South Street Seaport

South Street Seaport. July 2010

I am usually the guy who hates the touristy places that everyone else visits, but I give an exemption to South Street Seaport. From the first time I visited when we lived in Washington Heights [see: Magaw Place], I liked it. I loved that long A-train ride to the World Trade Center and then walking down Fulton Street to the Seaport. It made it feel like I was travelling "far away". The Seaport was on my "must do" list for visitors. I admit to it being a total tourist trap for out of towners, but where else could people get a great view of the towers of Lower Manhattan as well as one of the best views of the Brooklyn Bridge? The few preserved old buildings with their cobblestoned streets from the early days of New York City added some charm, but the main attraction was being out on Pier 17 for those amazing views.

After returning to the City from Singapore, we lived nearby on John Street for a year and I was a frequent visitor to the Seaport. I loved to sit in the sun on a bench on Pier 17 and watch huge ships battle their way up the fast flowing East River. It was a place where, on a beautiful day, everything seemed "right" about New York City - even if it wasn't.

The Fulton Fish Market was still there in those days, too. Being an early morning affair, I only ever saw people closing it up - even if I had arrived for a breakfast coffee. I was amazed that so close to a world financial center there was something as pedestrian as a fish market. It was, however, the fish market for the entire New York metro area including its upscale restaurants. Those bankers and brokers on nearby Wall Street and the Midtown execs needed their striped sea bass, lobster, and swordfish steaks to be fresh.

South Street Seaport, in fact, WAS the Port of New York until the late 1800s when all such activities moved to the west side of Manhattan and across the Hudson to Hoboken, NJ. Consider that the very first permanent pier of New Amsterdam was built at the Seaport in 1625. After the War of Independence the port was the largest and most important in the USA until the late 1800s. The first American trade mission to China left from South Street. The first transatlantic passenger company, the "Black Ball Line", traveled between South Street and Liverpool. The opening of the Erie Canal further boosted the port's fortunes as the amount of trade between the interior of the USA and the Atlantic exploded. South Street Seaport was where New York City started and was the reason it became the financial capital of the country. South Street WAS New York City for many years.

I think all that history is reason enough to like my favorite tourist trap, but honestly, I just loved the view.