Battery Park City Ferry Terminal

The Battery Park City Ferry Terminal, is a passenger ferry terminal in Battery Park City, Manhattan, serving ferries along the Hudson River in New York City and northeastern New Jersey. It provides slips to ferries, water taxis, and sightseeing boats in the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Battery Park City Ferry Terminal
Ferry terminal
The floating dock terminal in 2014
General information
Other names	Brookfield Place Terminal
Location	Vesey Street Manhattan, New York U.S.
Coordinates	40°42′54.6″N 74°1′2.6″W
Owned by	Port Authority of New York and New Jersey[1][2]
Operated by	NY Waterway[2]
Line(s)	Liberty Landing Ferry NY Waterway NYC Ferry Seastreak
Connections	New York City Bus: M9, M20 Downtown Connection
Construction
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	October 16, 1989 March 18, 2009 (current terminal)[2]
Services
Preceding station NYC Ferry Following station St. George Terminus St. George West Midtown Terminus
Other services
NY Waterway, Liberty Landing Ferry, Seastreak

The floating dock^[3] is moored at the foot of Vesey Street,^[4] consisting of four bow-loading slips and two side loading points to serve an additional slip. The mono-hull structure is the largest of its type in the world, covering 0.75 acres (0.30 ha) acres, its two towers anchored to bedrock 75 feet (23 m) below the water's surface.^[5][6][7]

The terminal is primarily served by commuter ferries operated by NY Waterway, which refers to the terminal as Brookfield Place / Battery Park City,^[8] Seastreak, which refers to it as Brookfield Place,^[9] and Liberty Landing Ferry, which refers to it as Brookfield Place Terminal.^[10] Each of these names refer to Brookfield Place, a shopping center and office building complex formerly known as the World Financial Center. NYC Ferry uses the terminal for its St. George route, referring to it as Battery Park City / Vesey St.

History

Regular ferry service between lower Manhattan and the Village of Communipaw (in today's Jersey City) dates back to at least 1661 with the founding of the Communipaw ferry during the Dutch colonial period.^[11] The Jersey City Ferry began service in July 1764^[12] between Paulus Hook to Mesier's dock, which was located at the foot of Courtland Street. Both ferries continued to operate into the 19th and 20th centuries and docked at Liberty Street Ferry Terminal and the Cortland Street Ferry Depot respectively. When these ferry slips were closed in the 1950s and 1960s they were demolished and the slips were filled in to create Battery Park City.

In 1986 NY Waterway restarted ferry service across the Hudson River. A ferry slip opened at Battery Park City on October 16, 1989 with the intentions of reducing rush-hour crowds on the PATH trains serving the World Trade Center station.^[4][13]

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey first commissioned the construction of the current terminal in 2000, but plans were put on hold following the September 11 attacks.^[14]

A 1,200-ton hull was constructed in Corpus Christi, Texas and was transported to Pier 39 in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn in 2006, where the remainder of the terminal was constructed.^[3] At a total cost of $50 million, the terminal was then floated up to Battery Park City and opened March 18, 2009.^[3][14][2] The terminal reconstruction project was named Best Public Works Project by New York Construction News.^[5][7]

Since June 2013, ferries using the terminal, in accordance with the previously disregarded Rule 34(a)(i) (which prescribes maneuvering and warning signals^[15]), sound their horns to indicate their actions, creating what many local residents perceive as noise pollution.^[16]

Service

Ferry

NY Waterway is the largest operator of services in the terminal. It serves Port Imperial in Weehawken and 14th Street in Hoboken during weekday rush hours,^[17] and Hoboken Terminal and Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal 7 days a week.^[18][19] Goldman Sachs commissions two ferries to run between the terminal and Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal, connecting its offices in Battery Park City and Jersey City, with service beginning February 19, 2013. York and Jersey are operated by NY Waterway, flying the flag of the ferry service but not bearing its name or logo.^[20] The ferries are available to both employees and the general public since, by law, ferries utilizing the public terminal must be available to the public.^[21][22]

Liberty Landing Ferry provides ferry service to Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City with an intermediate stop at Warren Street.^[10] The service is operated by Hornblower Cruises, which also operates NYC Ferry and ferries to the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

Seastreak operates service to Monmouth County, NJ.^[9] Seastreak's West Side service stops at Pier 11/Wall Street before continuing on to Belford giving passengers the chance to connect to Seastreak's East Side service to Atlantic Highlands and Highlands on the Raritan Bayshore.^[23]

