Hoboken officials and residents fighting the sale of riverfront property to NJ Transit for use by NY Waterway as a maintence facility won a small victory Monday, when the agency delayed the purchase.

Transportation Commissioner Richard Hammer announced the proposed purchase of the Union Drydock Property on the Hudson River from NY Waterway was off the agenda at the start of the meeting. Officials did not give a reason for the postponement.

Mayor Ravi Bhalla told 100 residents who came to the meeting to oppose purchase by NJ Transit that this was not the end of the fight. Hoboken officials want to buy the property and use it for parkland along the Hudson River waterfront.

"This is not an end, it is a beginning," Bhalla told supports afterward. "We will fight tooth and nail on a united front to make sure we preserve the Union Dry Dock space and all of our water front."

NY Waterway recently bought the land from Union Drydock for $11.5 million and NJ Transit has proposed buying the land and leasing it back to the ferry carrier for use as a ferry maintenance facility. The town of Hoboken could not use eminent domain to take the property away from NJ Transit because it is a state agency.

The company is losing the Weehawken facility it now leases from a developer in the spring. Hoboken officials and residents charged the purchase and lease is being done at the last minute without consulting with the city.

The first step toward the city's plan to buy or condemn the land happened after an appraiser from Hoboken assessed the land's value, Bhalla said.

"I will ask the council in the coming weeks for authorization to make an offer to NY Waterway for a friendly acquisition of that property," he said. "The next step will be to enter into negotiations for acquisition for public open space."

But NY Waterway officials said this is the only suitable deepwater river site between Nyack and New York City for a repair facility.



"Even though your removed the item, you have not made the problem go away," said Armand Pohan, New York Waterway's chairman to NJ Transit officials. "If you don't act soon and Hoboken condemns the land, commuters will suffer irreparable harm."



The timing of the vote, on a federal holiday and in the twilight of the Christie administration was questioned by Gov. Elect Phil Murphy. After he is inaugurated Tuesday, Murphy has the power as governor to undo a vote to buy and lease the land to NY Waterway by vetoing the agency's board meeting minutes.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

