Bridgeport and Port Jefferson Steamboat Company's newest ferry,
Long Island
Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. (ESG) has announced the successful delivery of the LONG ISLAND (ESG Hull 228), a newly constructed passenger and auto ferry, to the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, a subsidiary of McAllister Towing on Dec. 20. The vessel, designed to provide seamless transportation between Bridgeport,CT, and Port Jefferson, across Long Island Sound, is the latest addition to the company’s fleet.
“This delivery is a proud moment for our team,” said Joey D’Isernia, CEO and Chairman of Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. “It represents our strong partnership with McAllister Towing and our dedication to enhancing the infrastructure for Long Island’s residents and visitors. The LONG ISLAND will be a critical asset, delivering safe, reliable service and embodying our commitment to quality and innovation.”
The LONG ISLAND, a 1,000-passenger ferry with the capacity to carry 124 cars and measuring 302 feet in length, is engineered to accommodate both vehicles and passengers with state-of-the-art features, including EPA Tier IV-compliant main engines, increased crew capacity, and an upgraded furnishings package.
This ferry joins two other Eastern-built vessels in the fleet: P.T. BARNUM (1999) and GRAND REPUBLIC (2003), solidifying ESG’s longstanding relationship with McAllister Towing, which has commissioned over a dozen vessels from ESG.
Buckley McAllister, the President of the ferry company, said “P.T. Barnum, the founder of the ferry, once said that the noblest art is that of making others happy. All of those who have worked to make the ferry service what it is today can be very proud of their role helping drivers on the I-95 and Long Island Expressway. Eastern Shipbuilding has provided our company with over a dozen high quality vessels and transformed the maritime services we can offer. We are very thankful to Eastern Shipbuilding and the D’Isernia family for the happiness this new vessel will bring to our employees and customers for generations to come.”
The addition of the LONG ISLAND ferry will enable a consistent three-vessel schedule during peak travel periods, enhancing the capacity and reliability of service across Long Island Sound. This delivery marks another successful chapter in ESG’s commitment to building high-quality, resilient vessels for customers across the U.S.
Local business groups are looking to increase the cross-Sound connection
A Bridgeport & Port Jefferson ferry. File photo
By Mallie Jane Kim
Riding the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry as a walk-on may become more attractive in coming years, since business leaders on both sides of Long Island Sound have reignited interest in coordinating efforts to attract interstate day-trippers.
“We want to get people to visit us, explore the village and understand our history — and patronize our museums and our shops,” said Barbara Ransome, director of operations at the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce.
In fall of 2019, there was movement toward creating a sort of reciprocal passport system with discounted rates for a walk-on ferry ticket as well as coupons for area businesses in Port Jefferson and the Bridgeport region, according to Ransome, but those efforts ended with the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.
Leaders from the Bridgeport Regional Business Council reached out to Port Jefferson’s chamber this summer and revived hopes for working together, according to Ransome. The two groups had a successful meeting and tour of the Down Port area in June.
“They wanted to learn more about Port Jeff and create a synergy between the two regions,” Ransome said, adding that members of the Port Jefferson chamber showed the visitors highlights of the area, including retail stores, restaurants and ice cream parlors. “The visit went really, really well.”
Now, Ransome is leading a walking tour for a group of about 30 people from the greater Bridgeport region’s Women’s Leadership Network on Thursday, Aug. 1, that will highlight women-owned businesses in Port Jefferson. The group is also slated to tour the Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum and eat at local restaurants.
“We’re fortunate,” Ransome said of Port Jefferson, which, in addition to eateries and retail, boasts Harborfront Park, playhouse Theatre Three and a seasonal ice rink. “When you get off the ferry, you’re right there in the commercial district. It’s very walkable.”
On the Connecticut side, there is a lot of interest in visits across the Sound, according to Natalie Pryce, leadership and development director for Bridgeport’s business council.
“It’s so close, and I don’t think people get that experience,” Pryce said.
She framed Thursday’s trip as an economic development tour for her group of women business leaders — a more interesting opportunity to network than meeting to chat over drinks.
