India Street Pier |
Barge Terminal at Dupont Street (courtesy of Brooklyn Pix) |
Rainbow from India Street Pier - Morning After Hurricane Sandy |
North Brooklyn has always had a shortage of parks relative to the rest of the borough, so when the India street pier fell into disuse after manufacturing and shipping declined in New York, Greenpointers turned it into a makeshift park. During the 1980s and 90s local residents would fish, sun bathe and socialize on the crumbling pier.[1] The pier became a poor mans waterfront park; however, it was not safe to play there. When the city began to clean the pollution from the East River, parasitic marine borers that feed on wood pilings returned to the improving waterways. Piers began collapsing all over the city and officials began to fence off abandoned piers.[2] After the India Street Pier was fenced off in 1995 holes were promptly cut into the fence and a neighborhood organization called Friends of India Street Pier was created to advocated for the cleaning, refurbishment and continued use of the pier.[1] However, problems persisted as the the structural integrity of the pier continued to decline. On May 13th of 1997 a 20 foot section of the India Street Pier collapsed sending 7 people into the East River. All seven people were rescued but the city fenced off the pier once more and residents were told told to stay off it or risk being arrested for trespassing.[2] In 1998 another section of pier collapsed, killing a man who had been fishing when he was sent into the East River along with debris from the pier.[3] The pier was eventually rebuilt in July of 2011 as part of a deal the city made with a developer, and today serves (or is supposed to serve) as the East River Ferry Landing in Greenpoint.
India Street Rocket (mural by Eve Biddle) |
Welcome to Greenpoint Mural |
Antiquated Giant (mural by Chris Soria) |
Knock Knock (mural by Robert Seng) |
Super Duper Sound System (mural by Joshua Abram Howard) |
Untitled (mural by Ali Aschman) |
References:
- Cohen, Mark Francis "Greenpoint's Endangered Hampton" New York Times. 16 June, 1996.
- Rohde, David "As Old Piers Crumble, Fans Rally for a New and Safer One" New York Times. 1 June, 1997.
- Liff, Bob "Nonprofit status aids pier group" Daily News. 31 March, 1999.
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ReplyDeleteUsed to play there as a kid in the 60’s. Went swimming there too. The pier used to have ships unloading lumber that we would spend hours each day climbing all over. It was our play ground back then. The surrounding piers had a warehouse type structure built on top for storage so trucks could haul the goods away. They sat empty for years until a guy named Walter burnt them down.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for leaving your comment. I appreciate the added history and your personal experience with the piers. Do you happen to have any old photos?
DeleteI WAS SWIMMING OFF THIS PIER WITH A FRIEND, IN THE SUMMER HEAT. THERE WERE TWO GUYS FOOLING AROUND BY SWIMMING UNDER THE PIER AND HIDING. ONE WENT LOOKING FOR THE OTHER, WHEN HE DID NOT SURFACE, AFTER 5 MINUTES. THEY BOTH DROWNED; AND, WERE FOUND BY A RESCUE, STUCK IN THE MUD OF THE EAST RIVER !
DeleteThank God that welcome to Greenpoint mural is gone. Just what I need to impress a date with when walking off the ferry towards the rest of the neighborhood - a freaking weatherbeaten countenance wearing an eyepatch and a huddled mass straight out of Oliver Twist.
ReplyDelete