When Newburgh-Beacon Ferry service was suspended in January 2025 after winter ice damaged the Beacon dock, many riders assumed the interruption would be temporary. But when the river thawed, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which operated the ferry under contract with NY Waterways, determined the damage would require major repair, and service did not resume.
In June, Metro-North officials announced the nearly two decade old ferry would be permanently discontinued, citing declining ridership and annual operating costs of roughly $2.1 million. (Metro-North says ridership averaged about 62 riders per day in 2024, down from a peak of 227 in 2008.)
The decision sparked opposition from residents, commuters, business owners, and local officials on both sides of the Hudson. Over the following months, a grassroots group, the Save the Ferry Community Coalition, organized rallies, testified at MTA meetings, and petitioned the state to restore ferry service.
State officials have since expanded bus service between the cities, but the ferry’s closure continues to raise broader questions about transportation, growth, and equity in the region.
A Ferry Route with Deep Roots
Ferry service between Newburgh and Beacon dates back to 1743, making it one of the oldest ferry routes in the country. While regular ferry service ended after the opening of the Newburgh–Beacon Bridge in 1963, passenger-only service was restored in 2005 to connect Newburgh riders with the Beacon Metro-North station during weekday rush hours.
Save the Ferry advocates say ferry improvements had been discussed for years before the suspension. “We didn’t even call [ourselves] Save the Ferry,” says Wendy W. Smith, who took part in those early conversations and co-organized a rally in July. “We were talking about right-sizing it—making it more usable.”
Alongside Smith and Carson Carter—a commissioner on Newburgh’s Architectural Review Commission—urban planner Naomi Hersson-Ringskog focused on how the service could better support regional growth. “The ferry is so variegated,” she says. “It connects people to jobs, housing, restaurants, and recreation. It’s commuting and leisure, serving many different needs specific to our region.”
After the ferry was suspended indefinitely, the group expanded quickly. Carter says the most common reaction he’s heard is surprise. “People didn’t know this was happening until it was gone,” he says.
State Senator Rob Rolison, whose senate district includes Newburgh and Beacon, has previously criticized MTA decisions affecting Hudson Valley commuters, echoes that concern. “I didn’t hear from anybody who thought they were being prepped for the discontinuance of service,” he says. “And that’s troubling.”
Ridership, Cost, and Service Design
The MTA’s decision hinged largely on ridership numbers. Ferry advocates argue those figures reflect years of poor design and policy choices, not a lack of demand. “If you design a system that people can’t find and is set up to fail, how are you going to boost ridership numbers?” Smith asks.
One central critique is that the ferry’s schedule had not been meaningfully updated since its restoration in 2005. “The schedule is a piece of outdated paperwork,” says Philippe Pierre, a Newburgh business owner active in the Ferry campaign. “The iPhone did not exist in 2005. Telecommuting was not a thing.”
Service was limited almost entirely to weekday peak commuting hours, with departures timed narrowly around a small number of morning and evening trains. Missing one connection could mean waiting hours for an alternative.
Advocates also point to the ferry’s lack of integration with Metro-North: riders could not buy tickets through the TrainTime app or see ferry connections alongside train schedules. “You couldn’t just plan a trip in one place,” Smith says. “You had to already know the ferry existed, know where it was, and know when it ran.” At the Beacon station, signage directs riders toward Main Street and parking, but with no clear indication that a ferry operated a short walk away.
Hersson-Ringskog, a former member of Newburgh’s Transportation Advisory Committee and current member of the Orange County Planning Board—says the ferry was never seriously reimagined as commuting patterns shifted after the pandemic. Metro-North ridership dropped sharply during COVID and has only recently begun to recover. The ferry, she argues, was not given the same opportunity. “There was never a survey, never a pilot, never an attempt to test different schedules,” Hersson-Ringskog says. “Transportation systems are supposed to be reviewed and optimized. That never happened.”
Pierre says cost concerns were also shaped by outdated operations. He notes that the ferry relied on an onboard ticket booth staffed on every trip. “Someone sitting in a little box selling tickets doesn’t seem like a necessary expense,” he says. Digital ticketing, he argues, could have reduced labor costs and made the service easier to use.
The Newburgh-Beacon Shuttle Bus
After the ferry was suspended, the state introduced a shuttle bus between Newburgh and Beacon. Advocates say the service has value but functions differently from a direct cross-river connection.
