A few years ago, I was wandering along the old piers on the west side of Manhattan. Near 14th Street I came across a pier that had nothing on it except the rusted steel skeleton of an arched entryway. But as I looked closer, I noticed an intricate assembly of pipes and vessels by the columns at one side of the entrance.
I was intrigued by the colors and the patterns these objects had acquired over what must have been several decades. They seem to have been designed to move water under very high pressure. Being curious about their function I did some research, but found nothing.
Although I never found the purpose for the pipes, my research did uncover the history of the pier. This was Pier 54, and the arched entryway was all that remained to remind visitors of its past as a terminus for the Cunard Line during the heyday of ocean liners. It was here that the Carpathia brought the survivors of the Titanic, and this was also the departure point for the Lusitania on its ill-fated voyage three years later.
A few weeks ago I visited Pier 54 again to see how it had been transformed into Little Island, New York’s new tourist destination. But I will save that story for next time.
The corroded pipes near the columns at one end of the entryway to the pier, in 2009.