Attention NJ commuters: There’s a new way to get into Manhattan

🚤 NY Waterway runs 12 ferries daily between South Amboy & Manhattan

🚤 Parking is free

🚤 A free shuttle runs from the Sayreville Park & Ride & South Amboy NJ Transit station

SOUTH AMBOY — A new ferry service from southern Middlesex County to Manhattan had its maiden voyage Monday.

Commuters braved the rain to catch the first boat between South Amboy and New York’s Downtown Brookfield Place and midtown at West 39th Street. The first ferry left a temporary pier on Redford Ferry Road at 5:45 a.m. with the most popular ferry of the four hourly morning departures being the 8:45 a.m.

The last ferry of the day back to South Amboy leaves Brookfield at 6:30 p.m.

The former World Financial Center offers easy access to the subway and PATH.

Parking is free and a free shuttle is available from the South Amboy NJ Transit station and the Sayreville Park & Ride.

“We’re thrilled to bring this ferry connection to the South Amboy community and to the thousands of commuters who live in surrounding Middlesex County and seek fast, comfortable and reliable service,” Armand Pohan, CEO and President of NY Waterway said in a statement.

NY Waterway had run service between the Belford Terminal in Middletown, about 15 miles to the south, and Manhattan until Monmouth County Commissioners reassigned the contact to rival Seastreak.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