New York City (Fodor's, 2012) - Fodor's [20]
At the intersection of Fulton and Water streets, the gateway to the seaport, is the Titanic Memorial, a small white lighthouse that commemorates the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. Beyond the lighthouse, Fulton Street turns into a busy pedestrian mall. On the south side of Fulton is the seaport’s architectural centerpiece, Schermerhorn Row, a redbrick terrace of Georgian- and Federal-style warehouses and countinghouses built from 1811 to 1812. Some upper floors house gallery space, and the ground floors are occupied by upscale shops, bars, and restaurants. Cross South Street, once known as the Street of Ships, under an elevated stretch of FDR Drive to Pier 16, where historic ships are docked, including the Pioneer, a 102-foot schooner built in 1885; the Peking, the second-largest sailing bark in existence; the iron-hulled Wavertree; and the lightship Ambrose. The Pier 16 ticket booth provides information and sells tickets to the museum, ships, tours, and exhibits. Pier 16 is the departure point for various seasonal cruises.
To the north is Pier 17, a multilevel dockside shopping mall filled mostly with national chain retailers. The weathered-wood decks at the rear of the pier are a choice spot from which to catch sight of the river, with views as far north as Midtown Manhattan and as far south as the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Also, at 12 Fulton Street, is the main lobby of the South Street Seaport Museum (212/748–8600 | www.seany.org | Apr.–Dec., Tues.–Sun. 10–6; Jan.–Mar., Fri.–Mon. 10–5 [all galleries open; ships open noon–4, weather permitting]), which hosts walking tours, hands-on exhibits, and fantastic creative programs for children, all with a nautical theme. You can purchase tickets at either 12 Fulton Street or Pier 16 Visitors Center ($15). | South Street Seaport, Lower Manhattan | 10038 | 212/732–7678 events and shopping information | www.southstreetseaport.com | Free; $8 to ships, galleries, walking tours, Maritime Crafts Center, films, and other seaport events | Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, J, Z to Fulton St./Broadway-Nassau.
Staten Island Ferry.
About 70,000 people ride the ferry every day, and you should be one of them. Without having to pay a cent, you get great views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the southern tip of Manhattan. You’ll pass tugboats, freighters, and cruise ships—a reminder that this is still a working harbor. The boat embarks from the Whitehall Terminal at Whitehall and South streets, near the east end of Battery Park. The ferry provides transport to Staten Island, one of the city’s boroughs. But if you don’t want to visit Staten Island, you can usually remain on board for the return trip. Occasionally a boat is taken out of service for a while; if you’re told to disembark, walk down the main gangplank (the same one you used when you came aboard), enter the terminal, and catch the next boat back to the city. | Lower Manhattan | www.siferry.com | Subway: 1 to South Ferry; R to Whitehall St.; 4, 5 to Bowling Green.
Fodor’s Choice | Statue of Liberty.
For millions of immigrants, the first glimpse of America was the Statue of Liberty. You get a taste of the thrill they must have experienced as you approach Liberty Island on the ferry from Battery Park and witness the statue growing from a vaguely defined figure on the horizon into a towering, stately colossus. You’re likely to share the boat ride with people from all over the world, which lends an additional dimension to the trip. The statue may be purely a tourist attraction, but the tourists it attracts are a wonderfully diverse group. Liberty Enlightening the World, as the statue is officially named, was presented to the United States in 1886 as a gift from France. The 152-foot-tall figure was sculpted by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi and erected around an iron skeleton engineered