The Blue Riband: New York City and the Superliners

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The Normandie on the Hudson River, 1935. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection. Photographer: Bofinger. NYC Municipal Archives.

“Millions Greet Normandie Here” read the headline in the New York Daily Mirror on June 4, 1935. Considered by many to be the most beautiful ocean liner to ever ply the seas, the French luxury ship Normandie won the Blue Riband for her record-breaking transatlantic maiden voyage to New York, arriving in four days, eleven hours, forty-two minutes and two seconds. The Blue Riband is an unofficial honor awarded to the fastest passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean.   

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Cunard ocean liner Queen Mary at Pier 90. The tremendous speed of the superliner during its transatlantic maiden voyage scraped paint from its hull along the water line, June 2, 1936. Manhattan Borough President photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

One year later, on June 1, 1936, throngs of New Yorkers again cheered as another new ocean liner on her maiden voyage, the Queen Mary, slid into a berth at Pier 90, on Manhattan’s West Side. Although heavy fog delayed the British Cunard ship, the Queen Mary would wrest the Blue Riband from the Normandie in another transatlantic voyage just two months later, on August 24, 1936. 

The huge press attention to the arrival of these new superliners, and the massive official receptions coordinated by the Mayor’s Office attest to the importance of maritime activities for the city’s economy. 

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By the mid-19th century, the port of New York handled more goods and passengers than all other ports in the country combined, and by 1912 it became the busiest in the world. The Department of Docks photograph collection includes numerous large-format glass-plate negatives that depict the intense commercial activity along both the East and North (Hudson) River waterfronts. West Street, ca. 1890. Department of Docks Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

In July 2020, the blog New York's Working Waterfront introduced some of the collections that document the city’s investment in its port and harbor facilities. This week, For the Record will continue to identify useful resources in the Municipal Archives and Municipal Library for researching this essential topic in New York City history.    

The Normandie docked at Pier 88 at West 48th Street, and the Queen Mary at Pier 90, at 50th Street. Along with Pier 92, at 52nd Street, these facilities had been constructed specifically to accommodate the new superliners arriving from Europe. The piers later became known as “luxury liner row.”

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Pier 56, Chelsea Section, 1908. Department of Docks and Ferries photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

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Chelsea Section Piers nearing completion, 1908. Department of Docks and Ferries photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Correspondence in Mayor LaGuardia’s papers helps tell the story. In a letter to the Mayor dated June 3, 1935, Percy Magnus, President of the New York Board of Trade wrote, “You may recall that for many years the City made efforts to revise the pier-head line in the North [Hudson] River. We knew at that time that France, England, Germany and Italy all planned to build new superliners, and we also knew that the length of the Chelsea piers was totally inadequate. The City was forced to face the disconcerting fact that its Port facilities were not modern.”

What Mr. Magnus did not mention was that the Chelsea Piers he referenced had also been specially constructed to accommodate the first generation of big new ocean liners coming from Europe after 1900.  Sometimes referred to as the “Titanic-class,” these new ships quickly dominated the lucrative transatlantic market. To maintain its competitive edge, the City built a series of new piers along the Hudson River waterfront from West 17th to West 23rd Streets.

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Chelsea Section Piers, typical elevation of piers 54 and 56, 1908. Department of Docks drawings collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

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Ocean liner Olympic arriving at Pier 59, Chelsea Section, June 22, 1911. Department of Docks and Ferries photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Municipal Archives’ collection of architectural drawings from the Department of Docks, and related photograph series, provide extensive visual documentation of the construction of the Chelsea Piers. The architectural flourishes on the pier sheds (designed by Warren & Wetmore, architects of Grand Central Terminal), were lost during “modernization” work in the 1970s and 80s.  But their original facades can be seen in photographs taken by the Department of Docks staff during construction – all digitized and viewable in the Archives gallery. 

