Arthur Edward Imperatore Sr. (July 8, 1925 – November 18, 2020) was an American businessman and sports owner from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. He was best known as being the founder and president of the

NY Waterway NY Waterway, or New York Waterway, is a private transportation company running ferry and bus service in the Port of New York and New Jersey and in the Hudson Valley. The company utilizes public-private partnership with agencies such as the Por ...

, a

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

service. After serving in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

in World War II Imperatore founded, with his brothers, A-P-A Transport Corp. He purchased the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

hockey team in 1978 and sold it in 1981. That same year he purchased waterfront land at

Weehawken, New Jersey Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's po ...

, with the intention of constructing a residential development. Imperatore set up a passenger ferry service to support this development and that grew into NY Waterway which ran 36 ferries.

Early life

Imperatore was born in

West New York, New Jersey West New York is a Town (New Jersey), town in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2020 United States census ...

, on July 8, 1925. He was the 9th of 10 children of

Italian-Americans Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, with significant communities also residing ...

Eugene and Teresa Imperatore, who owned a grocery store. As a child Imperatore often travelled on the Hudson River ferries to get to the

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

, though he would try to avoid paying the fare. He served in the

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a navigator on

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

and

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...

bomber aircraft.

Career

In 1947 he started a local trucking business with his brothers Eugene, Arnold, George, and Harold using a surplus

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

truck, which eventually became A-P-A Transport Corp., the nation's fourth largest interstate freight trucking company. The company grew to become the fourth-largest freight trucking firm in the United States, before finally shutting down its operations in February 2002. Imperatore purchased the

ice hockey team from Denver-based oilman

Jack Vickers John Vickers (7 August 1908 – 24 September 1980) was an English footballer. Career Vickers played for Bishop Auckland, Hull City, Darlington, Doncaster Rovers and Charlton Athletic before joining Port Vale for £200 in May 1933. He played 3 ...

on July 12, 1978, with the intention of keeping the franchise in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

before moving it east to the new arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex which was under construction and expected to be completed by 1980. His imposition of the team's eventual transfer alienated many fans. Before he could complete the move to northern New Jersey, Imperatore sold the Rockies to Buffalo-based

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

magnate Peter Gilbert in a transaction that was unanimously approved by the

NHL Board of Governors The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

on February 10, 1981. In 1981 Imperatore purchased a length of waterfront in

Weehawken Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking ...

and West New York from the bankrupt

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

railroad for $7.5 million. The site consisted of abandoned and dilapidated rail yards and Imperatore planned to convert it into a residential development. However, to attract residents he needed to make it commutable to the city, which was hampered by congested bridges and tunnels. In 1986 Imperatore started the

ferry service between Weehawken and

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. There were as few as five passengers on the first trip and the ferry was derided as "Arthur's Folly". However, its popularity grew and the company eventually managed 36 ferries and 80 buses, carrying 32,000 passengers a day. The service enabled development of Weehawken and many other riverside areas. In 1989 Imperatore started an upscale restaurant, ''Arthur's Landing'', in Weehawken along the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

. It was closed in 2009, and another restaurant opened in the space by 2013. At one point Imperatore planned to build a semblance of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

on the New Jersey Hudson River waterfront.

Personal life

Imperatore was a resident of

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

, living in a home that had been built by gangster

Albert Anastasia Umberto "Albert" Anastasia (, ; né Anastasio ; September 26, 1902 – October 25, 1957) was an Italian-American mobster, hitman and crime boss. One of the founders of the modern American Mafia, and a co-founder and later boss of the Murder, In ...

and was later owned successively by real estate developer

Del Webb Delbert Eugene "Del" Webb (May 17, 1899 – July 4, 1974) was an American real-estate developer and a co-owner of the New York Yankees baseball club. He founded and developed the retirement community of Sun City, Arizona, which was built by his ...

and comedian

Buddy Hackett Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker; August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003) was an American comedian and comic actor. Known for his raunchy material, heavy appearance, and thick New York accent, his best remembered roles include Marcellus Washburn in ...

. He was married to Mei-Ling Yee-Imperatore, and he had a son and daughter as well as four step children. Imperatore entered the

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is ...

list of richest Americans in 1988, his only year on the list. He died on November 18, 2020, following a long illness.

Honors

The Arthur E. Imperatore School of Sciences and Arts of

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a Private university, private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely de ...

, in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

, was named in his honor.Jennemann, Tom
"Stevens presents master plan School unveils strategy for future development at meeting"
''

Hudson Reporter ''The Hudson Reporter'' was a newspaper chain based in Hudson County, New Jersey mainly focus on local politics and community news. The oldest newspaper in the chain was the ''Hoboken Reporter'', founded in 1983. The chain stopped publication on ...

'', June 3, 2001. Accessed February 8, 2010. Imperatore was inducted into the

New Jersey Hall of Fame The New Jersey Hall of Fame is an organization that honors individuals from the U.S. state of New Jersey who have made contributions to society and the world beyond. The Hall of Fame is a designated 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, overseen by ...

in 2017.

References

External links