Monmouth County gives NY Waterway 30 days to fix ferry service

🔴Monmouth County is giving NY Waterway 30 days to prove it can meet its contract

🔴The company has already made schedule changes to address timeliness concerns

🔴Commissioners are threatening to terminate the contract if improvements fall short

Monmouth County commissioners are giving NY Waterway 30 days to prove it can deliver reliable ferry service — or risk losing its contract.

The ferry company met with commissioners Thursday and agreed to a 30-day period starting Sunday, Nov. 1, to “demonstrate substantial and sustained improvements” and meet its contractual obligations. If the company falls short, commissioners will take steps to terminate the contract.

“We have been assured by NY Waterway that all of the concerns will be addressed in a consistent manner moving forward. While we are hopeful that NY Waterway will fulfill its contractual obligations, we will continue to hold them accountable,” Commissioner Director Tom Arnone said.

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Changes already made to schedule

NY Waterway has already begun addressing timeliness concerns, with several schedule changes in the works.

Starting Monday, Nov. 2, the 6:30 a.m. departure from Belford Terminal will move to 6:20 a.m., with arrivals at Pier 11 at 7 a.m. and Paulus Hook at 7:15 a.m. An additional 5:15 a.m. departure will be available Monday through Thursday.

In the evening, a 6:15 p.m. departure from Pier 79 will be available Monday through Friday.

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Belford Ferry Terminal crash on Oct. 6, 2026. (Courtesy of Erika Rech)

Monmouth County previously chose Seastreak over NY Waterway

NY Waterway held the contract to run ferry service between the county-owned Belford Terminal in Middletown and lower Manhattan until 2022. Although NY Waterway submitted a lower bid, county officials said the company had not secured a performance bond to ensure service would continue in the event of financial trouble. The county awarded the contract to Seastreak.

The county put the contract back out for bid in early 2026 and approved NY Waterway's proposal. An evaluation committee determined that “the NY Waterway proposal would better serve our residents and commuters with more rides available at a lower cost,” according to Arnone.

NY Waterway took over service in early September but drew the ire of commissioners after one of its boats, the Molly Pitcher, hit a dock at Belford on Oct. 5, shattering several windows.

There were no injuries, and the ferry completed its run without further issues. But county officials learned about the incident from passengers and video posted online, rather than directly from NY Waterway — a breakdown in communication that helped prompt the county's demand for improvements.

Previous reporting by Rick Rickman and Eric Scott was used in this report

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