Timeline

Timeline

1400s to 1600s
The Lenape, the loose confederation of Algonquin tribes that populated much of latter day New York and New Jersey, establish the Hudson waterfront in what would become Greenwich as an important village and trading post.

1524
Giovanni da Verrazano, an Italian navigator in the service of France, is the first European to visit the New York Bay.

1609
Henry Hudson, whose expedition sailed under the Dutch flag, explores the Hudson River.

1624
The Dutch West India Company establishes the colony of New Netherland. A Dutch trading post, called New Amsterdam, is established on Manhattan's southern tip in 1625.

1664
The city's tallest structure is a 2-story windmill.

1674
New Amsterdam is ceded to the English in 1674 by the Treaty of Westminster, and the colony is renamed “New York”.

1776
British forces seize New York and fire destroys much of the West side.

1809
Robert Fulton launches the Clermont, the first steamship, from Pier 45. 

1825
The Erie Canal is completed, and New York’s waterfront expands as new piers are created and the waterfront is extended.

1874
The first masonry bulkhead was constructed at Christopher Street by the newly formed Department of Docks.

1912
April 18th – Carpathia docks at Pier 54 with survivors of the Titanic.

1925
The bownotch is created at Pier 45 in Greenwich Village as the final and most extreme effort to accommodate the larger cruise ships that were increasingly using the North (Hudson) River as the embarkation point for their journeys.

1927
The Holland Tunnel opens. The Port Authority’s original plan to build a bridge across the lower Hudson was rejected in 1913 in favor of a tunnel because a bridge high enough to clear harbor shipping required the purchase of a prohibitively costly amount of access land.  Moreover, tunnels were felt to be less directly affected by weather.

1973
A 60-foot section of the West Side Highway collapses at Gansevoort Street, bringing attention to NYC’s deteriorated West side waterfront.

1996
The new Chelsea Piers reconstruction is complete.  It opens up and quickly becomes one of the most visited locations in New York City.

1997
Pier 34 reconstruction complete.

1998
Hudson River Park Act is signed into law.  Hudson River Park project breaks ground.

2003
The first complete segment of Hudson River Park, Greenwich Village, opens.