have you ever noticed those abandoned wooden pilings found along the waterfronts of new york
well they are the remnants of what brought the city to its greatness you see there was
a time when new york's waterfront was one of the nation's most significant trading hubs along the
factory line shores the docks bustled with people making their livelihoods along the hudson river
the waterways were busy filled with ferries and steamboats that transferred both cargo
and thousands upon thousands of commuters every single day
and yet today these docks have all but disappeared lost time today we discover
new york's lost docks i'm your host ryan socas and you're watching it's history
in the 1900s new york city was by far the busiest port in the u.s and perhaps even the
world its location was ideal settled along a large natural harbor on the east coast
the city had access to the hudson river and as we have already discussed in a previous video
1825 saw the creation of the erie canal linking new york with the cities of the great lakes
hell at a certain point you could even expedite shipping swiftly from california
thanks to the panama canal opening in 1914 believe it or not it only took 13 days to sail all the way
from new york to san francisco the university of houston probably said it best noting that it's a
perfectly situated gateway between europe and the united states allowing goods to flow throughout
the country this came at a time when the main and perhaps only real wave transporting goods
was by water but the docks also saw thousands of immigrants the shores of manhattan and brooklyn
thrived with ports and warehouses and the shorelines were packed with manufacturers
who wanted to stay close to the places of shipment this was just a practical efficiency
the history of these piers run deep well before the construction of the erie canal traces of docks
can be dated all the way back to 1659 when the first new york pier was constructed to the east
shipping a variety of goods with substantial amounts of wheat and cotton being supplied to
europe the west indies and along the coast of the united states it was a cornerstone of the
developing marketplace by the end of the american revolution the port was fourth in terms of total
cargo tonnage it also preceded the first scheduled vessel service called the black ball line
created in 1818 coming alongside robert fulton's monopoly on steamboats canals were in many ways
new york city's lifeline keeping a steady flow of goods and passengers coming to be received
at the ports if one were to take a walk along the docks they would have witnessed crowds of
disembarking passengers eager onlookers and groups of men loading and unloading various
goods onto ships at any given time back then the men handling cargo were known as stevedores
also referred to as dock workers or longshoremen they were crucial to the waterways they had to
have a special knowledge of how to handle heavy cargo properly and how to pack ships in a safe
and space efficient way these workers also needed to be exceptionally strong physically and capable
of paying close attention to their surroundings to make sure that all the goods being shipped would
make their voyage without any loss of profit or harm to passengers or crew thanks to ship owners
captains and maritime business operators these dock workers made up a sizable portion of new
jobs in the city in terms of the kind of men that work these jobs the south street seaport museum
proclaims the following early stevedore work in new york city was seen as a ticket to freedom for
many enslaved men they were often more concerned with muscle and maritime skill than skin color
or enslaved status in other words prejudice views were outweighed and overlooked by the
need for workers who could perform the incredibly arduous task of lifting and loading bulky cargo
thanks to the significant rise in immigration by 1880 95 of stevedores in new york city were irish
the other five percent being germans the english and scandinavians but the waterfront industry in
new york city was not nearly done growing yet by the 1920s new york city's waterfront was handling
nearly half of all america's international trade 200 shipping companies dispatched ships up and
down the rivers seeing a mix of agricultural goods raw materials and manufactured products
serving nearly 6 million residents the city's economy thrived and in 1923 new york produced 1
12th of all the nation's manufacturing furthermore the bulk of ready-made american clothing was
centered in new york producing articles such as suits coats dresses shoes and really anything
that was in demand the national museum of american history reports that tens of thousands of people
and hundreds of vessels traveled to new york city's busy harbor every single day with steamers
leaving or entering the port every 20 minutes the docks of new york city saw a wide variety
of vessels including but not limited to coastal freighters harbor tugs and river steamers each
ship having to navigate the heavy traffic every day as it ferried its cargo across the busy waters
large wooden schooners primarily handled the carrying of particularly heavy cargo such as stone
lumber and coal whereas tugboats helped large ocean-bound vessels navigate the confined dock
space as vessels poured into the harbor they were joined by storehouses and warehouses built along
the waterfront to readily support goods that could be sent out to markets all across the country and
even to the world so now without further ado let's stop and take a look at some of these incredible
ports and warehouses in 1910 the chelsea piers opened after eight years of construction
with great fanfare and a ribbon-cutting ceremony three years before the piers were
completed two luxury liners called the lusitania and the mauritania docked there in 1907. mayor
george b mclennan was largely responsible for the construction and completion of the piers and the
new york times referred to them as quote unquote the most remarkable urban design achievement of
their day over the course of the next 50 years the chelsea piers saw many kinds of businesses from
new york city's premier passenger ship terminal to an embarkation point for the battlefields of both
world wars or a cargo terminal during the late 50s and early 60s generally speaking these peers
thrived however they ultimately fell victim to the maritime industry's downfall and urban decay
swiftly followed one account dating back to the mid-1980s reads today the chelsea piers are shabby
pathetic reminders of a glorious past no ships call there decay has set in and is well advanced
walls and ceilings are collapsing windows are shattered and their vast empty spaces
