The following news release was issued by SIU-contracted NY Waterway on July 24.
Lt. Gov. Oliver Christens NY Waterway Ferry Susan B. Anthony, Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage and 32 Years of Ferry Service
Dressed in Suffragette white, New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Y. Oliver today christened NY Waterway’s newest ferry, the Susan B. Anthony, a 130-passenger vessel, which joins the 32-year-old ferry company’s fleet of 35 boats.
The most reliable transit system in the Metropolitan Area, NY Waterway carries upwards of 32,000 or more passengers daily with a +99 percent on time performance rate, serving more than 20 routes between New Jersey and Manhattan.
Ferries also are called upon frequently to provide emergency service, carrying New Jersey commuters when other transit modes are disrupted. In the last four weeks, NY Waterway ferries carried 11,000 – 12,000 extra riders home to New Jersey when PATH was disrupted on June 27 and carried more than 10,000 extra passengers home when the Lincoln Tunnel and Port Authority Bus Terminal were closed July 3.
“It is with great honor that I join NY Waterway to dedicate this boat to one of the most consequential heroes in U.S. history, Susan B. Anthony,” Lt. Governor Oliver said. “She was often seen as an outlier and a fighter, which are the traits of every transformative figure that I admire. The roots of her activism started at a very young age and continue to inspire me and so many others in our contemporary pursuit for social equity in New Jersey and beyond.”
“It is fitting that Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who has dedicated her life to serving the people of New Jersey is here to christen the Susan B. Anthony. Sheila Oliver is a living testament to the wisdom, power and passion of women in politics made possible by Susan B. Anthony and the suffragettes,” said NY Waterway President & Founder Arthur E. Imperatore.
“Like all our ferries, and the dedicated men and women who keep them running, this boat will honor the example of Susan B. Anthony and Sheila Oliver, serving New Jersey commuters for years to come.”
“I am honored to participate in NY Waterway’s boat dedication to one of my heroines, Susan B. Anthony, who relentlessly crusaded for the woman’s right to vote. She was a true social reformer, activist and fighter for social equality which are many of the same issues we continue to fight for today. Her spirit will be a guiding light to this vessel and I know somewhere she is looking down on this dedication with pride and satisfaction as we welcome her namesake into the ferry fleet,” said New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg.
The Susan B. Anthony was built in 2002 by Yank Marine in Tuckahoe, NJ, where the Molly Pitcher and the Betsy Ross also were built. These are the first ferry boats built in New Jersey in memory. NY Waterway has three other boats under construction at Yank Marine. Originally named the Suzie Girl, the ferry was used as a party fishing boat on the Jersey Shore.
NY Waterway has completely restored the Susan B. Anthony, returning her to as-new condition, with a luxury interior standard on all NY Waterway ferries. She is 65 feet long and 20 feet wide, capable of carrying 130 passengers at 24 knots, powered by two American-made Caterpillar engines.
She will be used on Hudson River crossings between New Jersey and Manhattan. She also will join NY Waterway’s proud tradition of providing emergency service when other transit systems are disrupted by weather or road and track repairs. Since 1986, NY Waterway ferries also have conducted emergency evacuations, bringing hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents home safely after 9/11, the 2003 blackout and other disasters.
These ferries also have rescued more than 300 people from various accidents including 143 people rescued from Flight 1549 in the Miracle on the Hudson, the most successful rescue in aviation history.
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