Captain Brian McAllister, president of the Bridgeport and Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, needs a legal buoy. From the CT Post:
The ferry boat terminal will stay docked in downtown.
Superior Court Judge Richard Gilardi torpedoed the ferry company’s proposed move to Seaview Avenue Wednesday, noting the Bridgeport and Port Jefferson Steamboat Co.’s plan to move the terminal would not only blow a hole in the city’s development master plan but didn’t have the support of the Bridgeport Port Authority, the Harbor Management Commission and state agencies.
Read more: here.
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I will bet you 50 cents the ferry will dock at Steel Point once the area is further developed. Good move on the part of the judge. Keep it local for the time being.
I bet you a buck the Ferry Company comes in with a new application to zoning. This will pave the way for the ferry to sail across the harbor to Seaview Avenue.
Good news for Bridgeport for the present, at least. The intermodal hub is an important and unique asset that sets Bridgeport apart from from every other southern CT urban center.
I disagree with the judge’s ruling. This is a loss for the city including the merchants, despite their spokesman saying otherwise. It rules out the port being used for anything more than people passing through.
It’s a also loss for the local ferry business looking to expand, and a loss for the East Side looking for development in which city council person there is in favor.
The ‘intermodal’ idea looks great on an urban planning document but does little to serve the city or its business interests.
Who cares if you can go directly from the train to ferry and bus? Development takes priority and if you believe the Steel Point new business story, the East Side is not far.
Most all other towns in the country are trying to make use of their precious waterfront and ports so people can go to restaurants there for example as in South Norwalk. And in our case, thousands of people already come to the Bluefish Stadium but never ever stay in town and ferry building is right next door.
And the Master Plan mandates they “market Downtown’s assets.” So did the judge choose one part of the master plan and disregard another? Why are city powerbrokers so in favor of putting the city port off limits? Besides, the ferry building has the good view, Steel Point looks right at the coal plant.
With today’s comment, Bridgeport Now continues to impress me as a whimsical, easily impressed gadabout on the Bridgeport scene.
Bridgeport is on the cusp with its downtown. Between the CityTrust building, Lafayette St, Kuchma and other development, it is dramatically different than it was five years ago … For the better.
The Ferry plays a role. Moving it across the harbor at this point in time serves no purpose other than having those ferry-transported cars zip out of town in two minutes … And screw the Food Desert crap. That was disingenuous at best. Nobody’s starving over there and McCallister wanted nothing more than a big parking lot opposite the I-95 ramp.
Maybe down the road it might be the right thing to move across. But not now.
And as for Capt. Brian … Either way he’ll win. His current business remains strong. At some point, maybe things do get re-zoned and he moves across. Or with Bass Pro Shops/SteelPoint development, that property he bought at a fire sale is going to be worth a lot more.
Hi Ever, I am very familiar with downtown developments, and often show them on our weekly local access program, in which we recently highlighted the history of the buildings, and also local history going back to native Americans in Bridgeport. Not sure the term you use is the best: “gadabout–One who roams or roves about, as in search of amusement or social activity.”
I agree with how the city has improved over the past 5 years. I am not putting down the improvements. Rather, I’m saying they should link and include the waterfront and port in Bridgeport. And the cars you mention that would “zip” out of town, that’s what they currently do.
Actually, I really don’t get your point. As far as being “easily impressed” as you mention, by whom? My position on the ferry move has been firm and unchanged since I covered it some years ago when city council members appeared on the program.
The intermodal concept is the only reason I and some other downtown residents chose to live in downtown Bridgeport. The ability to access the transportation options from one point is a decided advantage for those who make use of them.
Right, okay. That wouldn’t go away. Actually the idea is really to just stretch the intermodal concept to include the East Side.
*** Maybe the best of both worlds will be better for the P/J Ferry “if” Steel Point ever gets off the ground! ***
Looking at the map, it’s actually the same distance, current location or the better location on the East Side … to get to Steel Point.