Hoboken Mayor To Ferry Company: No ‘Closed Door Meetings’

HOBOKEN, NJ — Hoboken’s mayor is offering to hold a public “town hall” event for NY Waterway, as debate about the ferry company’s proposed maintenance and repair station at the Union Dry Dock continues.

Last week, Mayor Ravi Bhalla offered to hold a town hall meeting in the name of “transparency” for NY Waterway. The company wants to build a ferry depot at the Dry Dock property at 901 Sinatra Drive in Hoboken, which it recently purchased for $11.5 million.

Despite the company's claims that the depot would enhance transportation, public security and property values on the Hudson River waterfront, local community groups and elected officials - including Bhalla - have dug in their heels against the proposed location of the new facility.

"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 community member likened 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)

On May 3, Bhalla invited New York Waterway CEO Arthur Imperatore, chairman Armand Pohan and other company officials to discuss the proposed ferry station at a town hall meeting. The event – which would be open to the public – would take place on Thursday, May 9.

According to Bhalla, New York Waterway attempted to present its renderings of the proposed station to the City Council at session closed to the public last week, following a previous “closed door meeting held for undisclosed individuals” on April 17 at the Elks Club.

In his May 3 letter to NY Waterway, Bhalla wrote that he “applauded” City Council President Jen Giattino’s decision to deny the company’s request, calling it “yet another attempt to shut out the public.” (Read his full letter here)

“In the interests of transparency, I am willing to host a town hall meeting in Hoboken for New York Waterway, where you can present your renderings and plans to the public so residents are given an opportunity to offer you feedback,” Bhalla stated. “My office would be glad to assist and offer a third party to moderate the forum.”

• See related article: Ferry Company Gets Permit For Controversial Hoboken Depot

‘A GIFT TO THE TAXPAYERS OF HOBOKEN’

A NY Waterway spokesperson shared the company's reply to Bhalla's offer of a public town hall on Monday:

“At the mediation conducted by the Governor's Office on March 15, we offered to sit with you face-to-face and explain our plans for the Union Dry Dock property, including the public access and public amenities which we propose to provide. You flatly refused to do so. On multiple occasions both before and since, you have expressed your unalterable opposition to our use of our own property, and have even tried to block our access thereto. Now you send us a disingenuous offer to host a ‘town hall meeting’ to discuss our plans for what you have repeatedly mischaracterized as 'a heavy refueling station.' We do indeed plan to discuss our plans openly and transparently with the people of Hoboken and with the tens of thousands of people who ride our ferries. We shall do so vigorously and tirelessly through our own media outreach and our own meetings. We have already begun to do so. Thank you very much, but we hardly need the feigned ‘assistance’ of someone who has publicly proclaimed that we will only occupy our own property ‘over my dead body.’”

Last week, Imperatore – the founder of NY Waterway and a member of the New Jersey Hall of Fame – offered Patch an op-ed that claimed the proposed ferry station would be a “gift to the taxpayers of Hoboken.” (Read the full op-ed here)

Imperatore wrote that NY Waterway has plans to develop the Union Dry Dock site as “an attractive amenity” that will ultimately look more like a marina than a work area.

“We will improve Hoboken Cove for recreational boaters and fishermen, with a 430-foot wave attenuator to protect the cove, a kayak launch and a fishing pier – all at our own expense,” Imperatore said. “While we own 20,000 square feet of Hoboken Cove, we will not operate ferries there or dock there, allowing the people of Hoboken full use of the cove. We will widen and beautify the walkway along Sinatra Drive.”

Imperatore added that the company is paying taxes on the Union Dry Dock site, even though Hoboken is blocking it from operating there.

• See related article: Hoboken Issues Stop Work Order To NY Waterway At Dry Dock

“We will not be pushed off the Union Dry Dock site by a handful of people who want to improve the value of their condos by blocking us,” Imperatore said. “We will not be pushed off this site by a campaign of misinformation designed to mislead the people of Hoboken.”

According to Imperatore, maintaining the company’s ferry fleet without the land access the Union Dry Dock site would provide is an “impossible situation” that must be rectified if NY Waterway is to continue providing a high level of service, including emergency service, for the people of Hoboken and Hudson County.

• See related article: Thousands Took Ferry Between New Jersey, New York During Snowstorm

“NY Waterway must have the Union Dry Dock site and Hoboken taxpayers will be happy to have us,” Imperatore said. “We will be a willing and able partner to all of the residents of Hoboken.”

• See related article: NY Waterway Founder To Hoboken Council: ‘Leave Dry Dock Alone’

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