pier
Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...
in the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
at
Battery Park
The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to ...
in
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act i ...
(NYPD)'s Harbor Department. Pier A is the only remaining masonry pier in New York City. Above the pier is a two- and three-story building designed by George Sears Greene Jr., with a clock tower facing the Hudson River. The pier is a
New York City designated landmark
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
and is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
(NRHP).
The building atop Pier A is generally two to three stories tall, except for a four-story clock tower at the southwestern corner of the building. The original structure is two stories tall and extends west into the Hudson River. The eastern, or
inshore
A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water pas ...
, end of Pier A was constructed in 1900 and expanded to three stories in 1904. The pier itself is composed of a concrete deck supported by girders. The building originally contained offices for the NYPD and Docks Department, which were subsequently converted into restaurant spaces.
The Department of Docks started constructing the pier in July 1884; although the pier deck was completed in 1885, the building was not finished until early 1886. The NYPD occupied Pier A until 1955, while the Department of Docks relocated to the
Battery Maritime Building
The Battery Maritime Building is a building at South Ferry on the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City. Located at 10 South Street, near the intersection with Whitehall Street, it contains an operational ferry terminal at ground ...
in 1959. The
New York City Fire Department
The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...
(FDNY) used the pier from 1960 to 1992 as a
fireboat
A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipme ...
station. Following a failed attempt to demolish Pier A as part of the development of
Battery Park City
Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...
in the 1970s, the structure was added to the NRHP and became a city landmark. Mayor
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was ma ...
selected Wings Point Associates to redevelop Pier A in 1988, but the redevelopment was stalled for the next two decades. Pier A was temporarily used as a commuter ferry landing after the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
. After the
Battery Park City Authority
Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...
leased Pier A in 2008, it was renovated into a restaurant called Harbor House, which operated from 2014 to 2020.
Site
Pier A is on the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
, in the
Battery Park City
Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...
neighborhood of
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
in New York City, near the southern end of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
Island. The pier is on the North River, the southernmost portion of the Hudson River, which drains into
New York Harbor
New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in ...
immediately to the south. It abuts the northern end of
Battery Park
The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to ...
, just south of the intersection of
West Street
The Joe DiMaggio Highway, commonly called the West Side Highway and formerly the Miller Highway, is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A), running from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern t ...
and Battery Place. Pier A measures wide by long. It extends into the river at a 116.5-degree angle from the bulkhead along Battery Park's shoreline.
The pier is part of the eponymous Pier A Plaza, which opened to the public in November 2014. Pier A Plaza includes pedestrian space and a bike path. It is part of the
Manhattan Waterfront Greenway
The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway is a waterfront greenway for walking or cycling, long, around the island of Manhattan, in New York City. The largest portions are operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is separ ...
and connects with
Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park
Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park (also known as Wagner Park) is a green space in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The park is sited on landfill from the World Trade Center site and opened in 1996. It was designed by a par ...
to the north. In 1991, the
American Merchant Mariners' Memorial
The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan#Manhattan Island, Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, State Street (Manha ...
was installed on a rebuilt stone breakwater just south of Pier A, connected to it by a dock. Designed by the sculptor
Marisol Escobar
Marisol Escobar (May 22, 1930 – April 30, 2016), otherwise known simply as Marisol, was a Venezuelan-American sculptor born in Paris, who lived and worked in New York City. She became world-famous in the mid-1960s, but lapsed into relative obsc ...
, the memorial depicts four merchant seamen with their sinking vessel after it had been attacked by a U-boat during World War II. One of the seamen is in the water and is covered by the sea with each high tide.
Architecture
The building atop Pier A is generally two to three stories tall, except for a four-story clock tower at the southwestern corner of the building. The structure is long, extending onto the Manhattan shoreline to the east. The engineer in charge of construction and design was George Sears Greene Jr., the engineer-in-chief of the New York City Board of Docks from 1875 to 1898 and the son of the civil engineer George S. Greene. Pier A's current design dates to 1919, when the clock was added. It is sometimes nicknamed the "Liberty Gateway" despite never having been a major disembarkation point.
Form and facade
The eastern or
inshore
A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water pas ...
end of Pier A was constructed in 1900 as a square two-story annex, which was expanded to three stories in 1904. It extends about inland. The inshore annex's facade is divided vertically into three
bays
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...
each on its northern, eastern, and southern elevations. The bays are divided by one-story
pilasters
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...
, and a cornice runs above the third story. The eastern elevation contains a large archway on the ground floor (originally used by horse-drawn carriages), which is flanked by smaller openings with
architraves
In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns.
The term can a ...
. On the second and third stories of the eastern elevation, there is a triple window in the center bay and a single window on either side. Above the third story, the center bay contains a triangular pediment with seashell decorations, originally decorated with the letter "A". On the northern and southern elevations, the inshore annex contains a double window in each bay, as well as a segmentally arched pediment at the center above the third story. The inshore annex is topped by a
gable roof
A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof ...
.
Just west of Pier A's inshore annex is another three-story section with a flat roof. The central portion of the building is two stories high and extends into the Hudson River. Unlike the inshore annex, the facade of the central section is plain, although it originally contained cornices, pilasters, and decorative trim. This section contains an
arcade
Arcade most often refers to:
* Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine
** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware
** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board
* Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games
* ...
of segmental arches on the first story, as well as single, double, and projecting three-sided windows on the second story. The central section is topped by a
hip roof
A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus ...
, with several
monitors
Monitor or monitor may refer to:
Places
* Monitor, Alberta
* Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States
* Monitor, Kentucky
* Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States
* Monitor, Washington
* Monitor, Logan County, West ...
protruding from the roof, as well as a
gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...
at the western end. The
Battery Park City Authority
Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...
(BPCA) replaced the copper roof during the early 21st century.
There is a square clock tower at the southwestern corner of Pier A, measuring tall with a pyramidal roof at its peak. The first and second stories have plain wall surfaces. The third story contains arched windows on all four sides, which originally illuminated an observation room, while the fourth story contains four clock faces, one on each side. The observation room was used to monitor maritime traffic in
New York Harbor
New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in ...
and was removed when the clock was installed in 1919. The clock was taken from a ship and was donated by Daniel G. Reid, founder of
United States Steel Corporation
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...
. According to a Department of Marine and Aviation spokesperson quoted in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', it was the first memorial in the United States dedicated to those who died in World War I. Unlike other civil bells, but similarly to simple ship bells, there are eight bells, one for each half-hour of a four-hour
watch
A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached ...
. At half-hour intervals, the bell is struck between one time (at 12:30, 4:30, and 8:30) and eight times (at 12:00, 4:00, and 8:00).
Features
Structural features
Pier A was built with a masonry foundation, unlike similar piers of the time, which were typically built on wooden
piles
Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term ''he ...
. An earlier masonry pier, East River Pier 1, had been built nearby at Whitehall Street in 1875; the New York City government largely stopped constructing masonry piers after captains complained that the piers caused damage to their ships. Pier A, which was not intended to accommodate large ships, was one of the few masonry piers built after East River Pier 1 was completed. The pier building was constructed with a
superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships.
Aboard ships and large boats
On water craft, the superstruct ...
of brick, iron, and terracotta. The eastern end of the building was intended to store the Department of Docks' records and was fireproof. Unusual for buildings of the late 19th century, Pier A had its own central heating system, gas lights, and water supply system. The building was covered with several layers of insulation.
The underlying layer of
bedrock
In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet.
Definition
Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of be ...
was as shallow as below
mean low water
A chart datum is the water level surface serving as origin of depths displayed on a nautical chart. A chart datum is generally derived from some tidal phase, in which case it is also known as a tidal datum. Common chart datums are ''lowest astr ...
, above which was a layer of soft mud, thus preventing the installation of iron or wooden pilings. As such, the mud above the bedrock was removed when the dock was built, and a timber "crib" was sunken into the water at the site of the dock. This "crib", measuring across and high; sand and
trap rock
Trap rock, also known as either trapp or trap, is any dark-colored, fine-grained, non-granitic intrusive or extrusive igneous rock. Types of trap rock include basalt, peridotite, diabase, and gabbro.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. ...
were used as
ballast
Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship ...
to sink the crib into the water. Divers then filled the timber crib with concrete bags. Another layer of concrete was poured above these bags and then leveled off, providing a foundation for the rectangular concrete blocks that were placed above these bags. Eight granite sub-piers were then laid above the rectangular concrete blocks to a height of above mean high water. The sub-piers support the deck of the maritime
pier
Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...
, which consist of concrete arches and iron girders. The surface of the deck was covered with a layer of asphalt.
Interior
Originally, most of the ground floor was a unified space, except for the westernmost and the easternmost of the ground story, where a central hallway divided each end into multiple rooms. The
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act i ...
(NYPD) was housed on the northern side of the ground floor, while the
New York City Department of Docks The Commissioner of Docks of New York City was the head of the Department of Docks created by the New York State Legislature's 1870 revision of the New York City Charter, which returned numerous powers to the city government that had previously been ...
was on the southern side. The second story contained a hallway flanked by the Dock Department's offices. The NYPD used a watch tower on the southwestern corner of the second floor, and the Department of Docks had a record room at the eastern end.
The interior of the building contains an
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
-style room that was used as the Docks Commissioner's office. This room is an octagonal space on the second floor with teakwood paneling, and it remained largely intact in the 2010s. When the building was converted into a restaurant in 2014, the first story was remodeled after a German
beer hall
A beer hall () is a large pub that specializes in beer.
Germany
Beer halls are a traditional part of Bavarian culture, and feature prominently in Oktoberfest. Bosch notes that the beer halls of Oktoberfest, known in German as ''Festzelte' ...
; there were outdoor dining areas on either side of this beer hall. The second floor became a multi-room restaurant space with a cocktail bar. The restaurant space included a bar measuring long, as well as a stained-glass chandelier with the letter "A". The third floor became an event space.
History
The
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...
revised the
New York City Charter
The New York City Charter is the municipal charter of New York City. As of January 2018, it includes a non-numbered introductory chapter, plus chapters identified by a number (1 through 75) or a number plus a letter suffix. The following year, the department published a plan for the development of piers on the city's waterfront, which the state legislature approved. Any subsequent piers had to be approved separately, including Pier A, which was not part of the 1871 plan. The Docks Department initially faced resistance from businesses on the waterfront, which previously had been subjected to little or no city regulation.
Docks Department use
Development and early years
The New York State Legislature amended the Docks Department's plan in 1884, requiring the Docks Department to develop a pier for the NYPD's Harbor Department. The commissioners selected a site at Battery Park, on the southern tip of Manhattan Island, due to its central location at the northern end of
New York Harbor
New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in ...
. The commissioners directed the Department of Docks to construct a new pier with offices for the Harbor Department, as well as for the Department of Docks' own headquarters. on July 3, 1884. By relocating its offices, the Department of Docks wished to save $6,500 annually in rent. Construction started immediately under the supervision of George S. Greene Jr.. Five of the eight sub-piers were finished by May 1885, and the Department of Docks reported that July that it had completed the deck for $80,000. Work on the building atop Pier A commenced in September 1885. The building cost $40,000 to construct, bringing the project's total cost to $120,000.
The Department of Docks moved into the building on March 20, 1886, and the Harbor Police also moved into the structure. The year after Pier A's opening, the ''
Chicago Daily Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are ...
'' reported that maritime crimes in New York Harbor had decreased drastically. The Docks Department also used Pier A as an auction house, selling leases for New York City's piers. The CS ''Mackay-Bennett'' laid a telegraph cable between Pier A and
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
in 1894. Subsequently, the
Commercial Cable Company
The Commercial Cable Company was founded in New York in 1884 by John William Mackay and James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
Their motivation was to break the then virtual monopoly of Jay Gould on transatlantic telegraphy and bring down prices (particular ...
transferred the receiving station for its
transatlantic telegraph cable
Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...
from Coney Island to Pier A, as the receiving station at Coney Island had experienced excessive electrical interference from
streetcars
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ar ...
. In 1899, the NYPD reestablished its Steamboat Squad, which patrolled the waters around lower Manhattan and was headquartered at Pier A. To make way for the Steamboat Squad, the Harbor Department relocated its offices to the western end of the building.
Expansion and 20th century
The Department of Docks' engineer-in-chief introduced plans in February 1900 to extend Pier A about eastward. The first two stories of the eastward annex were constructed at this time, and a third story was built above the eastern annex in 1904. To reduce navigational hazards in the North River, federal government removed a large ledge of rock next to Pier A in 1905; the project took over a year to complete. Pier A was also the homeport of the Harbor Department
patrol boat
A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...
''Patrol'', which traveled around New York Harbor nightly until she was retired in 1916. During World War I, the Harbor Department officers at Pier A were also trained to guard against enemy attacks. After the end of World War I, a clock was installed in the pier's tower as a memorial to 116,000 US servicemen who died during World War I. The clock was unveiled on January 25, 1919, with speeches made by mayor
John Francis Hylan
John Francis Hylan (April 20, 1868January 12, 1936) was the 96th Mayor of New York City (the seventh since the consolidation of the five boroughs), from 1918 to 1925. From rural beginnings in the Catskills, Hylan eventually obtained work in Broo ...
and docks commissioner George Murray Hulbert.
In 1922, the NYPD abolished the Marine Division and replaced it with the 16th Inspection District, which was headquartered at Pier A. Two years later, the NYPD acquired the speedboat ''Battery'', which was based out of Pier A. Numerous notable figures sailed to New York City through Pier A during the mid-20th century, including former British prime minister
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...
; aviator
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
;
Crown Prince Olav
Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.
Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Nor ...
King George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...
and
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Eli ...
of England. The pier also hosted events, such as a showcase of products from Florida, as well as an exhibition of a
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
captured during World War II. Docks Department employees dedicated a bronze tablet at Pier A, honoring former docks commissioner Michael Cosgrove, in 1930.
The Department of Docks requested funding from the New York City Council in 1938 to erect a new administration building on Pier A. By 1941, docks commissioner John McKenzie had prepared plans for a new building on the site. The project was part of New York City park commissioner
Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
's plan to rebuild Battery Park, which he presented to the
New York City Board of Estimate
The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments effec ...
in March 1942. The Pier A building would be replaced with a larger facility that housed the Department of Docks, the NYPD, and a nearby FDNY station. The City Council allocated funding for the planned new building but delayed its construction until after World War II. The Department of Docks subsequently became the Department of Marine and Aviation. Pier A was not rebuilt after World War II, even as the Department of Marine and Aviation spent $26 million renovating other piers in the city. Instead, by 1952, the Department of Marine and Aviation was planning to relocate to the
Battery Maritime Building
The Battery Maritime Building is a building at South Ferry on the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City. Located at 10 South Street, near the intersection with Whitehall Street, it contains an operational ferry terminal at ground ...
on the
East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...
, allowing the FDNY and NYPD to consolidate their space at Pier A.
The Department of Marine and Aviation built a heliport at Pier A, which opened on June 11, 1953, as the second heliport operated by the city government. Initially, the heliport was primarily used by the NYPD. In late 1955, the NYPD's Harbor Precinct relocated to Randalls Island. The Department of Marine and Aviation requested $600,000 in 1958 to convert North River piers A and 1 into cargo piers. Eleven hundred employees of the Department of Marine and Aviation relocated from Pier A to the Battery Maritime Building in February 1959. By that time, Pier A only housed the department's executive and administrative staff, while other Marine and Aviation offices were housed in various buildings nearby. The city government planned to turn Pier A over to the FDNY and NYPD.
Fireboat station
The FDNY used the pier from 1960 to 1992 as a
fireboat
A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipme ...
station. Pier A was the headquarters of Marine Fire Company 1, which used the fireboat '' John D. McKean.'' The pier was also used to commission or re-commission FDNY fireboats, including the ''John Purroy Mitchel'', the ''Governor Alfred E. Smith'', and the ''John H. Glenn Jr.''. Marine Fire Company 8, which used the ''Governor Alfred A. Smith'', also docked at Pier A until 1970, when ''Governor Alfred E. Smith'' was retired and Marine Co. 8 was disbanded. Most of the decorations on the facade were covered by corrugated iron panels as part of a 1964 renovation. FDNY commissioner Edward Thompson said at the time: "Instead of an eyesore, it will be a fond sight for the people passing through the harbor."
By 1966, the
New York City Planning Commission
The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...
sought to preserve piers A and 1, as they were part of the "New York cultural milieu". In 1969, the
Battery Park City Authority
Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...
(BPCA) acquired Pier A as part of its development of the Battery Park City neighborhood, with plans to raze the structure. The first phase of the Battery Park City project, which started in 1971, was to comprise from Pier A north to Rector Street. The nonprofit
New York Landmarks Conservancy
The New York Landmarks Conservancy is a non-profit organization "dedicated to preserving, revitalizing, and reusing" historic structures in New York state. It provides technical assistance, project management services, grants, and loans, to owne ...
wanted the pier to be saved, and New York City's ports commissioner
Edgar C. Fabber
Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear").
Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...
and the FDNY's marine division also supported the pier's preservation.
Mario Biaggi
Mario Biaggi (October 26, 1917 – June 24, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, and police officer. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state), New York from 1969 to 1988.
Prior to his polit ...
, a candidate in the 1973 New York City mayoral election, advocated for Pier A to be protected "as a landmark of beauty and historical significance and as a permanent memorial to American soldiers".
The federal government added Pier A to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
(NRHP) in mid-1975. The NRHP designation allowed city and state agencies to receive
matching funds
Matching funds are funds that are set to be paid in proportion to funds available from other sources. Matching fund payments usually arise in situations of charity or public good. The terms cost sharing, in-kind, and matching can be used interc ...
from the federal government to pay for Pier A's renovation. The next year, the
New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYS OPRHP) is a state agency within the New York State Executive DepartmentParks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law § 3.03. "The office of parks, recreation and ...
and the
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the ma ...
each provided $90,000 for renovations to the building's foundation, mechanical and electrical systems, and architectural details. By then, Pier A was the oldest pier operating in New York City. ''The New York Times'' wrote: "The plan to rehabilitate the pier is something of a financial anomaly, owing in significant measure to the city’s money problems." The
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
designated Pier A as a New York City landmark on July 12, 1977. After winning the
1977 New York City mayoral election
The New York City mayoral election of 1977 occurred on Tuesday, November 8, 1977.
Incumbent mayor Abraham Beame, a Democrat, was challenged by five other Democrats, including Representative Ed Koch, New York Secretary of State Mario Cuomo, and ...
,
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was ma ...
intended to restore structures on New York Harbor, starting with Pier A. Koch announced in 1980 that the city government would open a request for proposals for the redevelopment of Pier A. However, the plans did not proceed for several years.
Redevelopment
Initial proposals
By 1987, the Koch administration was considering converting Pier A into a visitor center as part of the planned Harbor Park, a complex of parks around New York Harbor. That December, the Koch administration proposed relocating the headquarters of the FDNY's Marine Division, a repair shop, and several other offices while keeping Marine Company 1 at Pier A. City officials planned a visitor center on the ground level and restaurants on the upper stories. The city opened a request for proposals for Pier A's redevelopment in January 1988, receiving four bids. Later that year, the city selected Wings Point Associates as the site developer. Another bidder, the Abbracciamento Group, had put forth a more profitable proposal; however, the city rejected the plan because Abbracciamento had wanted to buy a boat and relocate the restaurant there. The other two bidders were Pier A Development Group, which had proposed an upscale restaurant and a
fast-food restaurant
A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typical ...
, and Municipal Quality Partners, which had proposed an upscale restaurant, bookstore, and
food bank
A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direct ...
.
