Metro-North Railroad spends $21,278 per month to lease waterfront parking and landing facilities for the Newburgh-Beacon Ferry. [TIMES HERALD-RECORD FILE PHOTO] ▲

NEW YORK — Metro-North Railroad will continue to reimburse the City of Newburgh through June 30 for the costs of leasing waterfront parking and landing facilities for the Newburgh-Beacon Ferry.

The memorandum of understanding will give the city, the railroad and Riverside Newburgh Realty, the new owner of the property, time to negotiate a longer lease.

Metro-North, which reiterated its commitment to the service Tuesday, and the city have previously discussed finding an alternative location in Newburgh for the ferry should negotiations fail at any point. The property has changed hands multiple times, most recently 15 months ago.

The city, which acts as Metro-North's agent, has only been able to get Riverside's principals, William Kaplan and Joseph Bonura Sr., to agree to a six-month extension of the pre-existing lease that ran through Dec. 31. Rent at $21,278 a month and other terms will remain the same through June.

Newburgh has leased the 3.7-acre property for a dock and 250-car lot on behalf of the state Department of Transportation or Metro-North since they contracted with NY Waterway to revive ferry service in 2004.

The DOT originally reimbursed Newburgh for the lease until mid-2015 and then passed the responsibility to Metro-North, which uses other DOT funds to pay the city.

The ferry, designed to offset the waiting list for parking permits at Beacon, operates weekdays and connects with six rush-hour trains in the morning and eight in the evening.

About 150 commuters use the service, paying $14 a month when they purchase a monthly Metro-North ticket. One-way fares are $1.75 and parking is free.

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