echo to the rattling and banging of loose sheet metal and the cracking timbers as the winds and
tides of the hudson exert their changing pressures this statement came alongside the preparations
to raise the chelsea piers as the city had ambitions to build a new highway along the hudson
however this project failed and the chelsea piers were left in shambles for years
as a combination of warehouses and parking places fences were broken down and the walls crumbled
leaving the piers a hollow shell of what they once were another one of these iconic piers is
pier 97 constructed between 1921 and 1934. for decades pier 97 was the dedicated hub of the
swedish america line with hundreds of thousands of scandinavians entering the united states at
this point one of its most significant claims to fame was in 1956 when it served as the docking
site for the ms stockholm as it returned with the survivors of the capsized ss adriadoria making
it part of one of the most well-known rescue missions in all of maritime history this pier
did not seek complete obsoletion as many others did it remained in active use until the 1970s
the new york dock company was a major contributor to the thriving waterfront
economy and was responsible for constructing many different shipping warehouses two of these
shipping warehouses located at 160 and 62 inlay street in red hook brooklyn were part of what was
called a global encircling commercial undertaking at the time an expansive network of 200 warehouses
39 piers and three ship-to-rail freight terminals extended over three miles of brooklyn's waterfront
they primarily stored cotton and tobacco with hundreds of men employed to move shipments in
and out of the shafts that filled the structures tragically however the dying industry and the
out-of-date structure of the shipping warehouses combined to spell their demise in 1983. as the
heart of trade in new york shifted away from the waterfront however the hudson river itself once
a blessing to trade now began to hinder it as it was becoming too difficult to get the goods onto
trucks and trains the train cars had to be shipped in on barges and received at ports in addition to
this trucks also clogged up the busy new york streets and tunnels and the ocean liners were
no longer in high demand as the millions of immigrants that once flowed into the city had
slowed to a trickle hence it would be new jersey's newport that landed one of the most substantial
blows to new york's once thriving docks you see the derelict and seldom used ports in new jersey
had been the subject of many improvements and renovations after world war ii but 1955 trade in
new jersey was revolutionized when a new port was built across 450 acres of tidal marsh this newport
was the picture of modern efficiency offering easy access to both rail lines and the new jersey
turnpike and making use of shipping containers to lower costs and allow more cargo to be carried
than ever before even as new york city fought back pouring thousands into its ports in hopes of
keeping them relevant the spell was cast they soon felt obsolete as new jersey became home to
the busiest container port globally for the time along with the current and most active container
port on the east coast today the crippling losses the ports suffered also had a massive impact on
the citizens of new york city it is reported that one in four residents in manhattan and brooklyn
left the area sending the city into a devastating spiral that almost reached bankruptcy in the 1970s
and most of the docks simply rotted so with that in mind let's have a look at what remains today
the docks and warehouses fell into disrepair for many years long abandoned by the ships and
passengers that once graced the waterfront but inside the ever-changing city there remain traces
of a time that once was and many of these docks have been renovated or repurposed let's start with
the abandoned red hook storehouse for example in 2002 both buildings were purchased for 22 million
and plans were set to turn the storehouse on 160 inlay into 144 condos unfortunately thanks
to a local chamber of commerce lawsuit which wanted to keep the properties for industrial use
the plans fell through things turned out far better for the storehouse on 62 inlay however
as it was turned into a storage facility for an auction house it was also given a much needed
renovation and now it houses many priceless private art collections from artists such as
jackson pollock and vincent van gogh turning back to the storehouse at 160 it remained a gutted
shell of itself for many years dilapidated covered in black netting and weathered by a
mixture of wind rain and time but it has not been forgotten its renovations are slowly but
surely coming along with decades old scaffolding being taken down and the windows being replaced
the department of transportation auctioned off the chelsea piers after the failure of
the previously mentioned highway project in may of 1992. eventually chelsea piers management was
awarded the rights to lease the peers and operate a large sports and entertainment facility on site
groundbreaking ceremonies were held on july the 12th 1994 with over 1 200 guests and in august
of 1996 the chelsea piers sports and entertainment complex which remains operational today was opened
in stages once complete the privately financed project costs will come to a hundred million
in total and while it is sad that the original historic chelsea peers were lost they have been
revitalized and given a new life continuing to serve thousands of new yorkers every single day
pier 97 also survived the rapid industrial decline although it saw far less disuse as it remained
relatively active through the 1970s and did not fall into such extensive decay it was briefly used
as a parking lot for the department of sanitation until 2011. and now it is being given a much
needed restoration from the hudson river park to ensure it has a bright and optimistic future
if you're looking to catch a concert once phase one of the construction completes in fall of 2022
pier 97 is the place phase two will be completed by summer of 2023 and will add many comfort
stations north of the pier itself so i guess you could say that pier 97 is not lost at all
it's weird to consider that these creepy looking decaying dock pilings poking through new york's
waterfront are the leftovers of a time when new york city was at its peak as a center
of physical commerce from its era of coming to age as a global city the docks have long since
passed but i can guarantee you that without them new york might as well have been lost
between philadelphia and boston so keep this story alive by sharing don't forget to check out our
series tales of urban decay and subscribe to its history for more this is ryan socash signing off