“My preference is not to meet at a bar and just talk every time we get together,” she said. “This way we can learn about other women in business, meet other ladies and support each other.”
For Ransome, the walking tour reawakened hopes of working together toward the passport system idea, or something similar. She said in 2019, the ferry company was amenable to collaborating to figure out discounted tickets — a foot passenger round trip currently costs $39 for adults, with seniors at $28 — and even potentially a shuttle service to places like Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, Bass Pro Shops or the Klein Memorial Auditorium. But any such arrangements are still ideas, at this point.
“I will be finding out where we go from here,” Ransome said.
Pryce expressed excitement about working with Ransome as well, adding that other groups under the Bridgeport Regional Business Council umbrella expressed good-natured jealousy for her day trip.
“There’s just interest across the board,” she said. “This is just the beginning — this is a conversation we’re going to continue after Thursday.”
Campers from the Bridgeport Seaside Park Summer Day Camp during a field trip to Port Jefferson Tuesday, Aug. 8. Photo by Raymond Janis
The people of Port Jefferson and Bridgeport, Connecticut, have long shared cultural and historical ties due to The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, which connects the two ports via a ferry route.
This connection was again strengthened Tuesday, Aug. 8, when dozens of campers from the Bridgeport Seaside Park Summer Day Camp docked in Port Jeff Harbor for a day trip.
Lee Nastu, recreation coordinator for the City of Bridgeport, has worked within the Bridgeport camp for nearly two decades. He said the yearly Port Jeff visit had been a perennial favorite among campers until the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt on the routine trip.
“We’ve probably done this visit for about 10 years, so we wanted to bring it back,” he said.
Riding on the ferry and touring the local area of another state offers “something a little bit different” from the ordinary camp experience, Nastu said. Sweetening the pot for the kids was also some discounted food from the Steam Room, located on East Broadway.
The recreation coordinator discussed the lasting cultural ties between the two ports, both housing power stations, and added how campers participate in an ongoing local tradition through this field trip.
“There are two smokestacks” at the Port Jeff plant, and “we only have one over there,” Nastu said. “As we were pulling in, I pointed out to some of the kids that it looks just like we’re going back to Bridgeport.”
Noting the similarities between Harborfront Park and Bridgeport’s Seaside Park, he added, “We have a beautiful park down in Bridgeport — a beautiful park, a beautiful beach, so it’s similar.”
The building at 116 West Broadway was once used by the SCWA and by a bank. Photo by Kyle Barr
The Port Jefferson ferry owners have big plans for Port Jeff, which could include removing and replacing existing structures along West Broadway, and potentially, at the ferry dock itself.
Fred Hall, the vice president and general manager for the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, said the company’s intent is to demolish an existing structure owned by the company at 116 West Broadway and install a new, two-story structure where they would move their offices.
Site plans for the new ferry company office building at 116 West Broadway. Photo by Kyle Barr
Their current offices, right next to the ferry dock, would remain for the time being, but the eventual plans, Hall said, are to demolish them as well.
That building on West Broadway, which the company bought in December 2018, has sat vacant for a number of years, it once housed a well by the Suffolk County Water Authority, and had previously been a bank. Hall said they asked their architects if any part of the structure could be preserved. According to planning board documents, architects said the base could not support a second story.
“As much as we wanted to preserve that building, we asked our architects and they said virtually all of it needs to come down,” Hall said.
Currently, the ferry company is seeking permits for demolition, which it expects in a matter of weeks, and will start on the building’s removal.
The new building will stand at 36 feet and 9 inches tall. The village code sets the standards for such buildings at 30 feet, and the company is currently seeking a variance on the building’s height, which should come up in a public hearing at the village’s planning board of appeals Feb. 27 meeting. The building plans show an accounting center, call center and multiple offices.
Documents from the village Building and Planning Department show members from the planning board at the Dec. 23 meeting requested a handicap lift be added instead of a ramp for the front gate and their preferences to break up the “flat, planar aspect of the facade,” by possibly adding recessed entrances and other elements. The next planning board meeting is set for March 12.
