Brookhaven Town approves 10-year lease with Sayville Ferry to Cherry Grove

Sayville Ferry Service has been carrying passengers across the Great South Bay to Cherry Grove and other Fire Island locations since before its vessels were powered by internal combustion engines.

And after striking a new lease deal last week with Brookhaven Town, the company will continue ferrying day-trippers and summer residents to Cherry Grove for at least another decade. The prior lease was for one-year.

“It’s a nice partnership that’s been formed between Sayville Ferry and Brookhaven for the betterment of the community," Sayville Ferry president Ken Stein told Newsday.

The Brookhaven Town board on Aug. 25 voted 7-0 to approve a new 10-year lease allowing Sayville Ferry to use the town-owned dock at the world-famous summer community. Separately, the company — which operates out of a marina on Browns River in Sayville — also runs ferries to Fire Island Pines, Sailors Haven and Water Island.

Sailors Haven is federal property; docks at the other two communities are owned by private property owners associations.

"They run a first-class operation," Brookhaven Councilman Neil Foley told Newsday. "I've worked with them very well. There’s never a problem. … They’re very involved with the community there.”

Town officials agreed to cut the ferry company's annual rent in the first four years of the deal, in recognition of $65,000 worth of improvements the company made to the Cherry Grove dock, including new luggage racks.

This year's rent drops from $38,000 to $21,000, according to town documents. Rent will be $21,500 in each of the next two years, and $23,750 in 2025.

Rent will increase 2% annually starting in 2026, rising to $44,000 when the lease expires in 2031.

The luggage racks were installed over the last two years at the request of town officials and Cherry Grove residents, who said they needed a place to store their bags and beach chairs while awaiting ferries.

Sayville Ferry built the racks using ipe, a mahogany-style wood from Brazil that can withstand years of rain, wind, snow and other bad weather, Stein said. 

Former Cherry Grove Community Association president Diane Romano said the racks have helped improve the flow of foot traffic on the dock.

“It’s a better process now with the way it’s set up,” she told Newsday. “Everybody tries to manage it to the best of our ability.”

She added she was pleased the company will continue serving the community.

“Sayville Ferry does a terrific job for Cherry Grove," Romano said. "Their ferries are clean, they're well maintained. They're a family business. They’re part of the community. Whenever you need them, they're there.”

The company has been taking passengers across the bay since it was founded 128 years ago by Stein's great-great-grandfather, Charles Stein, a German immigrant. Back then, the company used 31-foot gaff-rig sailboats, and destinations were determined by a show of hands among the passengers, Stein said.

These days, the company has a fleet of six passenger boats that make dozens of round-trips daily throughout the summer

“It’s almost like an oath," Stein said of succeeding his ancestors in the family business. "I know I’m doing this because of them.”

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.