The most immediate difference is travel time. The ferry crossing typically took seven to ten minutes. Bus riders estimate trips of 20 to 40 minutes, depending on traffic, with peak-hour congestion around Route 9D, the Beacon station, and the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge often extending travel times.
Accessibility has been another major concern. Advocates say ADA-accessible buses are not available on every run, and riders often must call ahead without any guarantee of space. In some cases, accessible buses detour to Stewart Airport, further extending already long trips. “People have told us it can take 40 minutes or more just to get from Newburgh to the station,” Smith says. “That makes it very hard to reliably catch a train.”
Smith says she didn’t know the shuttle existed “for the longest time.” Hersson-Ringskog adds that, early on, “people didn’t know what the green shuttle bus was.” “If transit isn’t obvious, people won’t use it,” she says.
On December 12, Governor Hochul announced an expansion of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge Shuttle. Beginning in January, the rebranded service will increase cross-Hudson trips by 60 percent, offering 65 trips per day (up from 41) and connections to at least 54 weekday Metro-North trains. The bus will be free for all riders throughout 2026, with improved signage and wayfinding planned.
Senator Rolison says the expanded shuttle should now be evaluated based on results. “As much as I support the ferry concept, we have to see how this new transit option with increased service and increased catchment area works out,” he says. “You can’t fix something you don’t measure.”
Save the Ferry organizers responded cautiously to the expansion. “NYSDOT’s expanded bus service is a great step forward, but it does not replace a reliable cross-river ferry connection,” Carter says.
Equity, Growth, and Congestion
Advocates argue the ferry debate is inseparable from broader equity and development pressures. “Newburgh really needs this,” Hersson-Ringskog says. “About 25 percent of residents live below the poverty line, around 30 percent don’t have access to a car, and owning one costs roughly $12,000 a year.”
Development is accelerating on both sides of the river. In Beacon, Jonathan Rose Companies was selected by the MTA to redevelop the Metro-North station parking lot into a transit oriented project with about 265 mixed income housing units and a new garage. Hersson-Ringskog says the project will worsen existing traffic because the area lacks a street grid with multiple access routes. “We’re already bottlenecked on Teller Avenue,” she says. “This will only make it worse. The ferry could be that release valve.”
Traffic is already a daily frustration. Advocates describe evening backups at the Beacon station that can add 20 to 30 minutes just to reach the bridge. “Part of the geographic reality is there are three ways in and out of the entire town,” Carter says. “That’s not going to change unless the ferry becomes a fourth.”
Newburgh is also seeing growth. Developer Foster Supply Hospitality has secured financing to convert three buildings on Grand Street into a boutique hotel and restaurant complex near the waterfront, just steps from the former ferry landing. The city has also advanced major housing projects, including One Lafayette, a mixed-use development planned to bring 145 affordable and workforce apartments to Liberty Street, with hundreds more units projected citywide over the next five years.
Carter points to Newburgh’s underlying urban structure as an untapped asset. “Newburgh has a beautiful grid waiting to be reactivated,” he says. “The city was built with an extensive streetcar system. It’s gridded and approachable on foot and by transit. What we’re missing is connectivity. The link that ties it together is the river.”
What Happens Next
On December 16, Save the Ferry campaigners traveled to Albany to deliver 1,987 documented expressions of support for ferry restoration to the governor’s office, including petitions, business and organizational sign-ons, and written public comments from residents, commuters, and workers. Before entering the Capitol, coalition members unfurled a nearly 100-foot-long signature scroll on the Empire State Plaza.
Formal resolutions backing ferry restoration have been adopted by Orange County, Dutchess County, and the City and Town of Newburgh. Rolison cautions that ferry restoration may ultimately hinge on state budget decisions. “We have to see in the coming weeks what the governor’s proposal will be in her executive budget,” he says. “I don’t know if that spending plan will have money for a return to ferry service. My guess is it probably won’t.”
Organizers are encouraging residents and businesses to sign their Change.org petition, write to the MTA, Governor Hochul, and local officials, and attend monthly MTA public comment sessions. “If we inspire the MTA,” Hersson-Ringskog says, “which may not know our region intimately, perhaps they can see the bigger picture—housing, climate goals, and quality of life.”
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