Post by ferryfast admin on Apr 15, 2005 20:40:46 GMT -5
April 13, 2005
Rescue of a Ferry Company Has Competitors Skeptical
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
www.nytimes.com/
he commuter ferries on the Hudson River are running smoothly after the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey averted a midwinter shutdown by striking a deal for a new ferry company to take over some popular routes. But some competitors are wondering aloud about the relationship between the new operator and the old one.
The new operator, William Wachtel, a Manhattan lawyer who had never ridden a ferry across the Hudson, rode to the rescue of Arthur Imperatore, whose family-owned ferry business, New York Waterway, was on the brink of insolvency at the end of last year. In February, Mr. Wachtel took over the debt payments on 16 of New York Waterway's boats, then turned around and hired Mr. Imperatore's company to continue running and maintaining them.
That arrangement was still raising eyebrows before a reception for local officials given by Mr. Wachtel yesterday in Jersey City, where he and Mr. Imperatore hugged and mugged for cameras as Mr. Wachtel repeatedly expressed his admiration for Mr. Imperatore.
At one point, Mr. Wachtel said the elder Mr. Imperatore "is like the father I lost." He said he had promised Mr. Imperatore, 79, that he would "keep his dream alive."
All the while, Arthur Imperatore Jr., who was overseeing New York Waterway when it fell into financial distress, sat grim-faced across the table from his beaming father.
The camaraderie between two men who are supposed to be running separate companies has sparked skepticism among boat operators who had no chance to bid against Mr. Wachtel. Although New York Waterway had won a contract with the Port Authority, the contract was reassigned in February to Mr. Wachtel's startup company, BillyBey Ferry Company, with sweetened terms but without a new round of bidding.
"We did hear some carping from the competitors about why wasn't this put out to bid," said Carter Craft, director of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, a division of the Municipal Art Society that advocates for more water transit.
Port Authority officials said nobody other than Mr. Wachtel stepped forward with a plan to keep serving all of the most popular ferry routes. Mr. Wachtel agreed to take over commuter service between Lower Manhattan and some piers in Hoboken and Jersey City, while New York Waterway continues to run boats to Manhattan from other points in Hoboken, Jersey City and Weehawken.
Happy to have headed off a disruption of the service, which carries about 30,000 passengers a day, Port Authority officials agreed in February to sharply reduce the monthly fee they had charged New York Waterway to carry passengers between Hoboken and Lower Manhattan. They were unwilling to make a similar concession to the Imperatores in part because of a long-running federal investigation into how their company used federal emergency grants after Sept. 11.
The United States attorney's office in Manhattan recently sent out subpoenas to several boat operators seeking information about past efforts by New York Waterway to sell some of its boats, according to executives of three companies in the business with knowledge of the investigation who asked not to be identified. Asked about the investigation yesterday, Mr. Imperatore said he thought it was winding down.
Despite the stain that investigation has left on Mr. Imperatore's image as a visionary entrepreneur, Representative Robert Menendez of New Jersey and the mayors of Jersey City, Hoboken and Weehawken turned out yesterday to thank him for providing ferry service since 1986 and to thank Mr. Wachtel for preserving it.
Port Authority officials were miffed last week when they saw an invitation to Mr. Wachtel's reception, which was held in a ballroom atop the Hyatt Regency on the Hudson, on a pier that juts out toward Manhattan. They demanded an explanation for what appeared to be a debut of a Wachtel-Imperatore alliance.
Yesterday, a Port Authority spokesman, Steve Coleman, said Mr. Wachtel's representatives had reassured the agency's officials that "they are a separate and distinct company solely in control of their own operations and decision-making." He added, however, that "they intend to continue to operate the overall ferry system under the name New York Waterway, which involves some collaboration with the Imperatore family."
Mr. Wachtel went further, saying, "I'd like to find other things to do with Arthur Sr."
One of those ventures, Mr. Imperatore said, would be a partnership to operate sightseeing cruises around New York Harbor. Mr. Imperatore's company would supply the boats and crews and the tours would depart from Pier A, a pier at the north end of Battery Park that is being rehabilitated by a company Mr. Wachtel represents.
His most ambitious plan is to convert Pier A into the jumping-off point for those tours, which now depart from the south end of Battery Park.
