Hoboken Nonprofit, Ferry Company Clash On Dry Dock: Op-Eds

HOBOKEN, NJ — Is there a better site for NY Waterway's proposed ferry maintenance and repair station than the Union Dry Dock in Hoboken? Would a new facility be a boon or a bust for the Hudson County waterfront?

Like many development issues, it depends who you ask.

Patch recently reached out to nonprofit Fund For a Better Waterfront and private ferry company NY Waterway seeking comment on the Dry Dock controversy. Read each of their op-ed pieces below, and catch up on some of our latest coverage at the following links.

• Hoboken Protesters Rally Against Ferry Depot At Waterfront: WATCH
• Thousands Took Ferry Between New Jersey, New York During Snowstorm
• Ferry Company Gets Permit For Controversial Hoboken Depot
• Hoboken Issues Stop Work Order To NY Waterway At Dry Dock

FUND FOR A BETTER WATERFRONT

In 1981, Arthur E. Imperatore, Sr., through Romulus Development Corp. acquired 342 vacant acres at the Weehawken and West New York waterfronts from the Penn Central Railroad. In 1984, Romulus purchased another 17 acres at the Weehawken, West New York and Guttenberg waterfronts from Consolidated Rail Corp.

Today, Imperatore claims that NY Waterway is being evicted from Weehawken where it has refueled and maintained its ferry fleet for ten years at the 26-acre site known as Port Imperial Marina. This waterfront parcel is mostly over the water, in the Hudson River, and the repairs and refueling take place on several piers. Easements were granted for the ferry company to use several adjacent upland parcels to provide full access to the site.

In March of 2018, an agent for NY Waterway forwarded an “eviction notice” to Governor Murphy’s chief counsel. The letter was neither signed and nor on letterhead, and was delivered by Brendan Gill of the BG Group, hired by NY Waterway after Gill successfully managed Murphy’s campaign for governor.

What Gill and other NY Waterway lobbyists failed to divulge, however, is that the Port Imperial Marina property – block 45.01 lot 3.01 — is owned by Romulus Development Corp. The owner of Romulus and NY Waterway is one in the same — Arthur E. Imperatore, Sr. Obviously, Lennar, the developer of upland parcels, had no authority to evict NY Waterway from property owned by Mr. Imperatore.

Prior to this year, NY Waterway also failed to divulge to state officials information contained in a “Marina Agreement” signed on April of 2016 that provided the option for the ferry company to keep its refueling/maintenance operation in Weehawken at the Port Imperial Marina site if it was not able to relocate. The agreement also included a plan for a “New Facility” designed by NY Waterway’s engineering firm, Bowman Consulting, to be located at the Port Imperial Marina site owned by Imperatore.

This April 2016 agreement was signed by entities owned entirely or in part by Mr. Imperatore. He is sole owner of Port Imperial Ferry Company, Port Imperial Corp. and Romulus Development Corp. He owns Port Imperial South L.L.C. jointly with Roseland Development. Port Imperial Marina, L.L.C. is owned by Port Imperial South L.L.C.

The agreement contains exhibits — block and lot maps — showing the “work dock easement area” and “fuel dock easement area.” The agreement and these easements gave NY Waterway rights of ingress and egress over properties adjacent to the Port Imperial Marina site.

In 2009, NJ Transit conducted an exhaustive study entitled Ferry Berthing and Maintenance Facility – Alternative Site Analysis. The study identified five sites along New Jersey’s Hudson River coastline that were deemed more suitable for a maintenance facility than the Union Dry Dock site. The Hoboken Train/Ferry Terminal, owned by NJ Transit, was determined to be the optimal location. The two Weehawken locations — the Port Imperial Ferry Terminal and the Port Imperial Marina — were ranked two and three respectively.

In November 2017, Hoboken’s mayor and its residents were stunned when news broke that NY Waterway had purchased the Union Dry Dock site and that NJ Transit would then buy it and lease it back to the ferry company for refueling and maintenance of it’s ferry fleet. Neither NY Waterway nor NJ Transit had consulted or previously informed local officials that these transactions were in the works. The City of Hoboken fought back and by March of 2018 had passed an ordinance to take the site through eminent domain.

