Fire Island ferry plans to suspend service to Ocean Beach March 1 amid stalled contract negotiations
A ferry fills up with passengers in Ocean Beach on Sept. 26, 2020. Credit: Raychel Brightman
Fire Island Ferries of Bay Shore said it plans to suspend service to Ocean Beach beginning in March after failed contract negotiations with the village board.
The company, which said it has been operating under a lapsed contract with the village, said services including freight, water taxi and ferry will be paused beginning March 1 until a new contract is reached. Meanwhile, all passenger ferries originally bound for Ocean Beach will arrive and depart from Seaview and all freight services will arrive and depart from Ocean Bay Park, the ferry service said.
The previous contract, which ran from 2011 to 2020, shows that Fire Island Ferries paid Ocean Beach a base rent of $490,000 annually with 2% increases each year to use the ferry terminal and freight dock operated by the village. If the ferry company services more than 349,000 passengers annually there are additional fees it must pay per passenger. The contract expired Dec. 31, 2020, but was extended for another year, village Mayor Jim Mallott told Newsday on Tuesday. Negotiations have been ongoing since October, Mallott said.
A spokesman for Fire Island Ferries said the contract wasn't extended but the ferry continued carrying passengers during negotiations. The spokesman said the proposed contract would be "mutually beneficial."
The proposed contract could not be obtained by Newsday.
The forthcoming suspension could be the first in the 70-plus year history since the ferry company has serviced the village, Fire Island Ferries general manager Dave Anderson told Newsday.
"Because you had COVID thrown in there, negotiations kind of just got pushed off a little bit," Anderson said.
No other ferries service Ocean Beach, but Mallott said the village is looking into options, including legal ones, to require Fire Island Ferries to continue services.
In a notice issued Monday, Fire Island Ferries said, "We will continue to work with the Village of Ocean Beach board to reach a new agreement as soon as possible."
Brinley Hineman covers the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach for Newsday. She previously was a reporter in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a West Virginia native.
