Jay,
Having walked the course last year with Brad Klein and playing it 2X this year, I find myself at odds with much of your personal critique. I also respectfully believe you failed to understand the context with which it has been developed.
I don't know what materials the Trump Organization distributed to you, but I, for one, never heard any promises of Royal Birkdale or Whistling Straights. Your emphasis on "ugly views, the disruption of the ground game by "too many centerline bunkers," "lack of charm," excessive costs and comparison to Bayonne (an decidedly different course with a different economic model) speaks loudly not about the course, but about your aesthetic. It is also not a course to be compared to others that were built on better landforms, or decades back by esteemed architects.
Before I go on to rebut some of these misses, I'll add that you are correct about the greens being off axis and lack of distinct angles. The former is a common refrain to Nicklaus design design, though at Ferry Point, nearly every hole has a opening face to the fairways and permits run-up shots. Many of the guys I played it with used them quite cannily to approach preferred sides. It is far from a pure aerial course (and has to be given the windswept exposure of it's site). Lack of angles is most likely due to having to find 18 holes that need to be CREATED from flat, featureless terrain.
I don't understand your "ugly views" commentary. Is it because you expect to see upscale private homes, deep forests, or pristine Florida-style swampland? If so, that's pretty snobby, given that those apartment buildings, smokestacks, cemeteries, bridges existed long before this golf course and most certainly reflect the egalitarian nature of municipal golf....found on so many other munis throughout the US. I see you failed to mention the NYC skyline, LI Sound, or waterside park bordering the final three holes. Given your logic so many courses like Ballybunion (Cemeteries), Royal Dornoch (Trailer parks), Bethpage Black (power station smokestacks), etc...wouldn't make the Flemma cut. Sadly, you leave out that the views of the distant NYC skyline are wonderful and unique for a public-access course.
I wouldn't dispute its "lack of charm" but find me a newly built muni (save for Chambers Bay, that has such "charm." I agree with Mark Saltzman and think it's setting, views and very existence give this place plenty of fresh character. As for the "centerline bunkers interrupting the ground game, unless you've set out to go lawn bowling, I believe the architect's intent (and a decent effort at that) was to force the player to make decisions as to how to circumnavigate them off the tee and up to the green. Even the best players I've seen out there (Steve Scott) noted that "it's nice to have to make decision which side to tackle."
As for excessive costs, go ahead and attack the last 30yrs of NYC government waste and union graft. They are to blame. BTW, as Phil Lipper mentioned,it does require an uneconimical amount of $$ to cap a landfill. Just ask Paul Fireman. Eric Bergstol outsmarted folks by getting paid to dredge the Bayonne Harbor and thus had plenty more fill to create his golf pottery gem. The powers that be along the path of completing Ferry Point had no such option. This is the context in which FP should be measured.
Lastly, you mention you "didn't race to call Ran or Tom Doak to tell them to come play here. Likely, they had caller ID and certainly didn't need you to tell them what they already knew. Your examples of Old Town, St. Georges and RHC were on their radars long before ATT or Verizon sold you service.