Wings Point signed a 50-year lease on the building and planned to spend $20 million on rehabilitation. The next year, the New York state government gave the city government $4 million for the project.Robert Silman & Associates was hired as the structural engineer for the renovation, while
Beyer Blinder Belle
Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP (BBB) is an international architecture firm. It is based in New York City and has an additional office in Washington, DC. The firm's name is derived from the three founding partners: John H. Beyer, Ri ...
was the renovation architect. The FDNY relocated ''John D. McKean'' from Pier A at the end of 1991. To facilitate Pier A's redevelopment, in mid-1991, U.S. representative
Ted Weiss
Theodore S. Weiss (September 17, 1927 – September 14, 1992) was an American Democratic Party politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for New York from 1977 until his death in 1992.
Life and career
Weiss was born in ...
proposed that the waters around Pier A be declared non-navigable. Because the federal government could easily condemn a structure in navigable waters, it was difficult to obtain financing for such structures, including Pier A. Simultaneously, the city was planning to construct
Hudson River Park
Hudson River Park is a waterfront park on the North River (Hudson River) that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park, a component of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, stretches and ...
along the riverfront, connecting Pier A with the new Battery Park City neighborhood.
By early 1993, the developers planned to begin renovating Pier A later that year. However, work remained stalled for several years because of a lack of funds and Wings Point's refusal to accept
chain stores
A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...
as tenants. Work started in June 1997 after the
New York City Industrial Development Agency
New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is a nonprofit corporation whose stated mission is to "leverage the city’s assets to create beneficial jobs that drive growth. This ensures equitable and sustainable development across al ...
issued $8 million worth of bonds; by then, the cost had risen to $27 million. As late as April 1999, Pier A was planned to open by the end of that year. A replica of the slave ship ''
La Amistad
''La Amistad'' (; Spanish for ''Friendship'') was a 19th-century two- masted schooner, owned by a Spaniard colonizing Cuba. It became renowned in July 1839 for a slave revolt by Mende captives, who had been captured and sold to European slave ...
'' was temporarily docked at Pier A in July 2000, but the pier was otherwise unused and decrepit during the early 2000s, except for its clock tower.
Ferry dock plans
After the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
in 2001 caused severe disruptions to the city's transportation system, the city and state governments built a temporary dock for commuter ferries at Pier A, constructing six slips within six weeks of the attack. The city and state governments allowed
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 Port ...
to operate ferries there.New York Water Taxi also started serving Pier A in late 2002, as part of an expansion of ferry service in New York City after the September 11 attacks. New York governor
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...
announced in January 2003 that the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) would buy out Pier A to speed up the redevelopment process. At the time, the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...
(NPS), which conducted security screenings of
Liberty Island
Liberty Island is a federally owned island in Upper New York Bay in the United States. Its most notable feature is the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''), a large statue by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi that was dedicated i ...
and
Ellis Island
Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...
visitors at the nearby
Castle Clinton
Castle Clinton (also known as Fort Clinton and Castle Garden) is a circular sandstone fort within Battery Park at the southern end of Manhattan in New York City. Built from 1808 to 1811, it was the first American immigration station, predating ...
, wished to relocate its security-screening facility to Pier A. The same year, Wings Point sued NY Waterway because the latter company had not paid landing fees to use Pier A.William B. Wachtel of Wings Point formed the BillyBey Ferry Company in early 2005 to take over NY Waterway's Lower Manhattan operations, and he tentatively planned to launch
New York Harbor
New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in ...
sightseeing cruises from Pier A. NY Waterway had planned to start operating sightseeing cruises from Pier A in April 2006, but the EDC did not allow NY Waterway to use the pier. Arnie Geller presented a competing plan to open an RMS ''Titanic'' museum at Pier A, and the BPCA also wanted to acquire the pier. The NPS was still planning to relocate its security-screening facilities to Pier A, but the plan was delayed because of disputes between the EDC and Wings Point. The city government entered a tentative agreement with the NPS in April 2007 and, a few months later, acquired Wings Point's lease for $8 million.
The BPCA leased the pier from the city for 49 years in May 2008, paying a
nominal fee
A nominal fee refers to a sale of a good or service for far less than it is actually worth, when it cannot be given away for free. Typically, such a sale will be for the smallest full denomination of a currency (for example, one dollar). Nominal f ...
of $1 a year. The BPCA hoped to convert Pier A into a transportation hub and negotiated with the NPS to relocate its security-screening facilities to Pier A. The NPS reneged from this plan in 2009, expressing concerns over the cost and timeline of Pier A's renovation. The BPCA made several modifications to Pier A between 2008 and 2013, including repairing the masonry foundations, replacing the roof, and installing modern electrical and plumbing systems.
Harbor House
After the NPS withdrew from its plan to lease Pier A, four bidders submitted proposals to the BPCA for a renovation of the structure. The bidders included Peter Poulakakos, who wished to convert the pier into a restaurant, and Joseph J. Grano Jr., who proposed an Italian heritage museum at the pier. The BPCA voted in March 2011 to lease the pier to Poulakakos for 25 years, prompting objections over the secretive nature of the BPCA's selection process. Poulakakos said his father had been interested in the structure since the 1970s. Poulakakos and his partners would pay $41 million over the duration of their lease. Under the terms of the lease, if the restaurant's gross revenue exceeded $18 million, the BPCA would share eight percent of any gross revenue exceeding $18 million. By that time, Pier A was abandoned and decrepit. Poulakakos hoped to open the restaurant by late 2012, and he started renovating the building in partnership with the Dermot Company.
The $20 million renovation was delayed by several months after
Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...
flooded Pier A in late 2012, causing $4.3 million in damage. In the hurricane's aftermath, the architects relocated the mechanical equipment to the second floor, and they installed water-resistant mahogany and removable furniture on the first floor. The architects also added maritime-themed decorations to the building. The BPCA transferred control of Pier A to Poulakakos in mid-2013, although the agency was still responsible for constructing a plaza outside the building, work on which had been delayed by a lack of funding. The New York City government allocated $5 million for the plaza's development. The renovation ultimately cost about $40 million. The city government spent $30 million on the restoration of Pier A, while the Battery Park Authority spent $7 million on Pier A and $5 million on the plaza. Pier A Harbor House opened to the public in November 2014, more than three decades after the redevelopment project had started. The ground-floor space opened first, followed by the upper-floor spaces. The Blacktail Bar, a Cuban bar on Pier A's second story, opened in August 2016 and operated until January 2020.
Harbor House closed in March 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United States, it has resulted in confir ...
. The BPCA sought to reopen Harbor House, but the restaurant ultimately never opened again, even as Poulakakos continued to operate other restaurants in New York City. A group of investors with EB-5 visas, who had provided $16.5 million for Pier A's renovation, sued Poulakako to recoup their investment. Although the BPCA was willing to terminate Harbor House's 25-year lease ahead of schedule, the EB-5 investors were uninterested in taking over the pier. By 2021, there were several proposals to reopen Pier A.
Statue Cruises
Hornblower Cruises & Events NOW City Experiences is a San Francisco-based charter yacht, dining cruise and ferry service company.
History
The company began in 1974 in Berkeley, California with two ships. In 1980 the original owner, Ward Proesc ...
, which operated ferries to Liberty and Ellis islands, proposed relocating its ferry dock to Pier A, as Statue Cruises' existing dock at Castle Clinton was deteriorating. As part of the
Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency
Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) refers to a range of climate change adaptation strategies of coastal management to address impacts on the city in the wake of the extensive Hurricane Sandy flooding of 2012.
A more localized alternative ...
Project, in 2022, the BPCA proposed converting Pier A Plaza into a two-story park to protect the surrounding neighborhood from
rising sea levels
Rising may refer to:
* Rising, a stage in baking - see Proofing (baking technique)
*Elevation
* Short for Uprising, a rebellion
Film and TV
* "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), the series premiere of the science fiction television program ''Starg ...
. Pier A Plaza was to contain retractable
flood barriers
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...
on its upper level, as well as wooden benches, trees, and brick structures that could withstand prolonged flooding.
See also
*
List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), formed in 1965, is the New York City governmental commission that administers the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. Since its founding, it has designated over a thousand landmarks, cla ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan below 14th Street
This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Manhattan Island below 14th Street, which is a significant portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. In turn, the b ...