NY Waterway Ferry Terminal Port Imperial

Recent trips commuting into the city brought to light some of the issues with relying on the ferry on a regular basis. The shuttle bus from Landings at Port Imperial is often delayed — this morning I was at the bus stop by 8:50 but only able to catch the 9:10 ferry. By the time we arrived in NY and I transferred to Times Square with the shuttle bus, it was almost 9:40. In contrast, the bus from Port Imperial will take 20 – 25 min most mornings, and drop you right at Port Authority which is walking distance to many destinations and connected to the subway system.
While I will always prefer the comfort and experience riding the ferry compared to the bus, it is stressful relying on shuttle buses that are not on a schedule. When there is a delay, the total commute time is significantly longer than taking the NJ transit bus.
I much prefer the ferry for weekend leisurely trips into the city, but the shuttle bus service leaves a lot to be desired.

It’s works for me SOME of the time. The app is not always, accurate and all the machines were broke the other nite with no ticket taker to sell me a return ticket at nite. Parking can be difficult if you have to park in the 2^nd building because not every vehicle can fit into the new odd shaped drive through to park your car. It’s being fixed I heard though. And they do have a second way to get into that building FYI. It’s safe too.
I was almost stranded and had to plead with the captain to take me accross. And I can still get stuck taking a taxi when the free bus doesn’t show up or doesn’t see you. Some drivers don’t understand you on the free bus English wise and, I have run into a few having attitude «free bus drivers» who are not accommodating in anyway. But the majority are gems and are there to really go out of their way for you. The new 34^th street Hudson Yard (7 train) subway terminal is a godsend near the Javitz. But for me they are not open often enough for my daily commute. I WISH AS DO MANY OF MY OTHER co workers & EMPLOYEES IN BRKLYN. I have to be AT work there, at 6 am so none start early enough near the Bklyn Navy yard, East River ferry, Port Imperial, Highlands, etc Or are, late enough for a commute either. I really wish they were though. It’s better than the alternative; the drive and the tolls and PABT $ 40 + $

First, the ferry is SO expensive compared to every other way to get in the city. It makes no sense, whatsoever, to charge so much.
My last experience taking the ferry, I was forced to park at the very top level of the parking garage. The top surface of the lot is littered with these «humps» — I don’t know what else to call them. The entire surface is riddled with these wavy structures (they cover some sort of openings, like man-​hole covers), which makes it very difficult to walk around up there. Long story short, I tripped on one of these things, and fell. I skinned a knee, bloodied up my hands, ripped my pants. I was a mess. I could no longer go into the city like that, so I had no choice but to get back in my car and go home to clean up and change. I was in the lot for no more than five minutes total, but of course, when I had to pay to leave, I was charged a full $ 16, as if I had been there all day. I tried to find someone to talk to, to ask if there was some way I could leave without paying the full $ 16, since I fell on THEIR property, and this was all THEIR fault, and I wasn’t even there long enough to buy a ferry ticket, let alone actually take a trip into the city. But of course, there was no one to be seen (keep in mind, I was limping and bleeding, desperately trying to find someone). No employees seem to monitor this place at all. I had no choice but to pay.
I then went home, cleaned myself up, and sent an email to NY waterway, explaining what happened to me, complaining about the dangerous walking conditions up there and asking for some kind of refund for what I had gone through. Of course, no one even replied to my email. No «sorry», no coupon, no free pass, no refund — nothing. They clearly don’t give a crap.
To make matters worse, when I fell, another woman in the lot saw me and came over to help, and she knew right away what happened — I tripped on one of those dangerous «humps» and she said it’s happened to her too. I’m obviously not the first person this has happened to, but they make no effort to fix the situation. Are they just waiting for a lawsuit?

I love taking the ferry into the city! 7 minute ride and boom your there. Also you can’t beat the free buses they provide to get you where you need to be. The bus drivers are usually pretty helpful too with directions. They have an app that shows you real time of where the buses are so you can catch a ride back to the ferry when you day has ended. Tickets are on the higher side. Great view of the NYC skyline too which is an added bonus!

Hope you enjoy being humiliated by rude unionized employees for an amount of money equal to the monthly lease of a brand new Mercedes C300.

