History and architecture
Viewed from a ferry boat approaching the tip of Manhattan, the monumental arched openings of the Municipal Ferry Terminal at the mouth of the East River appear like three tunnels opening into the canyons of the city. These steel arches are an impressive sight to the passenger approaching the City by water. Over three hundred feet lane, their bold arched form is seen in marked contrast to all the other rectangular shapes in the architectural back-drop behind them and represent Beaux-Art structural expressionism in style. Commissioner Heiberg said at the public hearing, "It is probable that no building designed in similar style will ever again be erected in the City of New York."
Both land and waterfront facades have considerable architectural interest and each is distinctly different from the other. There are many decorative motifs expressed in the steel-work, and these forms and shapes have been used with originality and baldness to enhance the surfaces of both facades. Lattice work is set in panels, raised moldings are used abundantly, while rivets and rosettes intermingle with circular and square-shaped forms and the cross bracings are handsomely featured and framed. All of these and many other forms embellish the structural members of this terminal so reminiscent of the great French Exposition buildings of the turn of the Century.
The three richly decorated arches on the water side of the terminal are set between four colossal pilasters with superb scroll brackets for capitals. These pilasters virtually rise from the waters edge and extend upwards to the penthouse floor of the terminal. Above the arches and piercing the attic story under the cornice is a long raw of double hung windows lighting the administrative offices of the Department of Marine and Aviation. A promenade deck is a feature of the penthouse floor.
On the land side, running the length of the building at upper deck level, is a high, open promenade supported by five low steel arches and six piers, resting on granite bases. Six paired, tapered columns with unusual capitals and scroll. brackets supporting the cornice and roof above, have a distinctive appearance and represent a type of construction that has all but disappeared today. A handsome railing, using marine farms, decorates the balcony.
The three story promenade curtain-wall is handsomely composed of tall tripartite windows framed, containing double doors that once opened from the upper deck waiting room. The swinging gates that protect the entrances to two of the ferry slips are of a superior quality of design. They are designed in the style of the period and are an important part of this architectural composition. Commissioner Hienberg painted out that, "From the City's founding, the lower tip of Manhattan has been a focal paint for ferry activity that has played a vital role in New York City's growth end development.
Because Manhattan is an island, the ferries were, originally and throughout most of the City's history, the sole and inescapable link between Manhattan and the surrounding communities... At the peak of the ferry era seventeen separate lines plied between terminals at widely separated points in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Today, all have vanished, and with them have vanished, with one exception, all the old ferry terminal buildings once strung along the East River waterfront."
If this Manhattan Ferry Terminal should be destroyed, nothing like this unique structure will remain in New York City.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.