Battle Continues Over Ferry Station; NY Waterway Sues Hoboken

HOBOKEN, NJ — A long-running battle over a proposed ferry maintenance facility in Hoboken took another turn last week when NY Waterway announced it filed suit against the city in Hudson County Superior Court.

The complaint asks the court to allow NY Waterway to resume its effort to build a ferry depot at the Dry Dock property at 901 Sinatra Drive in Hoboken, which it purchased for $11.5 million in 2017.

Despite the company's claims that the facility would enhance transportation, public security and property values on the Hudson River waterfront, local community groups and elected officials – including Mayor Ravi Bhalla – have dug in their heels against the proposed location of the new facility, demanding that the area be used for open space instead.

"This industrial use is incompatible with the kayaking, fishing, skateboarding, jogging, cycling and other public recreational uses at this site as well as the residential housing nearby," opponents of the plan said prior to a rally along the waterfront in March.

One local watchdog previously compared the proposed project to "putting a Port Authority bus station in the middle of a playground."

• See related article: Hoboken Protesters Rally Against Ferry Depot At Waterfront (WATCH)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection granted NY Waterway the necessary permits for the project last year. However, last February, the City of Hoboken issued a stop work order to NY Waterway, throwing a monkey wrench into the company’s plans.

• See related article: Hoboken Nonprofit, Ferry Company Clash On Dry Dock (Op-Eds)

NY Waterway’s recently announced lawsuit would clear up the logjam and allow it to continue transforming the Dry Dock, the company stated last week.

“NY Waterway must be allowed to repair and maintain our ferries at Union Dry Dock so that we can continue to provide safe, reliable, environmentally-friendly service to more than 30,000 New Jersey commuters each day, and be ready to respond quickly in an emergency,” President and Founder Arthur Imperatore said.

“We own this property and have been paying taxes on it for 18 months,” Imperatore stated in the court complaint. “We have the necessary state and federal permits and the site has the proper zoning. Yet Hoboken politicians are preventing us from doing our job. We respectfully ask the court to rectify this injustice.”

NY Waterway’s complaint specifically asks the court to rule that the company be permitted to remove and replace up to 102 fender piles in the Hudson River, dock two barges at the site and use the land for maritime industrial purposes.

The company argued that since the planned operations at the Dry Dock are authorized by federal and state authorities, the city’s efforts to halt the project are preempted.

“Furthermore, the City of Hoboken’s attempt to impose the requirement that NY Waterway obtain a new conditional use permit for the continued maritime industrial use of the property fails as a matter of New Jersey law even without regard to the law of federal and state preemption,” NY Waterway claimed.

However, the fight against the proposed ferry facility may be far from over.

On Monday, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office offered Patch a statement about NY Waterway’s legal actions against the city.

“Mayor Bhalla and the city will use any and all legally appropriate means to ensure compliance with our regulations, to protect the health and safety of residents, and to defend the city against meritless litigation,” the spokesperson wrote.

• See related article: Study Names Best Spots For Proposed Ferry Station In Hoboken
• See related article: Hoboken Mayor To Ferry Company: No 'Closed Door Meetings'

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