The South Street Seaport

I walked over to the South Street Seaport yesterday.  It’s just a few blocks from my office.  It was a disappointment.

The Seaport is located on the East River, in the shadow of the  Brooklyn Bridge.  19th century buildings lovingly restored and converted to shops and restaurants, cobblestone streets, a museum devoted to wooden, pre-industrial-revolution vessels.  

And Pier 17.  

Before Superstorm Sandy,  Pier 17 was a typical  mall, with restaurants and shops, including chain stores like the GAP ....I spent quite a bit of my time and money at Pier 17.  The mall was completely destroyed by Sandy in 2012.

I had heard that Pier 17 finally reopened this summer.  So yesterday I walked over there to check it out.

I was not impressed.

The new building is an ugly, cavernous box. It just felt so ... empty.  I couldn’t stay more than a few minutes.  Maybe it will be better when more tenants move in ...

This is an aeral view.  It's worse close up.

 

And then I walked over to the Seaport.  And the place just felt so ... dead.  I mean, the shops were open, people were having lunch in the restaurants. But .... Maybe it was because the weather was bad — cloudy, overcast, hot and humid.    I’ll have to go back another time, see if things are different....

Sigh.  At least the sailing ships haven’t changed.