In the early morning hours of Tuesday, Oct. 6, the Manhattan-bound ferry Molly Pitcher departed from NY Waterway’s Belford Terminal, striking a piling as it left the dock. EMILY SCHOPFER
By Emily Schopfer
MIDDLETOWN – On Tuesday morning, Oct. 6, a Manhattan-bound NY Waterway ferry collided with the Belford Ferry Terminal’s “banking system,” the company said. The ferry continued its journey, even though the impact broke several windows along the vessel’s lower cabin, according to official sources. No one was injured in the incident.
“Earlier this morning, a NY Waterway ferry boat departing Belford, New Jersey, for Manhattan experienced damage to some windows when a part of the pier’s banking system contacted the ferry. No injuries were reported by our passengers or the boat’s crew that required medical attention,” according to a NY Waterway statement provided by Tricia Ring Wajda, public information officer for Monmouth County. The ferry, named Molly Pitcher, safely completed its trip to Manhattan but is now temporarily out of service, the statement said.
“The safety and well-being of our passengers is always our first priority. We apologize to our Belford customers who were on board during this incident for any inconvenience or discomfort it may have caused,” NY Waterway said.
In a statement Oct. 6, Middletown Mayor Tony Perry said, even though no one was injured, it is a “very serious matter.”
Perry is working with Monmouth County Commissioner Director Thomas Arnone and the county administrator to review the incident. Perry’s statement confirmed that “Arnone is calling for unannounced inspections of NY Waterway operations to help address these concerns and ensure all safety and operational requirements are being met.”
According to Perry, Arnone has also requested a full review of the incident to determine whether proper protocol was followed, including whether the U.S. Coast Guard was properly involved.
“Let me make this clear,” Arnone said in a separate Oct. 6 statement, “my fellow County Commissioners and I are completely appalled by the way NY Waterway handled this morning’s incident at the Belford Ferry Terminal. Equally concerning is the fact that the County learned about the incident from ferry passengers rather than directly from NY Waterway.”
“The County is taking this matter extremely seriously and is exploring all options available to us, including potential legal action, to hold NY Waterway accountable and ensure the safety of our ferry riders,” Arnone said.
During its Aug. 13 meeting, the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution authorizing a contract with NY Waterway to operate ferry services to and from the Belford Ferry Terminal starting Sept. 8, according to a county statement at the time.
Ownership of the Belford Ferry Terminal has passed back and forth between Seastreak and NY Waterway in recent years. NY Waterway operated from the terminal until December 2022, when Seastreak assumed operation. NY Waterway was re-awarded the ferry contract in September.
This article originally appeared in the October 8-14, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
