Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill tower that also houses the Ritz-
Carlton New York, Battery Park. The space comprises two galleries,
one housing a permanent exhibition dedicated to the evolution of
Manhattan's commercial skyline, the other for changing shows. In
2008 the museum featured “Vertical Cities: Hong Kong/New York,”
an exhibition of the world's two major skyscraper cities.
39 Battery Place (Little West St. and 1st Place).
&
212/968-1961.
www.skyscraper.
org. Admission: $5 adults, $2.50 seniors and students. Wed-Sun noon-6pm. Sub-
way: 4, 5 to Bowling Green.
South Street Seaport & Museum
Dating back to the 17th
century, this historic district on the East River encompasses 11
square blocks of historic buildings, a maritime museum, several
piers, shops, and restaurants. You can explore most of the Seaport on
your own. It's a beautiful but somewhat odd place. The 18th- and
19th-century buildings lining the cobbled streets and alleyways are
impeccably restored but nevertheless have a theme-park air about
them, no doubt due to the mall-familiar shops housed within. The
Seaport's biggest tourist attraction is Pier 17, a historic barge con-
verted into a mall, complete with food court and cheap-jewelry
kiosks.
Despite its rampant commercialism, the Seaport is well worth a
look. There's a good amount of history to be discovered here, most
of it around the
South Street Seaport Museum,
a fitting tribute to
the sea commerce that once thrived here. On weekends the museum
dedicates Saturday and Sunday afternoons to family fun with music,
art, and other activities for children 4 and older.
In addition to the galleries—which house paintings and prints,
ship models, scrimshaw, and nautical designs, as well as frequently
changing exhibitions—there are a number of historic ships berthed
at the pier to explore, including the 1911 four-masted
Peking
and
the 1893 Gloucester fishing schooner
Lettie G. Howard.
A few of the
boats are living museums and restoration works in progress; the
1885 cargo schooner
Pioneer
(
&
212/748-8786
) offers 2-hour
public sails daily from early May through September. Even
Pier 17
has its merits. Head up to the third-level deck overlooking the East
River, where the long wooden chairs will have you thinking about
what it was like to cross the Atlantic on the
Normandie.
From this
level you can see south to the Statue of Liberty, north to the Gothic
majesty of the Brooklyn Bridge, and Brooklyn Heights on the oppo-
site shore.
Kids
