(November 14, 2004) — Shrewd negotiators. Brilliant entrepreneurs. Loyal Rochesterians. Scam artists. Bad managers.

Those are among the terms used to describe Dominick Delucia and Brian Prince — the two native Rochester-area residents and one-time Wall Streeters who started the ferry venture.

"They did well in their careers and wanted to give back to the city," Toronto Port Authority CEO Lisa Raitt said.

Delucia and Prince succeeded where others had failed: They raised enough private money, worked the political system well enough to get public investment and delivered a ship. But they also made too many bad decisions, lacked maritime experience and left too many loose ends, those close to the operation say.

"We had to work on issues on an emergency basis that should have been handled ahead of time," said Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, referring to trucks-as-cargo issues and re-registering the ship as a U.S. vessel instead of a Bahamian one.

"Delucia refused to compromise, refused to listen to reason, refused to partner with others, or to do any of the long list of things any experienced businessman would do to start a successful project," said Bill Nojay, chairman of the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority.

Delucia defends the operation: "If those folks think that any ferry operator around the world or any local businessman could control war, terror, fuel prices any better than we could, then they are not living in the real world." Last month, in fact, another new high-speed ferry, on Lake Michigan, had to shut down earlier than planned.

Many hope the ferry returns —with a giant "Under new management" sign.