The New York Waterfront: Evolution and Building Culture of the Port and Harbor
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| The New York Waterfront: Evolution and Building Culture of the Port and Harbor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Created by a team of architects, historians, teachers, and students, The New York Waterfront is an unprecedented documentation of the rise and fall of the area's architectural, technological, industrial, and commercial existence. Densely illustrated with exceptional watercolor, ink, and pencil drawings as well as rare historic images, aerial views, maps, and newly commissioned photographs of major modern sites, it presents the history of the development of the waterfront. The essays discuss environmental plans and master-planning, built and unbuilt waterfront structures (pier warehouses, recreation facilities, markets, ferry terminals, and the like), contemporary projects, and visionary proposals.
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Ever since Peter Stuyvesant established the first pier in the 1640s, the New York City waterfront has been a hotbed of controversy and conflicting special interests. Not until 1871 did the city institute the Department of Docks to bring some order to the port and harbor; prior to that, the city's 112 piers were all under the authority of different agencies, and by the 1870s the entire infrastructure had decayed; wooden wharves were dilapidated, rat-infested, and unsafe. To impose some method upon the maritime madness, the city created its Department of Docks under General George B. McClellan. For 60 years the waterfront thrived, until New Jersey replaced New York as a final destination for container ships; now the area is once again in decline.
In The New York Waterfront, historians, students, architects, and teachers take a look at where the port and harbor have been and speculate about their future. The six essays in this book offer both a historical context and a commentary on solutions, both hypothetical and those in-progress. It is as much about New York's civic culture as about its waterfront, and thus it's a fascinating read, even for those without a vested interest in the future of the harbor. |
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| 03-14-07 | 4 | 3\3 |
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I wandered around the Hudson River docks as a kid marveling at the liners and freighters that tied up there. This book rekindled those memories. What I found interesing is that the life spans of piers is so short, about 45 years at best. The rapid assent of the trucking industry using interstate highways, common use of airplane travel, containerized shipping, and the piers falling into disrepair occured more or less at once giving the port of New York a knockout blow. This sequence is well covered in the book.
What I found handy while reading the book was to use Google earth maps to see the area deing described in the book. The book is well written and contains wonderful drawings "some way to small" plus it offers a possible look at the future of New York's waterfront (Review Data Last Updated: 2008-09-01 09:57:51 EST)
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