Directly across the East River from the United Nations, Gantry Plaza State Park has stunning views of Manhattan, but it was nominated to the Census of Places that Matter for its main attraction: restored gantry cranes. Now dramatic industrial sculptures, these gantries were the nexus for providing goods and supplies to Long Island via the Long Island Rail Road tracks that used to run to the water’s edge. Built in the 1920s, the gantries hoisted rail cars from floats and barges onto land and vice versa, opening up the Long Island waterfront for industrial activity and inland for residential communities.

But the gantries are just one feature that pays homage to the Long Island City waterfront’s industrial past, which is quickly giving way to residential buildings. The Long Island City waterfront was originally a site for tanneries and other factories, including the Pepsico bottling plant in Hunters Point. The iconic ruby-red Pepsi Cola sign was dismantled late in 2008 to be re-situated further north in the newest section of Gantry Plaza State Park, which just opened July 1, 2009. Continue Reading>>

Grand Ferry Park, located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was nominated to the Census of Places that Matter for providing public access to the waterfront for nearly one hundred years.

In the hopes of creating a suburb of Manhattan, real estate speculator Richard M. Woodhull purchased 13 acres of land in Brooklyn. In 1802, Woodhull launched ferry service that ran from the foot of his parcel at North 2nd Street to Grand Street, on the Lower East Side.

The new neighborhood surrounding the ferry landing was called “Williamsburgh,” after the surveyor of the site, Colonel Jonathan Williams.  A relative of Benjamin Franklin, Colonel Williams was the first superintendent of West Point, the Chief Engineer of the Army Corps of Engineers and a member of Congress representing Pennsylvania. Continue Reading>>

Ahead of the panel discussion City of Art: New York’s Hidden Treasures Revealed which MAS is hosting on Thursday, April 16, at 6:30 pm., leading environmental artist George Trakas talked to Elizabeth Werbe of MAS about his recent public art work in New York City.

Widely acclaimed for numerous projects in North America and Western Europe over the past thirty years, Trakas has recently completed a major piece of work for the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Brooklyn. Commissioned by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art program, his creation makes approximately 1,000 feet of shoreline accessible to the public. Continue Reading>>

In this podcast, architectural historian John Kriskiewicz talks to Tamara Coombs of MAS about his April 2 lecture, The 100th Birthday of Two Great Bridges: The Queensborough & The Manhattan, celebrating the centennial of the Manhattan and Queensboro Bridges, and explains why their construction marks New York’s metamorphosis from an island city to a modern metropolis.

Join MAS as we celebrate the centennial of two of the eras great bridges with a lecture and two walks across the neighborhoods they transformed. $15, $10 MAS members. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075.

The LPC today approved the design of Pier 15, which is to be reconstructed in the South Street Seaport Historic District. The project’s architect, Greg Pasquarelli of SHoP Architects, has designed a two-level pier that provides passive recreational space as well as places for boats to dock.

MAS supported the project and the LPC’s approval; we believe that the project balances well the different viewpoints of what the East River waterfront should be and that its design, height, and materials are appropriate to the historic district. The Pier 15 project is part of the NYC Economic Development Corporation’s larger East River Esplanade plan which will run from the Battery Maritime Building north to connect to the East River Park.  Pier 15 is just to the south of where General Growth Properties’ has proposed its large-scale redevelopment project. Even though that project seems to be at standstill for the moment, MAS continues to be concerned about it and the detrimental impact it will have on the South Street Seaport Historic District.

Together with tour leader Carter Craft and 12 others hearty souls, the author braved the subfreezing temperatures last Saturday to celebrate the rich waterfront history and the new cultural attractions floating to the surface in Lower Manhattan. Sites along the way included the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, the Battery Maritime Building (the gateway to Governor’s Island), Pier 11/Wall St. Ferry Terminal, South Street Seaport, and Peck Slip.

What defines a neighborhood? What underlying characteristics flavor that definition even as the decades pass?

The current structures on the Southern Coast of Manhattan represent the “front porch” of the island today, as they have done for centuries. These buildings serve little function for most Manhattanites, who visit as infrequently now as they might have for centuries. Even the East River is transitory in its own way; flowing north and south alternately with the tides. Continue Reading>>

MAS is researching the history of the Fulton Fish /New Market Building at the South Street Seaport and collecting images (both historic and modern) to include in a report arguing for the building’s preservation.

But, as you can see, our photograph doesn’t do the building justice, so we need your help. Please add your best shots to our Flickr pool or e-mail them to Melissa Baldock mbaldock [at] mas.org.

All pictures may be used by us in the report, but the best shot will receive your choice of an elegant auto-open umbrella, featuring a detail of Grand Central Terminal’s world-famous zodiac ceiling or a copy of Robert A.M. Stern’s famous New York 1960.

In its letter to the New York City Council Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee earlier this week, MAS described Hunter’s Point South Queens as an exciting opportunity to put the sustainable neighborhood planning principles laid out by the Mayor in his  PlaNYC2030 into practice.

Representing a precious waterfront area and unique development opportunity for Queens and the city as a whole, MAS believes that any project plans for this area must adhere to transit oriented and sustainable development principles and must preserve significant parts of this waterfront area as park space for active uses that provides access to the water.

The letter is pasted in full after the “continue reading” jump, but to download it as a PDF, click here. Continue Reading>>

The Municipal Art Society’s Preservation Committee yesterday urged the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to reconsider the proposal by General Growth Properties to redevelop the South Street Seaport properties. The project involves the construction of a 495-foot-high hotel/condo tower in the Seaport just outside of the historic district; the demolition of the Pier 17 building built in the 1980s; the construction of 120′ high boutique hotels on Pier 17; the relocation the 1903 “Tin Building,” part of the Fulton Fish Market; and the demolition of the 1939 Fulton Fish Market (or “New Market”) building.

Although the MAS Committee recognizes that some sort of revitalization is needed in the district, they do not think this project is the right solution. In its testimony yesterday, the Committee described concerns about the scale and height of the new development, the impact it will have on the Brooklyn Bridge and its views, and the historic integrity of the two Fulton Fish Market buildings. No decision was made on the project, but the LPC will consider it again at a future hearing. Continue Reading>>

Join MAS tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. for a news conference announcing our opposition to the South Street Seaport redevelopment plan proposed by General Growth Properties (GGP). The news conference will take place just prior to the hearing at the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) at which MAS will ask the LPC to reject the GGP proposal on several grounds relating to inappropriateness to the historic district.

Most importantly, we believe that the project overwhelms the historic buildings of the district, further severs the Seaport from its history, and destroys the sanctity of views from and of the Brooklyn Bridge. MAS believes that the entire concept of the project is flawed and misguided, and that it should be entirely re-conceptualized.

The news conference will be held in the plaza just south of the Municipal Building, 1 Centre Street (at Chambers) at 2:00 p.m. The LPC hearing is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 1 Centre Street, 9th floor.

Images of the proposed redevelopment can be found here.