The ferry, putting Newburgh on the map?
NEWBURGH – When travelers at Grand Central Terminal want to take a Metro-North train north, the destination board will list Beacon. Newburgh City Manager Michael Ciaravino would like his city listed next to Beacon because, after all, one can get to Newburgh by ferry from the Beacon train station, at leasat when the river is ice-free.
Ciaravino has dubbed his city “The New Newburgh,” in hopes of attracting visitors and tourists to the historic Hudson River community.
While the ferry, which is operated by Metro-North, only runs during morning and evening commuter’ times, he would like to see more service, perhaps on demand via a smart phone app.
“A smaller boat is more nimble, it’s more quick, it’s more cost effective to operate and it can give us a just-in-time infrastructure improvement that doesn’t really cost that much,” Ciaravino said. “And if we can capitalize on the free market there may be a lot of folks out there right now willing to paint their boats yellow, put in a black and white checkerboard along the rim, and suddenly we have a water taxi, assuming all the other regulatory issues are addressed. This can be a very exciting opportunity for the City of Newburgh.”
To increase the awareness of Newburgh beyond the Mid-Hudson region, city staff was at Grand Central on Wednesday participating in Metro-North’s Staycation Showcase.
