NEWBURGH – Metro-North Railroad and the City of Newburgh have secured the lease for the Newburgh-Beacon ferry’s present home for another two years.

The railroad’s oversight committee at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed Monday to reimburse the city through Dec. 31, 2018, for the cost of leasing private waterfront property for the ferry’s use.

Newburgh, which negotiated the lease with Memorare Realty Holding Corp., has already signed off on the agreement.

Metro-North, in turn, will rely on federal funds for congestion mitigation that it receives through the state Department of Transportation to cover the $21,278-a-month expense.

Susan Metzger, the committee’s chairwoman and Orange County’s representative to the MTA, credited the 12-year-old ferry with playing a small part in Newburgh’s continued revitalization and expressed relief that the lease is secure for two more years.

She and other committee members, however, told the railroad’s staff that they want them to be proactive about alternatives beyond 2018 if it appears the lease cannot be extended again.

The city has leased the 3.7-acre property along the Hudson River – a dock and 250-car parking lot - on behalf of the DOT and Metro-North since they contracted with NY Waterway in 2004 to revive ferry service.

The DOT reimbursed Newburgh for the lease until mid-2015, and then passed the tab to Metro-North.

Around the same time, the property was sold and its availability for the ferry’s use was thrown into question.

Cash-strapped Newburgh, assured of reimbursement from the railroad, subsequently negotiated an extension of the lease, first through 2016 and now through 2018, with the new owner at the same rent.

Metro-North, the DOT and Orange and Dutchess counties share the $1.88 million-a-year cost of the railroad’s contract with NY Waterway.

The ferry operates weekdays on a rush-hour schedule designed to offset the waiting list for parking permits in Beacon.

Ridership, which averaged 100 commuters a day in each direction last week, rose 4.3 percent last year over 2015.

Fares are $1.75 one way or $13.50-a-month when purchased in conjunction with a $460-a-month Metro-North ticket from Beacon. Parking at the waterfront is free.

The MTA is expected to raise fares and tolls for all of its services at its meeting Wednesday.

The proposal aired at public hearings in December would keep the ferry’s base fare at $1.75 and bump its monthly fare to $14 and the monthly train fare to $475.

The increases would take effect in March.

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