Unable to reach a service agreement with the Village of Ocean Beach, Fire Island Ferries, Inc. announced on Monday that all service to Ocean Beach will stop on Tuesday, March 8.
Fire Island Ferries said in its announcement that the Village has “rejected multiple economically viable and mutually beneficial offers from FIFI, as well as the interim options which would allow for uninterrupted service.”
Greaterbayshore.com previously reported that Fire Island Ferries had been operating under an expired contract for over a year, and at the time, a new agreement had not been reached with the Village.
The ferry company said both parties met on March 4 to discuss a tentative agreement, but the Village Board of Trustees ultimately rejected the terms proposed by Fire Island Ferries the following morning. Previously, the ferry company had threatened to end service on March 1, but relented as negotiations were expected to continue.
Now, the ferry company said, all ferry, freight and water taxi services to and from Ocean Beach are suspended, beginning March 8, and until a balanced agreement can be met.
“We realize that service interruptions caused by the Village will create hardships for numerous communities and businesses on Fire Island, and for this we apologize,” Fire Island Ferries President Tim Mooney said. “It is our goal to come to a resolution with the village as soon as possible.
“However, the current fiscal demands of the village board show a complete disregard for both the needs of the ferry company and those of the seven other communities that FIFI serves,” he added.
While services are suspended, all passenger ferries scheduled for Ocean Beach will arrive and depart from Seaview, and all freight bound for Ocean Beach will be redirected to Ocean Bay Park.
According to Fire Island Ferries, the following items are the major contractual issues that have stood in the way of a new contractual agreement between the village and the ferry company:
- The village’s insistence that it will not permit Fire Island Ferries to service Ocean Beach, even on an interim basis, until its exorbitant rent demands are met.
- The village’s demand for deeply discounted tickets for all Ocean Beach residents, free rides for employees, and various credits that benefit the village itself.
- The village’s initial demand for an increase in freight rent of over 500%.
What’s happening now
In an earlier greaterlongisland.com report, Ocean Beach Mayor Jim Mallott said the 10-yer contract with the ferry company expired in 2020. Due to the uncertainly of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mallott said, the village decided to not negotiate a new contract at that time.
Instead, the two parties previously settled on a year extension to the contract and the ferry company would pay monthly for 12 months, Mallott said.
Negotiations began in October 2021, and when the village offered a new agreement, Mallott said it was dismissed by the ferry company.
Fire Island Ferries proposed an alternative contract and issued a 30-day notice at the end of January to end the expired agreement.
On March 6, The Ocean Beach Association posted a statement on Facebook from Mayor Jim Mallott and the Village Board of Trustees which breaks down Fire Island Ferries’ latest “ultimatum demands.”
The ferry company’s offer is an approximate 32 percent reduction from the former rent, compared to 2021 and Ocean Beach’s 10-year average yearly earnings on the last contract.
“Resident discounted tickets and parking have been eliminated; resident quality of life concerns have been ignored,” the Village’s statement reads. “Despite numerous requests of [Fire Island Ferries] to justify such a drastic reduction in economic terms, [the ferry company] has refused to provide any legitimate basis to support their demand or offer information outlining their presumed economic ‘hardship’ that might justify such a significant reduction.”
The Village’s revised two-part proposal includes a 5.5 percent increase of base rents over the last contract and a three-year term (inclusive of 2021).
All other economic terms remain the same with the 2011-2021 contract, the village statement says.
The Village provided an alternate proposal that suggests a one-year extension of the 2021 holdover terms, which allows both parties the opportunity to come to a longer-term agreement.
Fire Island Ferries expressed that the Village’s counteroffer is “economically untenable.”
“The village will not be bullied into an agreement that is counter to the long-term interests of our residents, businesses and stakeholders,” the Village board said in its statement. “Regardless of [Fire Island Ferries’] next move … the village stands ready to discuss a mutually agreeable solution to the current impasse.”
Continue to follow greaterbayshore.com for updates on the Fire Island Ferries situation.
Top: Three Fire Island Ferries, Inc.’s vessels docked at the Bay Shore terminal. Photo courtesy of FIF’s Facebook page.