While plans for a new office are underway, the ferry manager said the larger issue is trying to reconfigure the pier area to add more space for vehicles and pedestrians.
With offices moved out the way, Hall said removing the existing building next to the ferry terminal will also allow for what he called a “separation of vehicles and walk-on traffic.” Currently, pedestrians offload from the stern of the ferry, but have to walk across the street along Broadway to get access to Port Jefferson. The company has plans for jetways, like what’s usually seen in an airport when boarding a plane, for people to exit or enter the ferry.
Removing the building, he added, would allow line of sight to the harbor from Main Street.
The ferry building has been a fixture in Port Jefferson for more than 70 years, having once been a restaurant called The Ferry House, but that aspect of the site closed in 1985, according to Hall. The current building is “cobbled together” of three separate buildings.
Using public transportation in downtown Port Jefferson is no easy task, especially for those with vision, hearing or mobility impairments.
On April 17, Stony Brook University occupational therapy students evaluated the accessibility of the Suffolk County bus line, Long Island Rail Road and The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company ferry in downtown Port Jeff, for their capstone project. Richard Brenza, Paulina Chrostowski, Shirley Lin, Puja Rai, Eric Wong and Wendy York were the students conducting the evaluation. Their goal was to see how difficult it would be for people with various impairments to navigate from the ferry to the train station a mile-and-a-half south on Main Street. They worked with five Suffolk Independent Living Organization volunteers — a nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding the disabled live independently — with visual, hearing and or mobility impairments, and presented their report at Village Hall in a private meeting May 22, which included representatives from Suffolk County Transit. Trustee Bruce D’Abramo attended the meeting on behalf of the village.
Students from Stony Brook University evaluate the accessibility of transportation services from the ferry to the train station in Port Jeff for people with various impairments. Photo from SBU
“Port Jefferson village is right next to our campus, it’s basically a college town,” Lin said. “Being that it is a place where a lot of us hangout, it was appropriate for us to see how accessible it is for individuals, or our classmates, who may have vision, hearing — any mobility impairments.”
The students received help in executing the evaluation from Pamela Linden, clinical associate professor, and Karen DeChello, clinical assistant professor — both of the occupational therapy program at SBU — and Amy Menditto, SILO’s NY Connects director.
“Our service learning projects are benefiting organizations and communities, rather than clinical practice,” Linden said.
Justin Ainsworth, outreach advocate at SILO, participated in the project alongside the other volunteers. Ainsworth has a power wheelchair and said he has no prior experience trying to ride the bus and was surprised he could.
“The [village] is fairly accessible, but there are always things that’ll make it easier,” Ainsworth said.
Before the group attempted to get on the bus, they came across an unexpected problem and asked themselves, “How would the visually impaired members cross the street alone?”
“I am a blind person who goes all over and for me to actually cross the street I have to put my hand up, put my foot out on the street and say ‘stop’ — and pray that they would stop so I could get to the other side,” said Marilyn Tucci, outreach and advocacy coordinator at SILO and one of the visually impaired volunteers.
“People with mobility impairments or vision impairments or hearing impairments, it’s not as easy for them to run down the corner to where the bus was.”
— Wendy York
The three-way intersection crossing from south to north on East Broadway adjacent to Main Street lacks a traffic stop light and audible walk signal, but the hurdles didn’t stop there.
The S61 Suffolk County Transit bus, which travels from the ferry dock to Patchogue railroad station and back, stopped down the street from its posted location, creating an added obstacle for the group of 11,
according to York.
“For us able bodies that are young, we can go to that bus that stops at a different place around the corner down the street,” York said. “People with mobility impairments or vision impairments or hearing impairments, it’s not as easy for them to run down the corner to where the bus was.”
The group arrived at the Port Jeff LIRR station, but struggled to board the train with ease as they had hoped, York said. They needed to track down the conductor and set up a ramp, which is the only way a person in a wheelchair can access the train.
“The gap that is in between the train car and the platform on the LIRR was, like, 8 inches and according to [Americans with Disabilities Act] standards it should be no more than 3,” York said. “I was with someone who was visually impaired so I helped her cross that gap, but she had told me previously — when she was alone — that there was a gap like that and her foot actually fell in between the car and she was stuck for a minute, which is obviously scary if the train were to move and no one knew. Luckily it didn’t.”
