Chelsea Piers is a series of

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 ...

s in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, on the West Side 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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Located to the west of the

West Side Highway 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 ...

( Eleventh Avenue) and

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 ...

and to the east of 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 ...

, they were originally a passenger ship terminal in the early 1900s that was used by the RMS ''Lusitania'' and was the destination of the RMS ''Carpathia'' after rescuing the survivors of the RMS ''Titanic''. The piers replaced a variety of run-down waterfront structures with a row of grand buildings embellished with pink granite facades. The piers are currently used by the Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex. The Complex is a 28-acre waterfront sports village located between 17th and 23rd Streets along Manhattan's Hudson River. This privately financed project opened in 1995. Situated on Piers 59, 60 and 61 and in the head house that connects them, the complex features the Golf Club, a multi-story

driving range A driving range is a facility or area where golfers can practice their golf swing. It can also be a recreational activity itself for amateur golfers or when enough time for a full game is not available. Many golf courses have a driving range att ...

; the Field House, which contains numerous sports and training facilities; Sky Rink, which has two full-sized

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

s; the Chelsea Piers Fitness

health club A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness and health s ...

;

Bowlero Bowlero Corporation (formerly known as Bowlmor AMF) is an American bowling center operator. It is the largest ten-pin bowling center operator in the world with around 300 centers, almost all of which are located in the United States. The centers ...

at Chelsea Piers, a

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...

; and Sunset Terrace, a venue that hosts weddings and other events. The complex also includes several event centers; the Studios film and television production facilities; and the Maritime Center

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...

for mooring private boats.

History

Development and construction

Historically, the term Chelsea Piers referred to the ocean liner berths on Manhattan's west side from 1910 to the 1930s. With

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

s such as ''Titanic'' becoming larger in size, New York City was looking for a new passenger ship dock in the early 1900s. The Army, which controls the location and size of piers, refused to let any piers extend beyond the existing

pierhead line A pierhead line is a legal boundary beyond which artificial structures (such as piers) may not be built into navigable waters. As part of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, the United States federal government may fix pierhead and bulkhead line ...

of the North River (the navigation name for the Hudson River south of 30th Street). Ship lines were reluctant to build north of 23rd Street because infrastructure was already in place, including the

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

railway line and a ferry station near the river at 23rd Street. New York City solved the problem in an unusual way by actually taking away a block of land that was the 1837 landfill that extended Manhattan to 13th Avenue. The controversial decision included condemning many businesses. The city was unable to condemn the West Washington Street Market and was left to remain landfill. The market ultimately closed and the dock was converted to a sanitation facility that was used to load garbage barges headed for the

Fresh Kills Landfill The Fresh Kills Landfill was a landfill covering in the New York City borough of Staten Island in the United States. The name comes from the landfill's location along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in western Staten Island. The landf ...

. The only section of 13th Avenue that remains is behind the sanitation facility, now a parking lot for sanitation trucks. The landfill is now called the ''Gansevoort Peninsula''. The new piers were designed by the architectural firm of

Warren and Wetmore Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm in New York City which was a partnership between Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles Delevan Wetmore (June 10, 1866 – May 8, 1941), that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and w ...

, which also designed

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

. Under contracts let by the New York City Department of Dock and Ferries, the Chelsea Section Improvement, as it was officially called, replaced a hodgepodge of run-down waterfront structures with a row of grand buildings embellished with pink granite facades and formed the docking points for the rival

Cunard Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Ber ...

and White Star Lines.

Early 20th century

Most of the major trans-Atlantic liners of the day docked at the piers and they played pivotal roles in the RMS ''Titanic'' and RMS ''Lusitania'' disasters. The two most memorable moments for the pier were with the ''Lusitania'' and ''Titanic''. The RMS ''Lusitania'' left her Cunard

Pier 54 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 ...

in 1915 before being torpedoed by German submarine U-20. The RMS ''Titanic'' was destined for the White Star pier 59 when she sank. Survivors were rescued on Cunard's RMS ''Carpathia''. The ''Carpathia'' dropped off the ''Titanic's'' lifeboats at Pier 59 before going back south to Pier 54 where she unloaded the passengers and survivors. Thousands of people assembled at the dock to greet the ship. During the summer of 1920, a dramatic

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

was organized on July 31 at the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between ...

docks. This was to send off

Daniel Mannix Daniel Patrick Mannix (4 March 1864 – 6 November 1963) was an Irish-born Catholic bishop. Mannix was the Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years and one of the most influential public figures in 20th-century Australia. Early years and Mayno ...

