Here's a look at the famous Battery Maritime Building at the tip of Manhattan. This beautiful structure was built in 1909 to serve as a ferry terminal for boats traveling to Brooklyn. Over the past 50 or so years it has served as the ferry terminal for first the US Army and then the US Coast Guard, in order to provide ferry access to Governors Island, which sits in the harbor 4/10 of a mile south. Our family lived on Governors Island from 1966 til 1969, and I had to pass thru this building every morning on my way to junior high school on the Lower East Side. At the time, the GI Ferry used "slip 5", at the far right, but now uses "slip 7", at the far left.
Not seen to the left is the Whitehall Ferry Terminal, home to the world famous Staten Island Ferry.
Governors Island is now owned by the City of New York and will be developed, except for the northern historic section of the island which will remain under the control of the National Park Service.
The lower artist rendering shows the future of this building, which will include a 140-room hotel and also a specialty food market.
More nice images of the building here:
