Arthur Imperatore, Founder of a Critical Ferry Service, Dies at 95
“He was a very tough, tenacious negotiator,” Mr. Turner said. “He wasn’t a poker player. If you crossed him, you knew it.”
Some of the company’s finest hours came in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, which destroyed the PATH train station beneath the complex. From that morning until well past dark, the ferries carried thousands of traumatized people away from the ruins.
The company received emergency contracts to keep providing a substitute for the inoperative trains. But federal prosecutors determined that New York Waterway had inflated its costs and overcharged for that additional service. In 2006, the company agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle the charges.
When a US Airways jet landed in the Hudson in January 2009 with 155 people aboard, New York Waterway ferries detoured to rescue the passengers who had evacuated the sinking plane.
Arthur Edward Imperatore was born on July 8, 1925, in West New York, N.J. He was the ninth of 10 children of Eugene Imperatore, a grocer, and his wife, Teresa. He graduated from Memorial High School in West New York and served in the Army Air Corps during World War II.
In addition to Mr. Pohan, his survivors include his wife, Dr. Mei-Ling Yee-Imperatore; a son, Arthur Jr.; a daughter, India Imperatore; and eight grandchildren.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/21/nyregion/arthur-imperatore-dead.html