New York — A Tough Town for Historic Ships

A recent article in the TribecaTribOnline was titled, “Two Historic Sailing Ships Could Dock at Seaport This Summer.” The story is that Jonathan Boulware, the South Street Seaport Museum’s interim president, is working very hard to arrange dock space for … Continue reading

Spring Revival at the South Street Seaport Museum on the Street of Ships

This Saturday, the South Street Seaport Museum celebrated its Spring Revival with the grand re-opening of Pier 16 and the Street of Ships. The ceremony began with the ringing of the bell on the historic lightship Ambrose built in 1907. The … Continue reading

Statement on Museum of City of New York’s Oversight of South Street Seaport Museum

Many of us are still realing from the news that the Museum of the City of New York is withdrawing from managing the South Street Seaport Museum as of July 5, 2013.  The future of New York’s premier maritime museum is … Continue reading

South Street Seaport Museum’s Schooner Pioneer Sails Again

This weekend,  the South Street Seaport Museum’s schooner Pioneer set sail again from the seaport in New York’s East River.  After two summers of sitting tied to the dock the venerable old schooner, built of iron in 1885, is again carrying passengers on regular sails in … Continue reading

Saving the Lettie G Howard – South Street Seaport Museum Raises $250,000 to Restore Historic Schooner

Wonderful news!  In February 2012, the 1893 built, Freedonia class fishing schooner, Lettie G. Howard was drydocked to repair rot in her keelson.  The rot was found to be far more extensive than expected and since then the South Street … Continue reading

Celebrating Surviving Sandy – South Street Seaport Reopens with Two New Exhibits

When I first visited New York’s South Street Seaport in the early 70s, it was a fairly lonely place. There was no shopping mall on Pier 17 and the high-end chain-stores like Guess, Abecrombe and Fitch and Brookstone had not yet been … Continue reading

South Street Seaport Museum Reopening December 14th with New Exhibits

The South Street Seaport Museum is reopening on Friday, December 14 with the launch of two new exhibitions –  A Fisherman’s Dream: Folk Art by Mario Sanchez and Street Shots/NYC, a presentation of contemporary New York City street photography. They … Continue reading

Will the South Street Seaport Sink Post-Sandy?

The news this week from the South Street Seaport Museum was good. The Museum’s Bowne Stationers has reopened its doors after being flooded by Superstorm Sandy.  There had been serious concern that the 19th century type and letterpress equipment  might be seriously damaged or destroyed by the flood. … Continue reading

New York’s South Street Seaport Museum – the Good and Really, Really Bad News

The area around the South Street Seaport on the East River in lower Manhattan was particularly hard hit by the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy.  The rising water reached the first floor eaves, devastating homes and businesses. The only good news was that the seven historic vessels at … Continue reading

Windjammer Peking Needs a New Home – South Street Deal with Hamburg Falls Through

The Peking, a steel-hulled four-masted barque built in 1911, which has been a largely neglected fixture at New York’s South Street Seaport for almost the last 40 years, is now in desperate need of a new home. The South Street Seaport Museum thought that … Continue reading