Bayonne Mayor Davis Signs Purchase and Sale Agreement for Bayonne Ferry Terminal

Mayor Davis Signs Purchase and Sale Agreement for Bayonne Ferry Terminal

Editor’s note: Readers may remember the testing of cleaner greener ferries for Staten Island. The island’s ferry is also set to receive new storage facilities for spare parts.  Last year saw the inaugural ride for the Dorothy Day Ferry boat.  

Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis has signed the purchase and sale agreement to buy a parcel of land back from the Port Authority for a ferry terminal. Mayor Davis said, “I am very happy that we are one step closer to completing this real estate transaction, which will help us achieve our goal of ferry service for the people of Bayonne.”

For a purchase price of $4.4 million, the City of Bayonne has obtained 2.3 acres at the former Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne (MOTBY), which juts out two miles into Upper New York Bay from Bayonne’s eastern waterfront. Of that parcel, 1.6 acres will provide space for the ferry terminal and parking. The remaining 0.7 acre will continue the Hudson Riverfront Walkway along the southern shore of the former MOTBY. An adjoining private property owner, Lincoln Equities, is contributing an acre of additional land for the ferry project in return for building the UPS Facility. The terminal will be located about halfway out the former MOTBY, approximately one mile east of the Bayonne mainland.

Plans for the ferry terminal are in the final design phase. The parking lot for the ferry passengers is expected to be 1.4 acres in size, with approximately 130 parking spaces. The number of parking spaces will depend on design, layout, drainage requirements, and other factors. The City of Bayonne has issued a request for proposals/request for qualifications (RFP/RFQ) for constructing the ferry building and operating the terminal.

In a previous attempt at establishing ferry service, the City of Bayonne selected Seastreak as the operator. However, the time for that selection expired, so the City of Bayonne has gone out to bid again for a ferry operator. The municipality’s goal is to select a ferry company by March or April 2025.

Mayor Davis concluded, “I am very happy that we have the contract with Port Authority to buy this land, so that Bayonne will have our own terminal and control our own destiny. This purchase will make it easier for us to achieve our goal of ferry service for our great community.”

Banner Image: Port Authority Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne property for development.  Image Credit – Port Authority of NY/NJ

City of Bayonne

Bayonne is a community that retains many of the elements of a small town. One and two family homes, small apartment buildings, and small business predominate. There is a population of 62,000 people who take pride in their hometown and its history. Bayonne residents and their ancestors moved to the city from many parts of the world. During colonial times and the first century of the American Republic, the Dutch, British, and Africans were the first groups to arrive after the Native Americans. Subsequent waves of immigrants came from all over Europe, especially between the 1880s and the 1920s. In recent decades, sources of immigration have largely been represented from countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeastern Asia. Each group has left its mark on the cultural, religious and political life of the community.