “It’s a celebration of New Jersey and its greatest achievers, and a recognition of role models for our next generation."

Other noted inductees this year include: Talk show host Kelly Ripa, actor Ray Liotta and World Cup-winning soccer player Carli Lloyd.

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Photo: President and CEO of New York Waterway Arthur Imperatore Sr. reacts to comments and applause made during a Coast Guard awards ceremony that was held to honor Good Samaritan Mariners at the New York Waterway Terminal in Manhattan Feb. 18, 2009. — Photo via Flickr.com, used with permission via Creative Commons license