Rescue of a Ferry Company Has Competitors Skeptical
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
www.nytimes.com/
he commuter ferries on the Hudson River are running smoothly after the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey averted a midwinter shutdown by striking a deal for a new ferry company to take over some popular routes. But some competitors are wondering aloud about the relationship between the new operator and the old one.
The new operator, William Wachtel, a Manhattan lawyer who had never ridden a ferry across the Hudson, rode to the rescue of Arthur Imperatore, whose family-owned ferry business, New York Waterway, was on the brink of insolvency at the end of last year. In February, Mr. Wachtel took over the debt payments on 16 of New York Waterway's boats, then turned around and hired Mr. Imperatore's company to continue running and maintaining them.
That arrangement was still raising eyebrows before a reception for local officials given by Mr. Wachtel yesterday in Jersey City, where he and Mr. Imperatore hugged and mugged for cameras as Mr. Wachtel repeatedly expressed his admiration for Mr. Imperatore.
At one point, Mr. Wachtel said the elder Mr. Imperatore "is like the father I lost." He said he had promised Mr. Imperatore, 79, that he would "keep his dream alive."
All the while, Arthur Imperatore Jr., who was overseeing New York Waterway when it fell into financial distress, sat grim-faced across the table from his beaming father.
The camaraderie between two men who are supposed to be running separate companies has sparked skepticism among boat operators who had no chance to bid against Mr. Wachtel. Although New York Waterway had won a contract with the Port Authority, the contract was reassigned in February to Mr. Wachtel's startup company, BillyBey Ferry Company, with sweetened terms but without a new round of bidding.
"We did hear some carping from the competitors about why wasn't this put out to bid," said Carter Craft, director of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, a division of the Municipal Art Society that advocates for more water transit.
Port Authority officials said nobody other than Mr. Wachtel stepped forward with a plan to keep serving all of the most popular ferry routes. Mr. Wachtel agreed to take over commuter service between Lower Manhattan and some piers in Hoboken and Jersey City, while New York Waterway continues to run boats to Manhattan from other points in Hoboken, Jersey City and Weehawken.
Happy to have headed off a disruption of the service, which carries about 30,000 passengers a day, Port Authority officials agreed in February to sharply reduce the monthly fee they had charged New York Waterway to carry passengers between Hoboken and Lower Manhattan. They were unwilling to make a similar concession to the Imperatores in part because of a long-running federal investigation into how their company used federal emergency grants after Sept. 11.
The United States attorney's office in Manhattan recently sent out subpoenas to several boat operators seeking information about past efforts by New York Waterway to sell some of its boats, according to executives of three companies in the business with knowledge of the investigation who asked not to be identified. Asked about the investigation yesterday, Mr. Imperatore said he thought it was winding down.
Despite the stain that investigation has left on Mr. Imperatore's image as a visionary entrepreneur, Representative Robert Menendez of New Jersey and the mayors of Jersey City, Hoboken and Weehawken turned out yesterday to thank him for providing ferry service since 1986 and to thank Mr. Wachtel for preserving it.
Port Authority officials were miffed last week when they saw an invitation to Mr. Wachtel's reception, which was held in a ballroom atop the Hyatt Regency on the Hudson, on a pier that juts out toward Manhattan. They demanded an explanation for what appeared to be a debut of a Wachtel-Imperatore alliance.
Yesterday, a Port Authority spokesman, Steve Coleman, said Mr. Wachtel's representatives had reassured the agency's officials that "they are a separate and distinct company solely in control of their own operations and decision-making." He added, however, that "they intend to continue to operate the overall ferry system under the name New York Waterway, which involves some collaboration with the Imperatore family."
Mr. Wachtel went further, saying, "I'd like to find other things to do with Arthur Sr."
One of those ventures, Mr. Imperatore said, would be a partnership to operate sightseeing cruises around New York Harbor. Mr. Imperatore's company would supply the boats and crews and the tours would depart from Pier A, a pier at the north end of Battery Park that is being rehabilitated by a company Mr. Wachtel represents.
His most ambitious plan is to convert Pier A into the jumping-off point for those tours, which now depart from the south end of Battery Park.