Horrible service!
Lately they have been delays without warning. And of course there is never a supervisor on site, not in port imperial, not in Edgewater, not in Pier 11, not in Pier 79. This is a dictatorship. Since they are the only ferry service in the Hudson and east rivers, they don’t care how much their customers complaint.
As a customer, you are allowed to ask the bus driver to hold the ferry through dispatcher. But the dispatcher never never holds it for you. There are many times we got there 1min behind the schedule but the dispatcher said he couldn’t hold the ferry for that long… but it was only 1min behind. If they cannot honor it, then they should not offer to begin with.
And the most ridiculous thing is no supervisor on site nor on phone. There are many times we spoke on the phone and asked to speak supervisor. They transferred us to a lady voice mail but that lady never returned her call nor picked up the phone. You can never communicate with a supervisor at all. The staffs don’t even know who is the manager.

For me, there is no other way to get to the city. Hands down the quickest way to make it across the river. The free buses are an amazing add on. The only issue I’ve encountered is the inconsistency of the 42^nd street route. I once waited over an hour and ended up walking to the pier. The 34^th st route is a whole other story! Luckily I’m close to port imperial so it doesn’t take much to get to the ferry. If I take the 8:20 boat I am at 34^th &5^th by 8am, consistently! Would totally recommend. Nice food/​drink options on the Jersey side.
Just be prepared to spend a little extra. In my opinion if you’ve got it, it’s worth it. While it may not be cheaper than bus/​train or train/​train options, it is cheaper than the toll worth a monthly pass-​especially if you’re a student!

It’s new, clean, simple and has gift shop, sushi restaurant, small snack & coffee shop, outdoor seating and best of all… the VIEW OF NYC.
You can park on the deck or take the shuttle to the port, use the automated machine for tickets or very friendly staff at the ticket counter.
I should use it more but always end up taking the bus which can take hours depending on the traffic. Cheaper is not always good, convenient or efficient.

Horrible horrible business practice! They pushed me away and forced to rip my tix apart when I had a tix that’s expired by a day this past winter. I was denied boarding the boat in front of a large crowd and embarrassed by the crew as I was obviously pleading for them to honor me a break but I wasn’t getting any where, yes that’ s all in front of everyone. think I am a woman they would give me a break, NO, No Way! not only that, I had to wait for 30 min for the next boat to come. That’s last year’s winter when it’s bitter cold if you remember in the east coast.
They encourage people to buy the 10 tix packages to save a little, not a bad thing but once when a tix is expired, you loose 100% values of the tix. is this even legal that they can do this to customers? has anyone checked? I will look into that.
And now the law prevents the gift cards to expire and loose its values 100% but why NY Waterway tix can be expired and loose its value at 100%??? I have a subway card that expires on me once a while, however, once I replace with a new card, the balance is transferred to the newly issue card. Never had an single issue to use it at all.
Now I choose NOT to ride the ferry whenever possible or if I must, I only buy one tix at a time. I encourage you to do the same until they change their policy. It’s very expense to ride the ferry, $ 9 each way, $ 18 round trip. Über is only few dollars more from westside highway to Port Imperial. if you buy 10 tix and have one or two tix expire on you, besides kills the 7% deal you get, you can get embarrassed in front of everyone and lose 10 to 30 mins of your time. Not to mention, they took your money way in advance to make us look like losers all the way.

I got this recommendation from Suzanne on Unilocal along with another friend who has used it before. I was nervous about leaving our vehicle for 4 days and taking luggage on the ferry but it all worked wonderfully! My kids loved seeing NYC from the docks and the ferry ride itself was a hit! My husband was thrilled to not have to drive into the city. Prices are very reasonable for both the ferry and the parking. Even the snack counters were great!
Mapquest directions worked great but the website also gives good ones. The area is clean and seems safe.

We care LOL. I have written you about 15 times & you don’t even respond.
NJ intra site loop north bus service iis horrible.
Today I was in front of my building at River Trace at 7:49. John comes at 7:55 driving very slowly. We arrived at Weehawken ferry at 8:01, my ferry left at 8am. This happens daily. It’s ridiculous & angers me. I have to wait 19 minutes for my next ferry. I pay $ 360 for my monthly pass & live 1 mile from NYC yet my commute can take over an hour due to this 30 minutes it can take to board the ferry.

Monthly pass to midtown is $ 272 (including the shuttle buses within NYC). It’s not a «deal,» but I honestly can’t complain with an 8 minute commute into NYC. So far the summer commute is amazing. Rain doesn’t effect the ride as you can sit inside.
Terminal is nice and clean!

