New Jersey cuts the ribbon on the rebuilt Liberty State Park ferry terminal

The New Jersey Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Protection announced on 22 September 2026 the ribbon cutting of the expanded and upgraded Liberty State Park Ferry Terminal in Jersey City. The release is headed for immediate release on that date. The $51.1 million project transformed the historic Central Railroad of New Jersey Ferry Terminal, which has largely been unused since Liberty State Park was established in 1976.

Four bow-loading ferry slips were returned to service, and the terminal’s sole operational side-loading slip was improved. A new 200-foot by 50-foot engineered barge has four ferry slips for ferries of differing sizes. The barge is an emergency evacuation landing that can take an all-boats call from the Captain of the Port. Approximately 30 vessels took part in a Great Boatlift ceremony at the ribbon cutting.

A 330-foot by 40-foot barge that had served as an emergency access point was damaged by a winter storm in December 2020 and sank. It was removed in summer 2025 and used to create an artificial reef at Sea Girt Reef, five miles off the coast of Manasquan.

NJDOT Commissioner Priya Jain said the facility expands ferry capacity and replaces aging marine infrastructure for visitors to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Ed Potosnak said the expanded terminal provides New Jersey’s only access point for visitors traveling to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Thomas Nelson Jr., the Federal Highway Administration’s Director of Field Services North, said: “This $51 million project received $41 million in federal funding, which is approximately 80 percent of the project cost.”