Here is my guess on the town marina which we also have stayed at - they need to charge so they can 'control' the folks entering the facilities and tis gives them a way to do that. Kingston waterfront is pretty much renovated and very nice but if you visited there 15 years back it was very rough. They still have some per cent of folks that show up on the waterfront that will not or can not respect property and so they have a full time dockmaster and a number of LEO's that are around. I will guess that they use the fee's to control the facility so its nit trashed within 20 minutes of last use.
With that said the fees to stay at the twin dock and at RYB were always about the same - last we were there was 1-1/2 years back and they were both at $2 foot. We would almost always stay a full week at RYB and would end up with a cost of about $9 a foot for a week. When up there we did many different activities in the area so a week was just about right. Unfortunately we learned the owner of RYB passed away a bit young last year but I know folks 'took' over quickly and kept the marina running well last we checked a few months ago. The previous owner (Jim) was a great guy who will be missed as he renovated RYB and also the marina named "hop-O-nos" in Catskill -a nice guy who did great work and was always fair to all he dealt with.
Anyway - RYB is mostly quiet at night but the town is not too far away by dinghy, walk or taxi. The town dock is near a much louder and active area but lacks privacy and is right in the town.
It is also easy to rent a very economical car up there and visit all kinds of places and activities while in that area.
None of these marinas are like the big time marinas near NY or Long Island when it comes to glitz and highest class amenities they are all pretty laid back, simple and about 1/3rd the price.
Thanks. Your post has a lot more good information than Active Captain.
Most marinas we've been to control access with keys, conventional or electronic or push button locks with a three or four digit code.
It's nice to be able to just step off the boat and be in the center of town but we have noticed that this also means dealing with people we would rather not have to deal with.