Photos by Ernie Fritz.
The 370-foot pier at the 79th Street marina that was destroyed during Hurricane Sandy is almost fully reconstructed, with new concrete-filled steel piles and fresh wood. A worker told Ernie Fritz that it should be complete by July 15.
The A-dock, which was first constructed in 1937 and was historically the only dock open to the public, was partially submerged under the water after the hurricane and the city left it that way for almost three years. Boat owners grew frustrated and some gave up their boat slips. But the mayor’s office and FEMA put in $7.8 million last year to reconstruct it.
It’s expected to have picnic tables when it reopens.
If you like a good boat story, read about a couple who live on their boat at 79th street year-round.
The photo below shows the sunken section of the pier before the reconstruction (it’s the back pier in the photo).
Bring back the houseboats.
It looks nice! Awesome there will be picnic tables there.
Does anyone know why there is no ferry to New Jersey at the 79th marina, or whether there ever had been one, or if it has been considered and rejected in the past? Thanks.
There is no current easy access to the 79th Street pier. For a ferry to be financially viable it would need easy drive up access – be it car or bus. What currently exists will not support the volume.
The amount of people this would bring to the UWS would be an additional (and unnecessary) nightmare. As a community, we can’t even deal with our current issues (bike lanes; pedestrian/vehicular accidents; overdevelopment; etc.) 🙂
The current pedestrian path in and around the rotunda is outdated, and the crossing of two exit/entrance ramps leading to/from the Henry Hudson Pkwy would lead to a traffic headache.
ps: back in the late 60’s an impact study was done on the possibility of building a waste treatment plant at the current Boat Basin. The plant would have a nice, BIG, park over it. It was considered unfeasible and moved/built uptown (Riverbank State Park).
Re: “the possibility of building a waste treatment plant at the current Boat Basin. The plant would have a nice, BIG, park over it. It was considered unfeasible and moved/built uptown (Riverbank State Park).”
Riverbank is a very nice and much needed park, BUT every time one (or more) drives past on H. Hudson’s PKWY one is very much aware of a certain “Odor de Ordure”.
Such a water-treatment/park would probably have been “unfeasible” to the uber-wealthy boat-owners paying big bucks to anchor there, and DEFINITELY unfeasible to the
UWS’s P.K.B.M.S.(Professional Kvetching Bitching ‘n’ Moaning Society.
So once again the City dumped on Harlem.
“The amount of people this would bring to the UWS”? You mean, all zero of them? It simply wouldn’t be a useful ferry with no nearby subway connections to take commuters downtown.
I’m glad they didn’t put a wastewater treatment plant there. I never knew the location was considered. The one uptown does have a nice park over it, but you can smell the sewage from the park. I’d rather look at boats and maybe enjoy the occasional beer from boat basin cafe.
Right. With no office buildings nearby it isn’t a good place for a ferry stop.
OOOOOH MY GAWD, I AM SOOOO HAAAAAAPPY!! My favorite spot is back! And I’m thrilled to see it’s not metal.
By the way, it was closed for about two years prior to Sandy, with a sign on the gate that read “Temporarily closed for Capital Improvement” or some such nonsense that never started.
Can any boater dock here
The “A Dock” was condemned and floating in the Hudson river for over a year PRIOR to Hurricane Sandy.
More than that! I said two in my comment and I remember because I moved from 91st to 84th in Sept. 2010 and it closed a bit before then. You don’t forget heartbreak like that!
I’m so happy that the pier will reopen. It’s one of my favorite place.
Can someone explain why those skeletons of
old structures/docks sticking up cannot be removed? They are scattered all along the waterfront.
The old loading wheel houses are cool but the stakes are kind of creepy.
Is it true that the one of the reasons why the old deserted pier buildings can’t be
used as cafes, shops or art galleries is because they are full of asbestos?
Shelter for acquatic creatures most likely
There’s no more houseboats?
I haven’t been to this part of Manhattan in eons.
Still plenty of houseboats.
“It used to be houseboat after houseboat. Now it’s over.”
“Now you really have to have money to survive there.”
https://nypost.com/2012/08/05/uws-dock-residents-city-is-inking-us/
Does anyone think the booksellers from 73/74 street might come here instead now that it has been reconstructed?
There were never any boats on A dock. Strictly pedestrian dock. Did not impact the boaters. Cannot dock on A dock.