Pier 57 is a long pier located in the Hudson River on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Opened in December 1954, it sits at the end of West 15th Street on Eleventh Avenue (West Side Highway), just south of the Chelsea Piers sports complex and just north of Little Island. It underwent renovations starting in the early 2010s, and is currently operated by Google. In addition to serving as a campus for employees, the pier opened to the public in April 2023.

Design

thumb|left|The Hudson River facade of Pier 57

Consisting of two stories above the waterline, the pier also has a concrete basement resting on the riverbed, and an Art Deco-style metal enclosure at the west end with stainless-steel signage reading "MARINE & AVIATION" and displaying the identifying designation "PIER 57". The headhouse at the east end of the pier is steel-framed with a brick exterior, bearing similar signage. The long sides of the structure are each topped with a line of continuous "burton" cargo handling frames, which allowed freight to be easily transferred to and from ships docked at the pier. Their buoyancy supports 90% of the pier's weight, with the riverbed supporting the rest. are laid out in a T-shape, with the two caissons of equal dimensions laid out from west-to-east, and the third from north-to-south. The caissons were placed on top of the wooden pilings of the original wooden pier, which were filled with sand and gravel. it was hailed as an innovative structure, being fireproof, extremely durable and immune to many of the problems that had historically plagued wooden waterfront construction. In addition to serving as a park, the rooftop space insulates the building, collects rainwater, and filters air. The pier is one of two locations in New York City with incline elevators, along with the 34th Street–Hudson Yards station.

History

Construction

thumb|left|The front facade of Pier 57 in 2012

Prior to the construction of the current Pier 57, a wooden pier also called Pier 57 was located at the site, built in 1907 at the cost of $1.2 million.

Shortly after the fire, a replacement pier was planned, with the concrete caisson supports selected to provide a fireproof base.

Maritime use

The pier was dedicated on March 5, 1954, In attendance of both events were Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. and city Fire Commissioner Edward Francis Cavanagh, Jr., who had been the Department of Marine and Aviation commissioner that oversaw the planning of the pier. From its opening, the pier served as a terminal for shipping and storage of cargo for the company, replacing the original wooden structure. The company sold its shipping business in 1967. The pier was vacated in 2004.

Redevelopment

thumb|right|The interior of the Pier in 2023

In recognition of its historic engineering significance, the structure was placed on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2004. Past proposals for re-use have included a 2004 competitive process pitting an extension of the nearby Chelsea Piers sports complex against "Leonardo at Pier 57", an Italian cultural center that was to be operated by Cipriani S.A. However, an investigation by the DA's office sparked by an anonymous tip regarding financial irregularities caused the Cipriani team to back out and scuttled the process.

In 2009, the Hudson River Park Trust selected Youngwoo & Associates to redevelop the site. The concept, dubbed the SuperPier after a nickname given to the structure in a 1952 Popular Mechanics article, The structure would contain offices for Google, which also had offices in the nearby 111 Eighth Avenue building. The renovated Pier 57 building was originally also supposed to include Bourdain Market, a food market by the TV chef Anthony Bourdain, but plans for the market were scrapped in late 2017.

thumb|View facing east of rooftop park with lawn and outdoor theater (2023)

By March 2017, the pier was scheduled to reopen in 2018. After Bourdain Market canceled its plans to move into Pier 57, Google signed a lease to occupy additional space in the portion of the building where Bourdain Market would have been located. By that time, Pier 57 was expected to open in 2019. In October 2020, City Winery opened a space at Pier 57. In April 2022, the rooftop park opened. Pier 57 reopened to the public on April 1, 2023.

See also

  • List of piers in New York City
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets

References

  • Hudson River Park
  • "Notes From the RNC – The 8/31 Experience" Eric Corley's report of his experience being detained at Pier 57 during the RNC 2004 Convention