Stunning views and a grand way to enter into the city from New Jersey. Sure beats the backups in the Holland Tunnel. Easy to disembark and find bus service to many points of Manhattan or a long line of waiting taxis without any need to hail or wait. A convenient, easy and rather scenic welcome to Manhattan!

Incredibly expensive. And staff is extremely rude on board. No wonder why the PATH is full and these boats are empty. Do yourself a favor and save some money instead of riding this ferry.

DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON! CAVEAT EMPTOR! BUYER BEWARE!
Now I’ve gotten that out of the way, I shouted that to warn all of you that the $ 9 one-​way ferry tickets have expiration dates on them. And if you don’t use them by a certain date, the crew won’t accept them. Thus, no ferry ride. AND you’re out the $ 9.
But you say that the Metrocard too have expiration dates. Yes, metrocards do expire; but any remaining value left on the expired cards can be transferred and/​or redeemed if you send it into MTA. Unlike these pirates here (see what I did … smh) where they give you no recourse for «expired» ferry ducats.
How the he! i do paper tickets expire? How are they spoiled? This policy is a effin joke. Give me my ride or my money back.
Jerks.

I always come here when I need to go to this side of New York. I avoid driving in, traffic, tolls. It’s a 10 min ride on the ferry and there’s a shuttle bus waiting to taking to several stops they service and its included in the price of the ticket. The ferries run like every 15 – 20 minutes and sometimes you don’t have to wait at all. You can bring your bike and when you get off there’s a bike path all along the west side highway. This is the same ferry that helped rescue people when the plane landed on thd Hudson a few years ago.

Love this place.
1) Yes, the ticket is somewhat expensive. But the service you get is great.
2) The Terminal is clean, has an amazing bathroom, and comfortable seats to relax.
3) Also, there is a Wells Fargo ATM which is very helpful to me.

Although taking the ferry is not cheap, it’s the most convenient way to get into the city! A round trip ticket to midtown will cost you $ 18. And if you park in the garage, that will cost you too. However, it takes you 8 minutes to get to the city and there are busses waiting for you outside that are free. The ferry terminal is nice because they have a bar area that serves alcohol, sushi, and bar food. They also have a convenient stand that serves snacks, beverages, and so on! When it comes to clean bathrooms it is hit or miss.
Overall for convenience I take the ferry. When I’m waiting for the ferry I can relax and have a drink and I like that. They also have a waterway app which is awesome because it gives you ferry times and shows the bus schedule!

Sometimes when I head into NYC, primarily for sightseeing reasons, I come here to catch the ferry to and from Midtown. Never had an issue with the ticket machines here.
As others mentioned, this method of going into the city is a little pricey. But the ferries were very comfortable, and the views that I got to see while riding these were really nice. Sometimes when I ride these, it makes me feel even more eager to catch a cruise ship, since I do like traveling over the water and watching the views.
The fact that complimentary shuttles were provided for the patrons to different destinations in the city was very convenient. Just be mindful of their schedules when trying to catch the shuttle back to it’s pier in Midtown.
Overall, if you don’t mind paying a higher price tag for coming into the city, and would like to enjoy the city’s views while commuting, then definitely utilize this service.
Cheers! :)

I’ve been a huge fan of the NY Waterway since I moved to NJ over 15 years ago. My first trip into Manhattan was via Ferry!
Overall, I really love the ferry. The commute is so civilized compared to driving into Manhattan, looking for a decent lot that is not too expensive and praying the attendants don’t ding your car. I have to head into Manhattan periodically for work, and I’m so glad to have the ferry as an option!
I just LOVE riding across the Hudson river on the Ferry and watching the NY Skyline as I head toward or away from Manhattan. My only complaint is the price. I really think it is too much. I guess parking is a bit of a complaint as well. It’s better now that the covered garage is open, but at $ 15 a day, that really adds to the price. They offer shuttles but I live too far away for a shuttle so I need to park.
The NY Waterway has changed dramatically in the last 15 or so years. I remember when I first moved here the midtown ferry was in this little old building and there was barely room inside to accommodate all the waiters on a cold winter night. The Weehawken side was not much better! The current buildings are huge and appropriate for the growth that the ferry has undergone in the last 10+ years, especially since ⁹⁄₁₁.
The one thing I really miss about the NY Waterway is the tours they used to do. I used to take all my out of town friends and relatives on their 90 minute harbor tour. It was the PERFECT tour. Not too crowded, not too long, and lots of great historical info to boot. I really wish they’d bring those tours back, but now they seem pretty much totally focused on the commuter market.