Now that Shadows on the Hudson has opened its marina, the next logical step for Joe Bonura Jr. was to make it even more attractive to those on the west side of the Hudson.
How to get visitors from one dining destination to the other? The result is a sleek, colorful water taxi that holds 14 people and provides a 15-minute ride between Shadows”™ new Poughkeepsie marina and Torches”™ Newburgh marina from Friday to Sunday during the summer season.
In January, Bonura walked HVBiz through his family”™s plans to revitalize Poughkeepsie”™s waterfront in a private-public partnership with the city.  The opening of Shadows on the Hudson and its upscale catering facility, The Grandview, in 2006, was the first part of the three-stage plan to bring the waterfront brownfield back to life.
The Bonura family won the right to develop the city”™s sewage treatment plant and landfill in 2001, with the city leasing the land to the family for $1 and offering a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) program for the $2 million needed to begin the waterfront cleanup.
After a three-year State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process, remediation and demolition on the 5.5 acre site started in 2004. The restaurant and catering facility opened doors two years later. To date, the city has received more than $600,000 in revenue on “land that the city was collecting nothing from for decades and which didn”™t cost them anything to clean up,” Bonura told HVBiz during the earlier interview.
Now phase two of that multimillion-dollar project ”“ the remediation of the DeLaval Separator property ”“ is Shadows”™Â new docking area, hosting boat slips for rent and room for transient traffic. It”™s also a permanent berth for the water taxi service, Shadows One.
Citera said once Newburgh passengers arrive at Shadows, a shuttle bus is available to take visitors to the Walkway over the Hudson, an idea Bonura came up with when planning the marina.
“Water taxi passengers get a ten percent discount at either Torches or Shadows, depending on which side of the river they want to have dinner,” Citera said. “People can either come down and spend the day on the Newburgh waterfront or travel to Poughkeepsie from Torches”™ marina and go north, visit Poughkeepsie or go to the Walkway over the Hudson….it”™s a great way to spend the day.”
The taxi”™s official debut was welcomed by brilliant blue skies when it officially opened on Memorial Day weekend. The speedboat, which seats 14, runs between 1 and 9 p.m. Check shadowsone.com for times. The round-trip ticket is $30.
“The water taxi makes more than perfect sense to give visitors on both sides of the Hudson an opportunity to go to Shadows to have dinner and take a shuttle bus to the Walkway over the Hudson once they get there or to come down to Newburgh, enjoy the waterfront area and enjoy the day,” said Citera. “The Newburgh waterfront is packed on weekends and it”™s a great crowd.”
And the new water taxi, Shadows One? “You can”™t miss it ”“ it”™s very colorful ”“ and we believe it will become part of the attraction of visiting either waterfront,” Citera said. “Now that the marina is built and open for business in Poughkeepsie, we are maximizing our potential to promote both restaurants and boost tourism.”
Bonura”™s next planned project on Poughkeepsie”™s waterfront is getting a proposed retail, restaurant and commercial mix plan built and ready for business by 2012. That project is expected to cost nearly $70 million.
Meanwhile, downriver, Cosimo”™s Restaurant Group is putting the finishing touches on its new removable canopy on Torches”™ outdoor bar and adding space to hold larger outdoor events. “We had $100,000 worth of damage here during those winter storms,” Citera said. “We”™re always working on way to improve Torches and add to our restaurants. I think Cosimo would be very proud of the way we have carried on his legacy of offering the best dining experience to customers.”
Staff writer Jim Gordon contributed to this article.
