Pier 25 in the Hudson River Park has had a long history. For years the pier off North Moore Street was home to everything from a run-down mini-golf course to a children's playground to a double-decker seating area at the end where students from neighboring Stuyvesant would go to *cough* *cough* get some "fresh air." After 9/11 the pier was temporarily closed when it was used to help clear debris from the attack and it was closed again in 2005 for a refurbishment. It finally reopened to the public in November and now it seems more history is on the way! The park has decided to give South Street Seaport and its bevy of historical boats a run for its money.
Hudson River Park has started taking submissions for longterm docking of historical vessels at the pier with hopes of having at least one ashore by spring. The old ships in question don't have to be related to New York, but they'd like them to be. And don't worry, the pier won't be going commercial like the Seaport. As North River Historic Society director Betsy Frawley Haggerty put it to the Post: "at Pier 25, the maritime will not get lost in the mall." Phew!
Historic ships have been docking at the still growing park for years now—see the always entertaining fireboat the John J. Harvey—but this would be the first permanent berth for them offered by the park. But it won't be the last. The park has long term plans to bring additional historic ships to the still-unrenovated piers 54 and 97. If only they could have gotten the Miracle on the Hudson plane...