The students recommended small changes in consistency in their final report, like adding visual and audible traffic announcements for individuals to rely on.
“I think the most eye-opening part about it was seeing how many flaws there are in the system that still need to be worked out,” Brenza said. “It’s a lot better than it used to be, but there’s still a long way to go.”
Port Jefferson’s stop on the Long Island Rail Road. File photo by Erika Karp
The students got the chance to present their findings and interact with people from different transportation organizations at the meeting at Village Hall. Members of Suffolk County Transit told them the best way for something broken to get fixed is to call the company line directly and report it, according to Wong.
“They wanted to understand why the problem occurred and wanted to fix it, so it wouldn’t happen at another time,” Wong said. “We learned that it is not entirely Port Jeff’s responsibly to make all of the changes.”
The six students graduated June 22, earning master’s degrees in occupational therapy. The volunteers said they were grateful for the students efforts and both groups said they hoped the findings would make a lasting impact on the community.
“It’s a beautiful village and people with disabilities want to enjoy it, and it’s almost impossible to them to enjoy it unless they have sighted help,” Tucci said. “I hope the village and county and the town will really do something to put more lights there — and audible lights, especially by the ferry.”
D’Abramo said at a public meeting June 4 he told the students and SILO representatives he was eager to hear their findings, and reassured them the village would be an advocate in helping to deal with the transportation agencies involved.
“I tried to give them an idea of how many different agencies we were dealing with here — the MTA, the ferry, New York State Department of Transportation and Suffolk County busing,” he said.
Repair work to strengthen bulkheads protecting the pier used by The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat ferry company is slated to be finished in June. Photo by Alex Petroski
It’s a common question lately for anyone within earshot of the Port Jefferson ferry: what’s that sound?
The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, which docks its vessels on the shores of Port Jefferson Village, is in the midst of a repair project that is addressing critical infrastructure, but it’s also causing residents to wonder aloud when they might have some peace and quiet.
Chesterfield Associates, a privately-owned contracting firm hired by the ferry company, is in the process of replacing sheet steel panels that make up the bulkhead, or retaining wall that protects the infrastructure below the pier, according to Jeff Grube, the general manager of the firm. Grube said the loud noise residents are periodically hearing is caused by a vibratory hammer, the machinery being used to drive the steel sheets into the underwater soil. If something obstructs the sheet from being driven into the soil — like in one case a submerged barge, according to Grube — that’s when the decibel level is loudest near the waterfront.
“Projects should include some type of shielding to prevent residences being rattled like this.”
— Facebook poster
“The old sheet piling was corroding to the point where they were starting to lose a lot of fill behind the bulkhead,” Grube said. He added that structural issues could arise if the repair work were not completed, causing a hazardous situation for anyone using the pier. Grube said Chesterfield Associates constructed the dock in the ‘80s, and thanks to regular upkeep by the ferry company, the bulkhead hasn’t needed to be addressed until now, but it was time for the repairs in order to strengthen its critical infrastructure. The general manager said the project is progressing as initially expected, and should be completed by the end of June. The ferry company first submitted an application to the village’s building department Sept. 1, 2017, which estimated the total cost for the project to be nearly $10 million.
The area behind the bulkhead is below the vehicle holding area for the ferry, according to Linda DeSimone, the senior structural engineer for Greenman-Pederson, Inc., the design firm overseeing the plan.
“I don’t understand how the village residents are defenseless to this latest issue,” a poster on a closed Facebook group comprised of Port Jeff village residents said Feb. 20, referring to the loud noise. “Projects should include some type of shielding to prevent residences being rattled like this. I wouldn’t expect to pay for my room downtown, and the noise has to be hurting all village businesses. Get that thing shut down and keep it shut down ‘til they provide a plan that protects the residents and businesses. No one wants to live in or spend money in the middle of a noisy shipyard construction project.”