Service on the St. George route of the NYC Ferry system began in August 2021.^[24][25] Battery Park City is the intermediate station between West Midtown and St. George Terminals.^{[26][27][28][29]}

Service to South Amboy, NJ via NY Waterway began on October 30, 2023.^[30]

Routes

Destination	Company	Intermediate Stops	Operational Hours
Belford	Seastreak	Pier 11/Wall Street Originates at West Midtown	Weekday peak hours
St. George	NYC Ferry	Originates at West Midtown	7 days a week
Liberty Landing	Liberty Landing Ferry	Warren Street	Weekdays
Paulus Hook	NY Waterway	None	7 days a week
Hoboken Terminal
Port Imperial		Hoboken 14th Street Originates at Pier 11/Wall Street	Weekday peak hours
South Amboy		None	Weekday peak hours

Bus

New York City Transit bus routes M9 and M20 stop on the nearby corner of Vesey Street and North End Avenue. There is a free connecting bus to the South Amboy terminal that travels through South Amboy and Sayreville.

See also

• New York City portal

• List of ferries across the Hudson River to New York City
• Liberty Street Ferry Terminal
• Cortlandt Street Ferry Depot

References

1. "Ferry Transportation Information". Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
2. "NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART FERRY TERMINAL TO OPEN IN BATTERY PARK CITY ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18" (Press release). Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. March 17, 2009. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
3. Dunlap, David W. (June 6, 2008). "This Ferry Terminal Will Come to You". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 1, 2012. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
4. Uhlig, Mark A. (May 5, 1988). "Site in Manhattan is Chosen for New Ferry Terminal". New York Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
5. "Battery Park City Ferry Terminal". Project Gallery. Birdair. Archived from the original on August 17, 2010. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
6. "Battery Park City Ferry Terminal". McLaren Engineering Group. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
7. "International Achievement Awards". Battery Park City Ferry Terminal. IFIA Publications. Archived from the original on May 5, 2010. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
8. "Brookfield Place Terminal". NY Waterway. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
9. "New York City | New Jersey Commute By Seastreak Ferry". seastreak.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
10. "Liberty Landing Ferry". Liberty Landing Ferry. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
11. Baxter, Raymond J.; Adams, Arthur G. (1999). Railroad Ferries of the Hudson: And Stories of a Deckhand. Fordham University Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0823219544.
12. Winfield, Charles Hardenburg (1874). History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. New York: Kennard & Hay Stationery M'fg and Printing Company. pp. 243–246.
13. Smith, Emily M. (October 17, 1989). "4,300 ride new Hoboken ferry on its first day". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved November 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Ohrstrom, Lysandra (June 6, 2008). "Bigger, Better Battery Park Ferry Terminal Finally Arriving". New York Observer. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011.
15. "Rule 34 Maneuvering and Warning Signals". Navigation Rules. Navigation Center United States Coast Guard US Department of Homeland Security. Archived from the original on September 27, 2010. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
16. Paumgarten, Nick (July 29, 2012). "On the Waterfront: Kayaktivist". The New Yorker. pp. 21–22. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
17. "Port Imperial / Weehawken to Brookfield Place". www.nywaterway.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
18. "Hoboken / NJ Transit Terminal". www.nywaterway.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
19. "Paulus Hook". www.nywaterway.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
20. McGeehan, Patrick (February 19, 2013). "Public May Use New Goldman Sachs Ferries on Hudson". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 17, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
21. McGeehan, Patrick (March 4, 2011). "Goldman's Own Ferries Will Ply the Hudson". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
22. McGeehan, Patrick (August 1, 2010), "Neighbors Press Goldman Sachs on Ferry Noise", The New York Times, archived from the original on November 5, 2014, retrieved March 6, 2011
23. "World Financial Center Shuttle Service". SeaStreak. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
24. Gartland, Michael (August 23, 2021). "De Blasio touts NYC Ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
25. Liotta, Paul (August 23, 2021). "NYC fast ferry is finally citywide as St. George route launches". silive. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
26. "Routes and Schedules: St. George". NYC Ferry. Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
27. Barone, Vincent (January 10, 2019). "NYC Ferry is adding 2 new routes". am New York. Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
28. Plitt, Amy (January 10, 2019). "NYC Ferry will launch service to Staten Island, Coney Island". Curbed NY. Archived from the original on January 12, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
29. "2020-2021 Expansion". New York City Ferry Service. Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
30. Fazelpoor, Matthew (October 30, 2023). "Long-awaited South Amboy Ferry Terminal begins service". NJBIZ. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.

External links

• Media related to Battery Park City Ferry Terminal at Wikimedia Commons