, the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

born

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

who had been outspoken on the English rule in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, and successfully led anti conscription campaigns during WW1. A reported 15,000 New Yorkers turned up at Pier 60 at the foot of West 20th street to make sure

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 politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

would allow Mannix passage to Ireland. A luxury liner row was built between West 44th and West

52nd Street 52nd Street is a -long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan, New York City. A short section of it was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s. Jazz center Following the repeal of ...

to handle larger liners in the 1930s. After New York moved its luxury liner piers to the

New York Cruise Terminal The Manhattan Cruise Terminal, formerly known as the New York Passenger Ship Terminal or Port Authority Passenger Ship Terminal is a Port, ship terminal for ocean-going passenger ships in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, N ...

between West 46th and West

54th Street 54th Street is a two-mile-long (3.2 km), one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan. Notable places, west to east Twelfth Avenue *The route begins at Twelfth Avenue (New York Route 9A). Opposite the intersection is the Ne ...

in 1935 to accommodate bigger ships such as the RMS ''Queen Mary'' and the , the Chelsea piers became a cargo terminal. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the piers were used to deploy troops. The piers had catastrophic fires in 1932 and 1947 that destroyed some of the south piers. New construction resulted in new cargo piers used by the

United States Lines United States Lines was the trade name of an organization of the United States Shipping Board (USSB), Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) created to operate German liners seized by the United States in 1917. The ships were owned by the USSB and al ...

and

Grace line W. R. Grace and Co. is an American chemical business based in Columbia, Maryland. It produces specialty chemicals and specialty materials in two divisions: Grace Catalysts Technologies, which makes catalysts and related products and technologies ...

. In July 1936,

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lif ...

and the United States Olympic team depart on the SS ''Manhattan'' from Pier 60 for the Summer Games in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

Late 20th century

In the 1980s, plans circulated to replace the

West Side Elevated Highway The West Side Elevated Highway (West Side Highway or Miller Highway, named for Julius Miller, Manhattan borough president from 1922 to 1930) was an elevated section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A) running along the Hudson River in the New ...

with an at grade highway going along the West Side south of 42nd Street. The plan called for the highway to run over demolished piers. The superstructure of Pier 54 was demolished in 1991 except for the archway entrance (along with the White Star and Cunard signage). The plan (dubbed the Westway) was abandoned after court cases said the new highway would jeopardize

striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has ...

. Following the demise of Westway, development of the

evolved into two parts: a public/private partnership that evolved into the upper piers being used for recreational purposes. The southern piers are now part of the

while the northern piers make up the Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex. Construction of the complex began on July 12, 1994 in ceremonies attended by

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Governor

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as ...

, New York City Mayor

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 19 ...

, and Manhattan Borough President

Ruth Messinger Ruth Wyler Messinger (born November 6, 1940) is a former American political leader in New York City and a member of the Democratic Party. She was the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City in 1997, losing to incumbent mayor Rudy Giuliani ...

. The complex opened in August 1995. After the collapse of the World Trade Center due to 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 ...

, EMS triage centers were quickly relocated and consolidated at the Chelsea Piers and the

Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal The Whitehall Terminal is a ferry terminal in the South Ferry, Manhattan, South Ferry section of Lower Manhattan, New York City, at the corner of South Street (Manhattan), South Street and Whitehall Street. It is used by the Staten Island Ferry, ...

. The EMS triage center was shut down and disassembled on September 12, 2001, due to a lack of need. An ad hoc volunteer disaster recovery site was run from Chelsea Piers through September 16, 2001. Volunteers assisted with resources for ground zero recovery volunteers: sleeping area, food, and cell phones. Chelsea Piers Connecticut, the first expansion project of Chelsea Piers, was built in Stamford, Connecticut. The facility opened in July 2012.

Piers 54/55

Pier 54 at , part of the historic Chelsea Piers, is associated with the 1912 RMS ''Titanic'' and 1915 RMS ''Lusitania'' maritime disasters, when it was used by the

Cunard Line Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival Corporation & plc#Carnival United Kingdom, Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its ...

