Arthur Edward Imperatore Sr. (July 8, 1925November 18, 2020) was an American businessman and sports owner from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

. He was best known as being the founder and president of the

NY Waterway NY Waterway (or New York Waterway) is a private transportation company running ferry and bus service in the Port of New York and New Jersey and in the Hudson Valley. The company utilizes public-private partnership with agencies such as the Po ...

, a ferry service. After serving in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

in World War II Imperatore founded, with his brothers,

A-P-A Transport Corp. A-P-A Transport Corp. (also known as APA Transport) was a North Bergen, New Jersey–based trucking and shipping company. At one point it was the nation's fourth largest interstate freight trucking company. Origins Founded in 1947 by Arthur Imper ...

He purchased the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

hockey team in 1978 and sold it in 1981. That same year he purchased waterfront land at

Weehawken, New Jersey Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.

, with the intention of constructing a residential development. Imperatore set up a passenger ferry service to support this development and that grew into NY Waterway which ran 36 ferries.

Early life

Imperatore was born in

West New York, New Jersey West New York is a town in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 52,912. The Census Bureau's Population Estimate ...

, on July 8, 1925. He was the 9th of 10 children of

Italian-Americans Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...

Eugene and Teresa Imperatore, who owned a grocery store. As a child Imperatore often travelled on the Hudson River ferries to get to the

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

, though he would try to avoid paying the fare. He served in the

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as a navigator on

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models d ...

and

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

bomber aircraft.

Career

In 1947 he started a local trucking business with his brothers Eugene, Arnold, George, and Harold using a surplus

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

truck, which eventually became

, the nation's fourth largest interstate freight trucking company. The company grew to become the fourth-largest freight trucking firm in the United States, before finally shutting down its operations in 2001. Imperatore purchased the

ice hockey team from Denver-based oilman Jack Vickers on July 12, 1978, with the intention of keeping the franchise in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

before moving it east to the new arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex which was under construction and expected to be completed by 1980. His imposition of the team's eventual transfer alienated many fans. Before he could complete the move to northern New Jersey, Imperatore sold the Rockies to Buffalo-based

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

magnate Peter Gilbert in a transaction that was unanimously approved by the

NHL Board of Governors The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professiona ...

on February 10, 1981. In 1981 Imperatore purchased a length of waterfront in

Weehawken Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.

and West New York from the bankrupt

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and th ...

railroad for $7.5 million. The site consisted of abandoned and dilapidated rail yards and Imperatore planned to convert it into a residential development. However, to attract residents he needed to make it commutable to the city, which was hampered by congested bridges and tunnels. In 1986 Imperatore started the

ferry service between Weehawken and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

. There were as few as five passengers on the first trip and the ferry was derided as "Arthur's Folly". However, its popularity grew and the company eventually managed 36 ferries and 80 buses, carrying 32,000 passengers a day. The service enabled development of Weehawken and many other riverside areas. In 1989 Imperatore started an upscale restaurant, ''Arthur's Landing'', in Weehawken along the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

. It was closed in 2009, and another restaurant opened in the space by 2013. At one point Imperatore planned to build a semblance of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

on the New Jersey Hudson River waterfront.

Personal life

Imperatore was a resident of

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, ...

, living in a home that had been built by gangster

Albert Anastasia Umberto "Albert" Anastasia (, ; ; September 26, 1902 – October 25, 1957) was an Italian-American mobster, hitman, and crime boss. One of the founders of the modern American Mafia, and a co-founder and later boss of the Murder, Inc. organizat ...

and was later owned successively by real estate developer

Del Webb Delbert Eugene "Del" Webb (May 17, 1899 – July 4, 1974) was an American real estate developer, and a co-owner of the New York Yankees baseball club. He is known for founding and developing the retirement community of Sun City, Arizona, and fo ...

and comedian

Buddy Hackett Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker; August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003) was an American actor, comedian and singer. His best remembered roles include Marcellus Washburn in ''The Music Man'' (1962), Benjy Benjamin in ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Wo ...

. He was married to Mei-Ling Yee-Imperatore, and he had a son and daughter as well as four step children. Imperatore entered the

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is p ...

list of richest Americans in 1988, his only year on the list. He died on November 18, 2020, following a long illness.

Honors

The Arthur E. Imperatore School of Sciences and Arts of

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely dedicated to mechanica ...

, in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58, ...

, was named in his honor.Jennemann, Tom
"Stevens presents master plan School unveils strategy for future development at meeting"
''

Hudson Reporter ''The Hudson Reporter'' is a newspaper chain based in Hudson County, New Jersey. ''The Hudson Reporter'' publications mainly focus on local politics and community news. The oldest newspaper in the chain is the ''Hoboken Reporter'', founded in 1983. ...

'', June 3, 2001. Accessed February 8, 2010. Imperatore was inducted into the

New Jersey Hall of Fame The New Jersey Hall of Fame is an organization that honors individuals from the U.S. state of New Jersey who have made contributions to society and the world beyond. The Hall of Fame is a designated 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, overseen by ...

in 2017.

Early life

Career

Personal life

Honors

See also