West Midtown Ferry Terminal
Ferry terminal
West Midtown Ferry Terminal on the Hudson River
General information
LocationPier 79, 459 12th Avenue, New York City, 10018[1][2]
Manhattan, New York City
United States
Coordinates40°45′37.57″N 74°0′12.57″W / 40.7604361°N 74.0034917°W / 40.7604361; -74.0034917
Owned byCity of New York[1][2]
Operated byNY Waterway[3]
Line(s)NY Waterway Midtown routes, NYC Ferry SG route
ConnectionsBus transport New York City Bus: M12, M42, M50
Construction
AccessibleDisabled access
History
Opened1986[4]
Services
Preceding station NYC Ferry Following station
Battery Park City
toward St. George
 St. George Terminus
Other services
NY Waterway services to Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey
NY Waterway IKEA shuttle
Seastreak services to the Raritan Bayshore

The West Midtown Ferry Terminal is a passenger bus and ferry terminal serving ferries along the Hudson River in New York City and northeastern New Jersey. It is located at Pier 79 in Hudson River Park adjacent to the West Side Highway at West 39th Street in Midtown Manhattan.[1][2] The facility first opened in 1986 with the start of NY Waterway commuter ferry service.[4]

Built largely with public funds, the West Midtown terminal is owned by the city and leased to NY Waterway,[1][2][3] which operates ferries to Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, Edgewater, and South Amboy in New Jersey. The ferry service refers to the terminal as Midtown / West 39th Street in scheduling. As a public terminal, the facility is open to any ferry company.[5] NYC Ferry also uses the terminal for its St. George route, referring to it as West Midtown/W 39th St/Pier 79, while Seastreak uses it for service to the Raritan Bayshore.

The terminal is located on a narrow strip of land west of Hudson River Park and the West Side Highway, also known as Twelfth Avenue). Its construction required the incorporation of the ventilation towers of the Lincoln Tunnel built in the 1930s. Clad in glass, it contains six ferry slips as well as a passenger ticketing area and waiting room.[6]

History

The Weehawken was the last ferry to the West Shore Railroad's Weehawken Terminal on March 25, 1959 at 1:10 am.,[7] ending a century of continuous service from 42nd Street. In 1981 Arthur Edward Imperatore, Sr., trucking magnate, purchased a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) length of the Weehawken waterfront from the bankrupt Penn Central for $7.5 million and in 1986 established New York Waterway,[8] with a route across the river that roughly paralleled the older one. Initially, the ferry slip at Pier 78 was a makeshift affair with limited, yet increasing ridership.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center destroyed the PATH terminal located there cross-Hudson passenger capacity was greatly reduced, and ferry service was expanded to compensate. NY Waterway borrowed heavily to acquire new vessels to add new routes and add more runs to schedules. City and state agencies contracted the construction of new ferry terminals to be leased to private operators, of which the West Midtown is one. With the restoration of rapid transit service, ridership numbers dropped significantly. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey brokered a deal to avoid bankruptcy and disruption of service.[9][10]

In 2005, the facility was overhauled to accommodate an increasing demand for ferry service in the Port of New York and New Jersey and to provide ferry slips for short haul crossings, water taxis, and high-speed long-distance service.[6][5][11][12] The 2005 renovation was built by the New York City Economic Development Corporation.[5]

Services

Ferry

NY Waterway commuter ferries connect to several New Jersey terminals, reaching Lincoln Harbor, Weehawken Port Imperial, and Hoboken 14th Street 7 days a week.[13][14] Hoboken Terminal, Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal, Edgewater Landing, and South Amboy are also served weekday peak hours.[15][16][17][18]

Service on the St. George route of the NYC Ferry system began in August 2021.[19][20] Ferries make an intermediate stop at Brookfield Place Terminal in Battery Park City before terminating at a dock nearby the St. George Terminal and Empire Outlets on Staten Island.[21][22][23][24]

Routes

Destination Company Intermediate Stops Operational Hours Slip
Belford Seastreak Paulus Hook (some trips)
Battery Park City
Pier 11/Wall Street		 Weekday peak hours 2
St. George NYC Ferry Battery Park City 7 days a week
Port Imperial NY Waterway None 6
Lincoln Harbor Hoboken 14th Street 5
Hoboken 14th Street Lincoln Harbor
Paulus Hook Hoboken Terminal Weekday peak hours 4
Hoboken Terminal Paulus Hook
Edgewater None 3
IKEA Red Hook Pier 11/Wall Street Weekends
South Amboy Battery Park City Weekday peak hours

Bus

NY Waterway maintains a fleet of buses which provide free connecting service to the ferry that run on peak[25] and off peak routes[26] in Manhattan below 59th Street. New York City transit buses M42 and M50 stop in the vicinity of the terminal at 42nd Street.

Slips

The terminal has seven slips, of which six are usually used:

  • Slip 1: Big City Tourism
  • Slip 2: NYC Ferry, Seastreak
  • Slip 3: NY Waterway Edgewater, IKEA Shuttle
  • Slip 4: NY Waterway Paulus Hook/Hoboken South
  • Slip 5: NY Waterway Lincoln Harbor/Hoboken North
  • Slip 6: NY Waterway Port Imperial
  • Slip 7: Unused

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "West Midtown Ferry Terminal (Pier 78)" (PDF). New York City Department of City Planning. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "West Midtown Ferry Terminal (Pier 79)" (PDF). New York City Department of City Planning. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Ferry Transportation Information". Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  4. 1 2 "About Us". NY Waterway. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 McGeehan, Patrick (October 21, 2005). "New and Flashy, Big and Glassy". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Various Projects". William Nicholas Bodouva + Associates. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  7. ↑ Arthur G. Adams (1996). The Hudson Through the Years. Fordham University Press. ISBN 978-0-8232-1676-5.
  8. ↑ Carroll, Timothy J. (2009-10-11). "20 years crossing the Hudson". The Jersey City Reporter. Hoboken: Hudson Reporter. pp. 7 & 16. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  9. ↑ Golway, Terry (December 19, 2004). "Transportation; Mutiny on the Hudson". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ McGeehan, Patrick (February 15, 2005). "Port Authority Picks Lawyer To Run Ferries on Hudson". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ Barr, Wilma (May 2007), "Jewel on the Hudson" (PDF), Lighting Design and Application, 37 (5): 48
  12. ↑ "Midtown / W. 39th St". NY Waterway. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Lincoln Harbor / Weehawken". www.nywaterway.com. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  14. ↑ "Port Imperial / Weehawken". www.nywaterway.com. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  15. ↑ BPC/WFC-Hoboken Terminal schedule
  16. ↑ "Paulus Hook". www.nywaterway.com. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  17. ↑ "Edgewater Ferry Landing". www.nywaterway.com. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  18. ↑ "South Amboy Ferry Service - Starts Oct 30". www.nywaterway.com. October 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  19. ↑ Gartland, Michael (2021-08-23). "De Blasio touts NYC Ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  20. ↑ Liotta, Paul (2021-08-23). "NYC fast ferry is finally citywide as St. George route launches". silive. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  21. ↑ "Routes and Schedules: St. George". NYC Ferry.
  22. ↑ Barone, Vincent (January 10, 2019). "NYC Ferry is adding 2 new routes". am New York. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  23. ↑ Plitt, Amy (January 10, 2019). "NYC Ferry will launch service to Staten Island, Coney Island". Curbed NY. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  24. ↑ "2020-2021 Expansion". New York City Ferry Service. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  25. ↑ NY Waterway Peak Manhattan bus map
  26. ↑ NY Waterway Off-peak Manhattan bus routes
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