. It is now part of

. The piers themselves are at Little West 12th Street and the Hudson River in the

Meatpacking District The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan that runs from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street. The Meatpacking Business Improvement District along ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

neighborhood. The pier was also used for troop ships during

. After the war it was used as part of the W. R. Grace and Company and

freight operations. In 1998 the piers became part of the

. Since then, they have been used for concerts and other events. In 2005, it was the site of The

Nomadic Museum ''Ashes and Snow'' by Canadian artist Gregory Colbert is an installation of photographic artworks, films, and a novel in letters that travels in the Nomadic Museum, a temporary structure built exclusively to house the exhibition. The work explores ...

's art exhibit housed in shipping containers. Pier 54 was finally shut down in 2011 after it started to collapse. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, a park called Little Island was built on the site of piers 54 and 55. Plans for the park, originally known as Pier 55, were announced in November 2014. The plans were scrapped in 2017 due to legal trouble and cost overruns. In October 2017, the park plan was revived, and construction of the structure began in April 2018. It was opened on May 21, 2021.

In popular culture

25 movies have been filmed at Chelsea Piers. *Chelsea Piers features in the 1978 cult film ''

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

'', notably in the sequence in which Pamela and Nicki escape from the psychiatric hospital and hide out at Pier 56 *Chelsea Piers Golf Club was featured in the 2010 Hollywood film '' The Other Guys'', including a high-speed chase scene through the piers and a helicopter landing on the Golf Club's driving range. Several TV shows have been filmed here: *Shows in the ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering ...

'' franchise have been filmed in Chelsea Piers. Both ''

'' and spinoff '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' were produced on stages here for their entire runs. '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' moved into the space occupied by the original series after its cancellation in 2010. On September 14, 2004, a road leading to Pier 62 was renamed "Law & Order Way". *''The Apprentice'' filmed three episodes at Chelsea Piers, including 2 finales. *The first four seasons of ''

Spin City ''Spin City'' is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 to April 30, 2002, on ABC. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show is set in a semi-fictionalized version of the New York City mayor' ...

'' were shot in studio D on Chelsea Piers. *Pier 54 was the site for MTV's reality television program ''

Band in a Bubble ''Band in a Bubble'' is a TV show that consisted of round-the-clock live broadcasting, during which a band spent an extended period of time inside a "bubble," writing and recording an album. The ''Band in a Bubble'' concept was created by Pau ...

'' in which a popular band (in this case,

Cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

) is placed inside a large "bubble" enclosure where they write and record a new album in 20 days while under constant surveillance. Webcams placed strategically inside the building broadcast via internet live images of the band's movements and progress. Chelsea Piers was the broadcast headquarters for

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known ...

Gallery

Lusitania-54.jpg, The ''

RMS Lusitania RMS ''Lusitania'' (named after the Roman province in Western Europe corresponding to modern Portugal) was a British ocean liner that was launched by the Cunard Line in 1906 and that held the Blue Riband appellation for the fastest Atlantic ...

'' at

Chelsea-lusitania.png, Chelsea Piers and ''Lusitania'' about 1910 Cunard Pier LCCN2014708127.jpg , People waiting for the ocean liner

RMS Mauretania (1906) RMS ''Mauretania'' was an ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by Wigham Richardson and Swan Hunter for the British Cunard Line, launched on the afternoon of 20 September 1906. She was the world's largest ship until the launch of ...

at the Cunard Pier in New York City which was returning with American aviators and other troops from Europe after World War I on December 2, 1918 Cunard steel arch pier 54.JPG, The archway of Cunard Pier 54 19th Street & 11th Avenue NYC.jpg, View of Chelsea Piers and

Venus Mural Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

References

External links

*
Chelsea Piers Connecticut

RinkAtlas listing for Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers

New York Public Library Digital Gallery: Pier 60

{{Authority control Chelsea, Manhattan Eleventh Avenue (Manhattan) Piers in New York City RMS Titanic RMS Lusitania Transportation buildings and structures in Manhattan Tourist attractions in Manhattan Warren and Wetmore buildings Water transportation in New York City Hudson River Park West Side Highway Basketball venues in New York City Gymnastics venues in New York City Indoor soccer venues in New York (state)