Others joined the poster in questioning when a projected end date for the construction is, and if the noise violated village code. The village does have a section in its code dedicated to noise pollution, which states specific decibel levels not to be exceeded Sunday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. A lower decibel threshold exits for all other hours.
One of the exceptions in the noise pollution section of village code is for construction activities, which are permitted to take place only from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. For this project, the village passed a resolution Sept. 18 allowing the repair work at the ferry to be conducted from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The added hours were approved to expedite the completion of the project.
“The hours of relief requested are on the bookends of the workday, so those hours would be mostly for setup and breakdown,” Village Mayor Margot Garant said in September.
Garant said in an email the village has not received many complaints about the noise.
“It’s unfortunate, but this work needs to happen — the ferry is an important, integral part of our harbor,” she said. The mayor added the village has no plans to revisit the section of its code pertaining to noise pollution, but instead will “stay the course and hope they complete [the work] ahead of schedule.”
The ferry company also addressed the repair work in a November 2017 Facebook post.
“The terminal improvements should improve traffic flows and help us to stage vehicles more efficiently,” the post said. “Thank you for your continued patience and please know how much we appreciate you using our service.”
This post was updated Feb. 26 to include an updated photo and video.
The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat ferry company is temporarily operating with a significantly scaled down schedule. File photo
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) made some waves that could be seen from the shore in Port Jefferson during his State of the State address earlier this month, specifically regarding plans for infrastructure spanning the Long Island Sound.
During his Jan. 3 speech, Cuomo revived the decades-old idea of building a bridge or tunnel that would connect Long Island to New England.
“We should continue to pursue a tunnel from Long Island to Westchester or Connecticut,” he said. “New York State Department of Transportation has determined it’s feasible, it would be under water, it would be invisible, it would reduce traffic on the impossibly congested Long Island Expressway and would offer significant potential private investment.”
In December 2017, the DOT released a final draft of a Long Island Sound Crossing Feasibility Study that examined the potential of building a bridge or bridge-tunnel combination at five different sites. The 87-page study concluded that it could be economically feasible at three different locations: Oyster Bay to Port Chester/Rye; Kings Park to Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Kings Park to Devon, Connecticut.
State Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-St. James) and Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga), whose jurisdictions each include Kings Park, voiced vehement opposition to the plan.
Stakeholders in Port Jefferson are also unsure if the governor’s grand plan would be a good idea.
“In the back of every ferry operator’s brain is the possibility that a bridge or tunnel could replace a ferry route,” said Fred Hall, vice president and general manager of the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company. “Given the complexity of a project such as the governor envisions, I think there will be some environmental concerns and some ‘not in my back yard concerns.’”
Hall stopped short of saying the hypothetical tunnel or bridge would harm ferry business, though he said he’d like to know where exactly the infrastructure would go before being completely for or against it. It’s far from the first time projects like this have been floated in the past, a point reiterated by state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) whose district includes Port Jeff.
“I’m not sure about a bridge or tunnel, but an enhanced ferry service — invest in it, make it more efficient,” he said. He also said he would be concerned by the possible impact a massive infrastructure project like this would have on the ecosystem of the Sound.
The DOT feasibility study concluded the department should move forward with the next step: A five-year environmental evaluation process looking at the impact construction and the bridge would have.
“Gov. Cuomo has directed DOT to conduct additional engineering, environmental and financial analysis to determine the best path forward for this transformative project,” DOT spokesman Joseph Morrissey said in a statement. “DOT will closely examine any potential impacts as well as benefits to the local communities as part of the process.”
Police are trying to identify a man who damaged a glass door at the Bridgeport and Port Jefferson Steamboat Company. Photo from SCPD
After hours boat rides are not allowed.
A glass door to the Bridgeport and Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, located at 102 West Broadway in Port Jefferson, was damaged by a man between 4:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. July 23, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.
The suspect appears to be a white male in his 20s or 30s with short brown hair, medium build, seen wearing a gray shirt, gray shorts, black sneakers and a gold chain.
The police department is offering a cash reward up to $5,000 to anyone with information regarding the incident that leads to an arrest.
Anyone with information is asked to call Suffolk County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls remain confidential.
