Sailing Off the Big Apple

The shoreline of the Hudson River on the lower west side of Manhattan was once farther inland than today, a gently curving line rather than the straight line marked by the Westside Highway. Along the shore, captains, sailors, shipbuilders, and dockworkers worked the piers to move along passengers and goods to their destination. This thriving mercantile industry built New York City.  The Rusty Knot, 425 West Street  This two-mile walk near the old shoreline (see map below) avoids the High Line and stays on the streets, a few of them with cobblestones. Beginning in Chelsea at the piers, the stroll continues through the Meatpacking District, the West Village, and Soho. Many places of interest line the streets and shore in the area, allowing for several detours. Two watering holes with nautical themes, The Rusty Knot and the legendary Ear Inn, enhance the experience. Chelsea Piers 1. While Chelsea Piers is now known as a sports complex for many New Yorkers, the bu...

By the early twentieth century, City Island had built a worldwide reputation for building quality wooden boats, especially yachts. Situated in the waters of western Long Island Sound and Eastchester Bay, the island is suitably positioned for great sailing. City Island provided service for schooners stopping along the East Coast, and the yards hired skilled craftsmen to build yachts that would win and defend several America’s Cup races. The Bx29 City Island bus turns around near the southern tip of the island. For a time, the boatyards dominated the economy on City Island, and when the wars came, the boatyards contributed to advances in naval technology, including the World War II era minesweepers. Kids on City Island grew up with the water, catching crabs and rowing small boats. Memories of the glory days of yacht building on a City Island storefront.  City Island built enormous yachts for the Gilded Age robber barons of New York. The island’s most famous contributio...

A stroll in Manhattan along the Hudson River offers great views of the shoreline in New Jerse y, and surely many souvenir photographs of a New York City vacation end up showing more of the Jersey skyline than the New York one. And for residents of Manhattan, a jog or a stroll along the waterfront may end in reveries about the beauteous landmarks across the river - the Colgate Clock in Jersey Center (seen here, built in 1924 to market the company’s then headquarters) or the Erie-Lackawanna ferry landing in Hoboken. The Colgate Clock on the waterfront in Paulus Hook, Jersey City, New Jersey. Of course, one motivation to take the ferry to New Jersey is to get nice pictures of Manhattan. So, let’s go there.    One of the best views of Lower Manhattan is from the Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal in New Jersey.  Commuters going back and forth from New York and New Jersey mostly use the NY Waterway ferries, but curiosity seekers and pursuers of fun on both sides of th...

Hurricane Sandy , the powerful storm that swept through New York City on October 29, 2012, makes a good enough place to begin to discuss recent changes in the New York waterfront. While Sandy only just delayed many planned developments for the city’s 520 miles of shoreline, the storm set many shoreline communities back a few years. Several communities, along with critical arteries in the city’s infrastructure, still need more time to recover from the 2012 storm. At the Battery.  October 28, 2012. 12:23 p.m. The area had advance warning that the incoming storm was likely to be serious, so the authorities shut down subways, bridges, and tunnels in advance.  The basic circumstances have not changed. According to an article in The New York Times from January 2018, “New York has more residents living in high-risk flood zones than any other city in the country.” The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is redrawing flood maps for the city. (See " In New York, Dra...

Updated August 29, 2018. Since rolling out its first routes in May 2017, the NYC Ferry has expanded to become a popular way for many commuters to get to work and for visitors to explore the city by water. The cost for a one-way trip is $2.75, the same as the subway or regular bus. Riding the NYC Ferry on the East River. The East 34th Street ferry landing is just below the American Copper Buildings. The Empire State Building is in the distance. The NYC Ferry is the most efficient, affordable, and pleasant way to see the city from the water. The Staten Island Ferry, a necessity for many Staten Islanders, still remains the best way to see New York Harbor for free. Operated by Hornblower Cruises, the NYC Ferry provides a total of six routes. The extended ferry service now includes four new stops - the Soundview (SV) route with Soundview in the Bronx and East 90th Street in the Upper East Side/Yorkville; and Stuyvesant Cove and Corlears Hook on the Lower East Side. In a pres...

In December 1954 National Geographic magazine published a story on everyday life in the New York Harbor. The article, “Here’s New York Harbor” featured the ebb and flow of ships and cargo vessels and those who made their living in its busy straights and bays. Among them was the artist John A. Noble (1913-1983) who lived on his floating studio anchored in the waters between Staten Island and New Jersey. The son of a noted painter, Noble had studied art in Paris but also worked many years on the New York docks. Hallway to John A. Noble's floating houseboat studio. Noble Maritime Collection, Snug Harbor Cultural Center. Staten Island. Elegantly crafted wooden ships were left to rot in a ship graveyard at Port Johnston, a coal dock built on the tidal strait between Staten Island and New Jersey. In 1941, here on the Kill Van Kull, a name harkening back to early Dutch explorations, Noble began salvaging parts of ships in the “boneyard” to create his floating studio. Drafting...

Sailing Off the Big Apple explores New York City by water, discovering and rediscovering the city’s historic waterways, shoreline developments, and rich maritime culture. Where its sister site Walking Off the Big Apple strolls the streets on foot, this site wanders down to the shoreline and gets on a boat. A motorboat and a sailboat pass like ships in the night during sunny daylight in the East River.  At first, we’ll mostly travel by ferry. The city’s expanding and affordable ferry service is increasingly opening new ways to experience New York City both for residents and visitors. Riding the ferry is a great way to keep up with the transformation of the waterfront and explore unfamiliar neighborhoods. View of Midtown East from the NYC Ferry Over the past few years, many of the city’s old working piers and industrial waterfronts have been repurposed for recreational purposes, transformed into new parks and spaces for entertainment. Where once dockworkers a...