Weehawken Port Imperial Ferry Terminal on Hudson River

Port Imperial is a community centered around an intermodal transit hub on the

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 on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's po ...

, waterfront of the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

across from

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

, served by New York Waterway ferries and buses, Hudson–Bergen Light Rail, and NJT buses. The district lies under and at the foot of Pershing Road, a thoroughfare traveling along the face of the

Hudson Palisades The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States. The cliffs s ...

, which rise to its west. The

Hudson River Waterfront Walkway The Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, also known as the Hudson River Walkway, is a promenade along the Hudson Waterfront in New Jersey. The ongoing and incomplete project located on Kill van Kull and the western shore of Upper New York Bay and t ...

runs along the shoreline and is abutted by recently constructed residential neighborhoods, Lincoln Harbor to the south and Bulls Ferry to the north.

History

Early ferries and railroads

The North Hudson waterfront is located north of

Weehawken Cove Weehawken Cove is a cove on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River between the New Jersey municipalities of Hoboken, New Jersey, Hoboken to the south and Weehawken, New Jersey, Weehawken to the north. At the perimeter of ...

on a long narrow strip of land between the

and

. On April 18, 1670 the government of the

Province of New Jersey The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial history of the United States, Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1776. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherla ...

confirmed a grant to Maryn Adriaensen ''for a parcel of land called Wiehacken in the jurisdiction of Bergen on Hobooken Creek, 50 morgen Dutch measure'' originally given on May 11, 1647. Sporadic ferry service began and in 1700 a royal patent was given by

Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont (1636 – 5 March 1700/01In the Julian calendar, then in use in England, the year began on 25 March. To avoid confusion with dates in the Gregorian calendar, then in use in other parts of Europe, d ...

which led to the naming of Weehawken Street at the landing across the river in today's

West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to ...

. Later called Slough's Meadow, the waterfront has in the last centuries been transformed from a tidal marsh to an extensive rail and shipping port and, since the 1980s, redeveloped for commercial, residential, recreational, and transportation uses. Many duels, including the nation's most famous between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in 1804, took place on a site later obliterated by rail infrastructure of the

West Shore Railroad The West Shore Railroad was a U.S. railway company active in the states of New York and New Jersey between 1885 and 1952. It was incorporated in 1885 to reorganize the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway, which had originally been inten ...

(also used by the

New York, Ontario and Western New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

and the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Northeastern United States, originally connecting Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York. The railroad expanded west to Chicago following its 1865 ...

The turn of the 20th century saw the growth of the

railyard A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or ...

s, carfloats,

ferry slip A ferry slip is a specialized docking facility that receives a ferryboat or train ferry. A similar structure called a barge slip receives a barge or car float that is used to carry wheeled vehicles across a body of water. Often a ferry intended ...

s, and passenger station of Weehawken Terminal. The main ferry ran to 42nd Street and for short time was a component of the transcontinental

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...

. The highway and the trolleys of North Hudson County Railway and later the Public Service Railway ascended Pershing Road. The ''Weehawken'' was the last ferry to the West Shore Terminal on March 25, 1959, at 1:10 am. and train service was discontinued. The

right of way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...

(originally part of the NYC's

New Jersey Junction Railroad The New Jersey Junction Railroad (NJJ) was part of the New York Central Railroad and ran along the Hudson River in Hudson County, New Jersey, from the West Shore Railroad (NYCRR) yards at Weehawken Terminal south to Jersey City, New Jersey, Jer ...

) was later used by the

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 the ...

River Division and the

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

River Line The River Line (stylized as River LINE) is a hybrid rail (light rail with some features similar to commuter rail) service in South Jersey, southern New Jersey that connects the cities of Camden, New Jersey, Camden and Trenton, New Jersey, Trento ...

before being abandoned. The

United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (later the United Brands Company) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was ...

once maintained the largest banana warehouse in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

adjacent to its berths. As with much of the traditional harbor of the

Port of New York and New Jersey The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York metropolitan area, New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It includes the sy ...

