Freedom of the Seas
(Photograph Liz Hall )
The Port of New York has many convenient locations for photographing cruise liners under way, some with quite spectacular backdrops. New locations are being added as the waterfront is rebuilt for more recreational uses.
There are great locations on the New Jersey side of the Hudson. The directions given are for those taking cross-Hudson ferries, buses or the PATH train from Manhattan.
Arriving Ships (Generally 6:00-8:00 a.m.): For Manhattan’s Passenger Ship Terminal, the best locations are on the Manhattan side of the Hudson River. For the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, Red Hook, the recreation pier at the end of Coffey Street is best in the season when dawn comes early. The Queen Mary 2 turns 180 degrees off Governors Island about 5:15-5:30 a.m. and will be docked by 6:00 a.m. Other ships will likely arrive a bit later. For Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal, Bayonne, the best location is Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, along the Shore Parkway pedestrian promenade near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Departing Ships (Generally 4:00-6:00 p.m.): For ships leaving from Manhattan’s West Side piers, there are great locations on the New Jersey side of the Hudson. The directions given are for those taking cross-Hudson ferries, buses or the PATH train from Manhattan. Staten Island locations are best for ships departing the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook and Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey. Use the Staten Island Ferry and the Staten Island Railway or S51 bus for several shoreline locations.
Quick links to specific locations:
Exchange Place Jersey City
Photography is somewhat restricted from the Hoboken Terminal. It can be reached via the PATH from 33rd Street & 6th Avenue and stops south to Christopher Street and from the World Trade Center site station.
New York Waterway Ferry from Battery Park City also stops at Hoboken Terminal. On weekends, a ferry from West 38th Street runs every half hour to both Hoboken North and Hoboken South (southside of the NJ Transit Hoboken Terminal).
Hoboken's best location is the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology,
about a 15-minute walk north from the Hoboken Terminal. Stevens provides
elevated locations at Castle Point with the West Village as a backdrop. North
of the Stevens Tower on the grassy slope near the President's colonial brick
house, there is a clear view upriver.
The campus can also reached by No. 126 New Jersey Transit bus or Academy bus
from the Port Authority Bus Terminal along Washington Street to 8th , then
three blocks east to the river.
The north end of Hoboken is also accessed from 38th Street via the NY Waterway Ferry to 13th Street, Hoboken, the former site of the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard and now the site for "The Shipyard", a new residential complex located between the marina/ferry landing and the former Maxwell House Coffee plant.
The newest spot for photographing ships is from the long pier jutting out from Hoboken's north end at 13th Street, a portion of which the NY Waterway Ferry uses to and from West 38th Street Manhattan. Half the pier, from the middle to the river end, is covered in real grass, a most pleasant surface for the wait between ship departures. The railing may be used as a quasi-tripod for telephoto and low light shots. The pier gives an unobstructed view north to the Passenger Ship Terminal, allowing for broadside then three-quarters bow shots as the ships reverse into the river and make their turn. The ships may then be photographed against the Midtown skyline and specifically the Empire State Building directly opposite.
Arrival Locations:The Passenger Ship Terminal's top decks - Piers 88, 90, and 92 - are closed to sightseers, with guards patroling at arrival and departure times. Motorists, however, have access to parks cars. Any changes to these policies will be posted here.
To the south of the PST, the following piers are usually open to the public - the NY Waterway ferry pier at West 38th Street; Chelsea Piers, at the north end (23rd Street) where the fireboat John J. Harvey is berthed and especially the river end of Pier 59 used by the golf driving range. A new recreation pier (location of Pier 45) is now open as part of the Hudson River Park at the foot of West 10th Street. There is a complete walkway along the outside perimeter of Pier 40, and benches at the outer end paralleling the river provide a quiet spot to wait for ships to pass. The southside of the pier that leads out to the Holland Tunnel ventilation shaft has now reopened, while Pier 25 where the former steamboat Yankee is docked, is yet another choice.
The entire promenade at Battery Park City is open to the public. N.B. When the sun is low on the horizon some midtown and downtown skyscrapers will cast long shadows over portions of the river.
Departure Locations:
For afternoon departures, for the time being, the Passenger Ship Terminal is no longer available. The other locations mentioned above are good vantage points, but the ships will usually be backlighted, except in the summer months when the sun sets in the southwest.
Weehawken, NJ has two superb sites, reachable by New York
Waterway Ferry from West 38th Street, Manhattan. As tickets are for sale at
the ferry terminal, simply step aboard the NY Waterway buses at any city bus
stop. The company's red, white and blue buses make stops along 57th, 49th,
42nd, and 34th streets. The ferry departures are every 10-20 minutes and the
crossing takes just 5 minutes. Phone 1-800-53-FERRY. Website:
www.nywaterway.com.
Landing at Weehawken, turn right into the small park for a waterside location.
For a top-of-the-Palisades location, walk inland five minutes and, if feeling
fit, climb the stairway (222 steps) to Hamilton Park, or for an
easier ascent continue past the steps and use Pershing Road up to Boulevard
East then turn left and walk south to the park, a ten-minute detour. There are
benches, popular with the locals. On some weekends, a wedding party may be
having their big day recorded with the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop.
Hamilton Park is where Aaron Burr challenged Alexander Hamilton to a duel and
mortally wounded him on 11 July 1804.
