City officials have finalized a deal to acquire waterfront property for a new ferry terminal in Bayonne, N.J., marking a major step toward bringing long-awaited ferry services to the city.
Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis signed a purchase and sale agreement to repurchase the former Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne (MOTBY) from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for $4.4 million, the mayor's office announced on Feb. 5.
The 2.3-acre site juts out two miles into Upper New York Bay from Bayonne’s eastern waterfront. Of that parcel, 1.6 acres about halfway out the former MOTBY will provide space for the ferry terminal and parking, approximately one mile east of the Bayonne mainland.
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 a UPS facility, city officials said.
Plans for the ferry terminal are in the final design phase, and the city has issued a request for proposals/request for qualifications for constructing the ferry building and operating the terminal.
Mayor Davis said, “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.”
Efforts to establish the service that will ferry passengers between Bayonne and New York City have been underway for some time. In a previous attempt, Bayonne selected private ferry company Seastreak as the operator in 2018, but the contract has since expired.
The city said that it has reopened the bidding process for a ferry operator, with the goal of selecting one by March or April 2025.
Home of the Bayonne Naval Drydock from 1942 to 1967, the MOTBY site was operated as a U.S. military ocean terminal from 1967 to 1999. Since its closure, the location has undergone maritime, commercial, residential, and recreational mixed-use development.