, the infrastructure became obsolete as passenger and freight transport patterns changed.

Post-industrial era

The restoration of rail and ferry services is of a much smaller scale. In 1981 Arthur Edward Imperatore, Sr., trucking magnate, purchased a length of the Weehawken Yard from the bankrupt

for $7.5 million, his surname an inspiration for ''Port Imperial''. New York Waterway was established in 1986. Service was originally provided from a converted ferry moored at the shore next to the marina south of the current terminal. New Jersey Transit contracted the extensive renovation and waterproofing of the Weehawken Tunnel under Bergen Hill which had been built in 1881. The new ferry terminal, built and owned by

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. It ...

and leased by

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 Por ...

, opened in May 2006. The HBLR station opened for weekend service in November 2005 and full-time service on October 29, 2006. The construction and maintenance of stairways from atop the cliffs at Boulevard East to the station and the bridge from the station to the

s have been a source of contention and controversy. The area, still under development, is considered to be too oriented to automobiles, rather than pedestrians. While there has been some integration in the wider public transportation system, some transportation is geared within the development site, including parking lots. In 2009, New York Waterway was instrumental in the rescue of passengers on US Airways Flight 1549, which made an emergency landing on the Hudson River near Port Imperial. A memorial to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

was unveiled on the event's 10th anniversary.

Waterfront Community

The district along the

Hudson Waterfront The Hudson Waterfront is an urban area of northeastern New Jersey along the lower reaches of the Hudson River, the Upper New York Bay and the Kill van Kull. Though the term can specifically mean the shoreline, it is often used to mean the contig ...

has expanded to become a residential, commercial, and recreational neighborhood. In June 2011, ground was broken on 850-space garage and retail space building, across from the ferry terminal. In October 2011, the hub was announced as the site of the Port Imperial Street Circuit, a

motorsport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...

venue hosting the Grand Prix of America, a round of the

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

World Championship. The start-finish line and pit facilities for the event were supposed to be directly opposite the ferry terminal, and the area was to be further redeveloped for the race, however the event never materialized. In June 2013, a long-awaited bridge connecting the ferry terminal and light rail station was opened. In recent years, there has been many residential buildings built up in the area centered on luxury high rises.

Services

Ferry

NY Waterway ferries operate to West Midtown Ferry Terminal 7 days a week, Battery Park City Ferry Terminal/Brookfield Pace during weekday rush hours, and Pier 11/Wall Street weekday rush hours and weekends. At the West Midtown terminal, NY Waterway offers free connecting shuttle buses to further serve

. NY Waterway maintains a ferry maintenance refueling facility south of the terminal.

Bus

NY Waterway offers two shuttle bus routes serving River Road and three intra-site routes serving the Port Imperial district. Buses operate rush hours only and at no cost. Weehawken Township also operates a shuttle bus on weekdays. In May 2013 NY Waterway initiated afternoon bus service along the NJT bus routes 158, and 159R, which travel north to Fort Lee, and 156R, with continuing service to

Englewood Cliffs Englewood Cliffs is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 5,342, an increase of 61 (+1.2%) from the 2010 census count of 5,281, which in turn reflected a ...

. NJ Transit Bus routes stop adjacent to the rail station in the southbound direction and outside the ferry terminal in the northbound direction.

Light rail

In June 2012, NJT and NY Waterway began a fare-sharing program for riders transferring between the light rail and ferries for ten-trip and monthly tickets holders, in a program called ''Surf and Turf''.

References

External links

Port Imperial Ferry Terminal

wired New York: images, opening day ceremonies, etc

Station from Google Maps Street View

Light Rail Platform from Google Maps Street View
{{New Jersey Transit Bus Operations Weehawken, New Jersey Hudson-Bergen Light Rail stations Railway stations in Hudson County, New Jersey North Hudson, New Jersey Railway stations in the United States opened in 2005 Bus transportation in New Jersey NJ Transit Bus Operations Transit hubs serving New Jersey Tourism in New Jersey New Jersey streetcar lines Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in the United States Ferry terminals in New Jersey