Hamilton Park is also a wonderful after-dark location. For a few seconds, the
ship will be dead in the water, having reversed into the stream, and is poised
to head down river. With a fast film, the tens of thousands of lighted
Manhattan office windows and the distinctive lighted tops of the Chrysler and
Empire State buildings will create an unforgettable portrait of the ship.
QE2 at sunset make a great shot. If she departs on a clear evening and on
time, there will be an enhancing blue glow to the sky above the metropolis.
Ships berthed at Pier 12, Brooklyn Cruise Terminal can be photographed from the south side, through or over the surrounding fence. However there is likely to be some vehicular clutter in the foreground. The Valentino recreation pier at the foot of Coffey Street, a few blocks south of the cruise terminal, is ideal for arriving ships as they turn 180 degrees off the southern tip of Governors Island and reverse into Buttermilk Channel. Depending on the season, and arrival time, there may or may not be sufficient light. As it is not possible to see the ships berthed at the cruise terminal from the Valentino Pier because of a building blocking the view, station yourself further south along the promenade running to the west side of the Beard Street Warehouse Pier. You can see the upper decks of ships berthed at Pier 12 and once it sails, there is a clear view with a backdrop of Governors Island and a distant Statue of Liberty. There are also more distant telephoto views of ships sailing through Upper New York Bay from Manhattan’s West Side Cruise Terminal.
New York Water Taxi operates a weekday rush hour-only route between Pier 11, Wall Street and the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Bay Ridge via Buttermilk Channel. Boats pass close to ships berthed at Pier 12 in Red Hook. On weekends only, there are regular ferries between 1) Battery Park or 2) the South Street Seaport in Manhattan and a new dock in Red Hook at the end of Van Brunt Street near the entrance to Erie Basin. Route 1 passes through the Upper Bay then around the southern tip of Governors Island for Red Hook and Route 2 passes through Buttermilk Channel. Manhattan-bound boats from Red Hook then continue - Route 1 up the Hudson River making stops as far as West 44th Street or Route 2 via the East River making stops to East 34th Street.
Consult www.nywatertaxi.com for exact schedules and routes.
On Fridays and Saturdays only until September 2nd, Governors Island is another possible location for photographing ships at both the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and the Red Hook Container Terminal. But please note that while fences on the island indicate areas that are off limits, three times during a recent visit guards told us, in a friendly manner, that we were in no-go sections even though there were no signs nor barriers, and that included the eastern esplanade opposite Red Hook.
Hoboken, NJ
Manhattan
Staten Island Ferry and Staten Island
Weehawken, NJ
Red Hook, Brooklyn
Exchange Place Jersey City
Norwegian Crown
(Photograph Tim Martin)
During office construction at the Colgate site, you may have to seek out the best location either just north or just south of the NY Waterway ferry terminal (boats sail from Battery Park City and from West 38th Street). The wooden recreation pier at Exchange Place is good for taking the ships against the Lower Manhattan skyline but not for three-quarters bow angles of the ship coming downriver because of an obstructing, adjacent new pier to the north. That pier is now completely rebuilt and is occupied by a Hyatt Hotel with a glorious big-window bar and restaurant at the river end. Walk to the pier's far end for one of the best new locations on the New Jersey waterfront with superb views upriver and across and down. The second location and even better sited for photographing the ships against the Lower Manhattan skyline is the newly built NY Waterway/New York Water Taxi pier to the south. This pier now has a ban on photographing and a security guard may be present.
This location offers even better upriver and Upper Bay views and has permanent ticket and rest rooms facilities.
Exchange Place is accessible from Lower Manhattan and Midtown by New York Waterway Ferry and from the World Trade Center site PATH station to Exchange Place PATH Station. In addition, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Line operates on the surface from Lincoln Harbor, Hoboken and Pavonia/Newport to Exchange Place and onto Bayonne. An alternate photo location is from the northside of the Harborside Center where another NY Waterway Ferry lands.
Hoboken, NJ
Norwegian Dawn
(Photograph Theodore W. Scull)
Manhattan
Crystal Symphony
(Photograph Theodore W. Scull)
Staten Island Ferry and Staten Island
(Photograph G. Justin Zizes, Jr.)
Norwegian Dawn
(Photograph Theodore W. Scull)
Weehawken, NJ
Five cruise ships on September 18, 2005.
Carnival Legend, Seabourn Pride, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Crown, and Norwegian Jewel.
(Clip from a video by John McFarlane)
Queen Mary 2
(Photograph Theodore W. Scull)
If coming by car, there is usually ample on-street parking near the waterfront. For transit riders, take any subway to Downtown Brooklyn in the vicinity of Borough Hall, then board the B61 bus, marked Van Brunt Street, from Smith Street, just south of Fulton Street, to the end of the route. Photo locations are all within a couple of blocks. An alternate approach is the B77 bus from the elevated Smith/9th Street F Train station to the end of the route at Coffey/Van Brunt Streets. Bus frequencies are between 10 and 20 minutes depending on the time of day. Walking from the F Train is not recommended because of the difficulties of safely crossing the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the approaches to the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. To walk to Red Hook photo locations from Downtown Brooklyn (about 40 minutes) take Henry or Clinton Street through leafy Cobble Hill, then a switch a couple of blocks to the west over BQE to Columbia Street passing the Red Hook Container Terminal, and one block west again along parallel Van Brunt Street for Red Hook’s main street. The photo locations are accessed either via a right on Coffey Street or straight ahead to the Beard Street Pier.