Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises is a boat-based sightseeing and entertainment company in

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 ...

, New York. Its principal business is operating guided tours of New York City from its base at Pier 83 in the

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...

neighborhood.

History

Circumnavigation of Manhattan became possible in 1905 with the construction of the

Harlem Ship Canal Spuyten Duyvil Creek () is a short tidal estuary in New York City connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal and then on to the Harlem River. The confluence of the three water bodies separate the island of Manhattan from th ...

, the first regularly scheduled trip being the ''Tourist'' captained by John Roberts in 1908. On June 15, 1945, Frank Barry, Joe Moran and other partners merged several companies to form Circle-Line Sightseeing Yachts, offering boat tours of New York operating out 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 ...

CIRCLE LINE FERRY CARRIES TOURISTS TO STATUE OF LIBERTY IN UPPER NEW YORK BAY - NARA - 547838

In 1955, it began operating at Pier 83 in Midtown. In 1962, it bought the famous and venerable Hudson River Day Line, keeping it as a separate brand until 1985. Circleline-fireworks

In 1981, the Circle Line split into two companies—Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises and Circle Line Downtown. In 1988, the company bought World Yacht's operating upscale dining cruises from

Chelsea Piers Chelsea Piers is a series of piers in Chelsea, on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located to the west of the West Side Highway ( Eleventh Avenue) and Hudson River Park and to the east of the Hudson River, they were originally a p ...

- currently World Yacht Dining Cruises. In 1998, the 42nd Street company also launched The Beast, a speedboat ride which takes tourists around the Statue of Liberty and goes 45 mph. In 2007, the

United States 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 propertie ...

said it was going to terminate Circle Line Liberty franchise and give a 10-year contract to

Hornblower 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 Proe ...

which provides service to

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...

. It was noted in the announcement that since 1953 Circle Line has transported 70 million people to Liberty Island. Among the items cited in the transfer was a newer fleet (although Hornblower will have to buy the Circle Line boats) and the possibility of new service to

Gateway National Recreation Area Gateway National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area in New York City and Monmouth County, New Jersey. It provides recreational opportunities that are not commonly found in a dense urban environment, including ocean swimming, bir ...

. ''

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 d ...

'' reported on December 8, 2007, that the price of the Circle Line boats to be sold to Hornblower was in arbitration, forcing Hornblower to bring in new boats. In 2009, Circle Line took delivery of the third of three new vessels constructed by

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Somerset, Massachusetts on the Taunton River. It primarily builds pilot boats and high-speed catamaran ferries. Gladding-Hearn was founded in 1954 by Preston Gladding and Richard Hearn, and de ...

Somerset, Massachusetts Somerset is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,303 at the 2020 census. It is the birthplace and hometown of Clifford Milburn Holland (1883–1924), the chief engineer and namesake of the Holland Tunnel ...

. In January 2017, Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises purchased

New York Water Taxi New York Water Taxi (NYWT) is a water taxi service based in New York City. It offers sightseeing, charter and commuter services mainly to points along the East River and Hudson River. It is one of several private operators of ferries, sightseei ...

—among the assets acquired was the latter company's Circle Line Downtown brand, reuniting both Circle Lines under one owner.

Awards

Circle Line was awarded with proclamations by two New York City mayors. In 1985, then 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 ...

proclaimed April 23 "Circle Line Day." Approximately 20 years later current Mayor

Mike Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

proclaimed September 17 "Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises Day" in 2008.

Rescue

In 2001, Circle Line vessels helped transport victims of 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 the maritime evacuation following them. Many were brought to what has since become the site of Hudson Riverfront 9/11 Memorial in

Weehawken, New Jersey Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.

. After

US Airways Flight 1549 US Airways Flight 1549 was a regularly scheduled US Airways flight from New York City (LaGuardia Airport), to Charlotte and Seattle, in the United States. On January 15, 2009, the Airbus A320 serving the flight struck a flock of birds short ...

was forced to land in the Hudson River in 2009, Circle Line Sightseeing vessels were among the first to respond.

Fleet

Currently, Circle Line Sightseeing operates 8 vessels with an additional two under construction, including: *'' Sightseer XII'' - commissioned in 1933 as the United States Coast Guard patrol boat ''Argo'', sold in 1955 and later acquired by Circle Line. *'' Circle Line XVI'' - commissioned in 1934 as the USCG patrol boat ''Nike'', decommissioned in 1964 and sold to Circle Line in 1966. *'' Circle Line XVII'' - commissioned in 1934 as the USCG patrol boat ''Triton'', decommissioned in 1967 and sold to Circle Line in 1973. *''Circle Line Manhattan'' - purpose-built in 2008 to replace '' Circle Line XI''. *''Circle Line Brooklyn'' - purpose-built in 2009. *''Circle Line Queens'' - purpose-built in 2009. *''The Beast'' - speedboat that entered service with Circle Line in 2011. *''Circle Line Bronx'' - built by

and delivered in January 2017. *''Circle Line Staten Island'' - built by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding and delivered in May 2017. *''Circle Line Liberty'' - built by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding and delivered in March 2018. The ''Bronx'', ''Staten Island'', and ''Liberty'' constitute Circle Line's new ''Empire''-class boats, which claim to be state-of-the-art, and include modern amenities like digital screens and improved sound systems. Additionally, while she has been retired from service, the ''Circle Line X'' is retained by Circle Line. ''Circle Line X'' was originally built for the US Navy in 1944 as a Landing Craft Infantry (Large), designated USS ''LCI(L)-758''. ''758'' participated in several landings during the Pacific Theater of World War II, including those during the battles of

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

Ormoc Bay Ormoc Bay is a large bay in the island of Leyte in the Philippines. The bay is an extension of the Camotes Sea. The city of Ormoc lies at the head of the bay and exports rice, copra and sugar. The World War II Battle of Ormoc Bay took place from ...

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...

, and Lingayen Gulf. ''758'' was decommissioned in 1946 and sold to Circle Line, who converted her into a tourist vessel and renamed her ''Circle Line X''. She served in this role until her retirement in 2007, and as of 2015 Circle Line plans to turn her into a floating museum and terminal alongside Pier 83.

Today

Circle Line Sightseeing continues to operate on the Hudson River and is dedicated exclusively to sightseeing.

Cruise types

*Full Island Cruise - navigates the entire island of Manhattan. *Semi Circle Cruise - goes through half of the island of Manhattan, circles sights twice. *Liberty Cruise - sails directly past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. *Harbor Lights Cruise - same route as the Semi Circle cruise at sunset. *The BEAST Speedboat Ride - New York's first speedboat, cruises up to 45 mph on the Hudson to the Statue of Liberty and back. *Special Events Cruises - Santa Cruise, New Year's Eve, etc. *Kids Cruises - cruises themed specifically for kids, often with kids-specific entertainment. *Private Charters *Groups

References

External links

Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises
(official website) * {{cite web, title = Tribute to Circle Line X - USS LCI(L)-758 , Circle Line Sightseeing , Boat History , date = November 11, 2015 , url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZkVIvDNI_A Ferries of New York City Ferry companies of New York City Circumnavigations of Manhattan Port of New York and New Jersey Travel and holiday companies of the United States Tourism in New York City Transport companies established in 1945 1945 establishments in New York City Articles containing video clips