The following month, NJ Transit again threatened to acquire the site. But a truce was reached between Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla and Gov. Murphy. Transit would back down on the acquisition and the City of Hoboken would rescind its eminent domain ordinance. Yet, talks between the governor’s office and Hoboken officials, and public protests and debate over the past year have not brought about any resolution.

In 1988, Imperatore obtained a $50 million mortgage from Crossland Federal Savings Bank. When his grand plans to develop the site faltered, he failed to make payments and the bank threatened to foreclose. Imperatore then partnered with Roseland Development to stave off the bank creating various entities such as Roseland/Port Imperial Partners and Port Imperial South, L.L.C. as owners of the property.

In 1981, Imperatore purchased the 342 acres from Penn Central Railroad for $7.75 million. In 2008, in partnership with Roseland through Port Imperial South, L.L.C., he sold a 1.4 acre undeveloped parcel, upland from the Port Imperial Marina site — block 64.01, lot 1.08 — to Lennar for $24.2 million. In 2005, Port Imperial South sold an adjacent 2.3 acre parcel — block 64.01, lot 1.09 — for $20.4 million that was sold several years later to Lennar.

Roseland and successive companies have built millions of square feet of new residential and commercial development at the Weehawken, Guttenberg and West New York waterfronts. The projects boast a total value exceeding several billion dollars. The owner of NY Waterway has sold off most of his interest in these properties, undoubtably restoring his fortune. Nevertheless, he still owns through Romulus Development the Port Imperial Marina site.

Today, after Mr. Imperatore profited from these projects, he now claims that the only place for him to relocate his refueling and maintenance operation is the Union Dry Dock Site in Hoboken, a move that has been fiercely resisted by the Hoboken community and its elected officials. (Story continues below)

NY WATERWAY: 'A GIFT TO THE PEOPLE OF HOBOKEN'

The following op-ed comes courtesy of Arthur E. Imperatore

Claims that NY Waterway has an alternative site in Weehawken for a repair and maintenance facility are just not true. The claim that we kept something secret also is not true. We fully briefed the governor’s office on the situation in Weehawken in January, 2019.

We must have the Union Dry Dock site.

And when we get there, we will be a gift to the taxpayers of Hoboken.

We will develop the Union Dry Dock site as an attractive amenity, looking 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.

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.

We are paying taxes now on the Union Dry Dock site, even though Hoboken is blocking us from operating there. We will pay more taxes once the site is improved.

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.

We will not be pushed off this site by a campaign of misinformation designed to mislead the people of Hoboken.

Misinformation about the Weehawken maintenance facility is part of that campaign.

NY Waterway has had a work dock with two barges on the Weehawken site in question for more than 10 years. The ferry company also had equipment storage and workshops on the land adjacent to this dock. This was a makeshift arrangement, less than satisfactory for the repair and maintenance of a fleet of 35 ferries, which must operate reliably every day.

NY Waterway has known for years that it ultimately would be forced to leave the upland portion of this site and has examined alternatives, resulting in the purchase in November, 2017, of Union Dry Dock.

It also executed an agreement in April 2016 with the owners of the property adjacent to the Weehawken work dock allowing NY Waterway an easement to access the work dock once the company was evicted from the site. That agreement was filed with Hudson County and has been part of the public record for three years.

The image submitted by Fund for a Better Waterfront shows the Weehawken work dock and barges where they have been for years. The drawing shows no operation on the land adjacent to the dock.

The 2016 agreement also allows NY Waterway to move the dock and barges 200 feet south on the Weehawken waterfront, but provides no land use, just the easement. NY Waterway examined that option and determined the second site would be too costly.

NY Waterway was evicted from the land area in question March 29, 2019. Since them, the company has been forced to conduct repair and maintenance operations from the two barges.

The easement negotiated in 2016 allows workers to get to the dock and barges, nothing more.

Maintaining our ferry fleet without land access is an impossible situation.

It must be rectified if NY Waterway is to continue operating at the high level of service, including emergency service, on which the people of Hoboken, Hudson County and their leaders have come to rely.

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

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