United States War Department regulations restricted the City from building pier structures too far into the Hudson River. Consequently, the Chelsea Piers, and later the new piers between West 48th and West 52nd Streets required digging into Manhattan land to accommodate their extra length. The resulting alteration to the waterfront is visible in another important collection in the Municipal Archives, the Waterfront Survey Maps. New York City is an archipelago of islands and the waterfront series provides incredibly detailed surveys of every inch of the city’s 520-mile shoreline. The entire series has been digitized and is available to research in the gallery.

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The Waterfront Survey Maps were created by the Department of Docks beginning in the 1870s and updated to the mid-20th century. Plan of North River Improvement Between W. 46th St. and W. 58th St., Borough of Manhattan, 1931. Waterfront Survey Map collection. NYC Municipal Archives

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Piers 88, 90 and 92, 1936. Department of Docks and Ferries photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Construction of the piers needed for the second generation of superliners almost didn’t happen. The Department of Docks Annual Reports in the Municipal Library pick up the story. The 1934 report (submitted to the Mayor in 1935), began by noting that “ ...the year 1934 saw the resumption of work on the Trans-Atlantic Pier Terminals... which was  temporarily delayed in 1933, due to a lack of appropriations. The new Administration was quick to realize the importance of completing this Terminal for the accommodation of the new superliners of the British, French and Italian Lines, and thereupon immediately opened negotiations with the Federal Government to secure the necessary funds. These negotiations resulted in the approval of the project by the Public Works Administration.”

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Press attention surrounding the arrival of the Queen Mary included tracking progress of the liner’s entry into New York Harbor from the air. William S. Paley, President, Columbia Broadcasting System, to Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, May 26, 1936. Mayor LaGuardia collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

In other words, President Roosevelt’s New Deal came to the rescue with funding through the federal Public Works Administration (PWA). The 1935 Docks Department report explained that “…great efforts had to be extended to have this pier [88] in readiness” for the maiden voyage of the Normandie and concluded “… the efforts of the Department of Docks in this connection earned the commendation of the high officials of the French Line.”

The Dock Department reports and correspondence in the Mayor LaGuardia papers provide descriptions of all the new features of the new pier facilities. Part of the impetus for the new structures was to enable steamship companies to unload and reload these massive ships as quickly as possible. A memorandum to Mayor LaGuardia dated May 23, 1935, is illustrative: “The pier and shed structures are modern in every particular and provided with office enclosures, passenger waiting rooms, baggage and passenger elevators, sprinkler systems, heating, plumbing, water supply and electrical appliances, escalators and baggage conveyors.”

Turning again to Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s papers, the substantial volume of material regarding the preparations to welcome the new super liners also reflect the importance of maritime activities. Planning for the arrival of the Queen Mary generated three fat folders in LaGuardia’s subject files, and another folder holds the correspondence for the Normandie reception. In both instances, the Mayor organized welcoming committees of prominent New Yorkers: Jay P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt received invitations to the Queen Mary celebrations. As the arrival date for the Queen Mary grew closer, however, the Mayor’s office let the committee members know that “Because the British people are still in mourning for the death of the late King George V., there will be no official representative of the British government aboard the ship. For that reason there will be no official banquet by the City of New York on this occasion.”

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The banquet planned to celebrate the arrival of the Queen Mary was canceled, but Mayor LaGuardia did accept an invitation to dine aboard the Queen Mary, 1936. Mayor LaGuardia Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.  

As noted in several For the Record posts featuring Mayor LaGuardia’s papers, his correspondence is not only voluminous, but also rewarding in what it reveals about his work ethic and attention to detail. It is apparent that he read, and answered, most letters received in his office. The files regarding the Queen Mary reception are no exception. Carefully preserved in folder no. three is a letter from Mrs. W. S. Hilles, of Wilmington, Delaware. On May 24, 1936, Mrs. Hilles wrote to Mayor LaGuardia to ask why no women were appointed to the Mayor’s Reception Committee for the Queen Mary. On June 10, LaGuardia replied: “Your point is well taken. I certainly agree with you that women are as capable of serving upon committees of all kinds as are men.” He added, “But in the naming of this particular committee there were certain practical reasons why women could not be named, which were insurmountable because they were not of our making.” LaGuardia explained that the function of the committee was to go aboard the Queen Mary to greet the captain. However, “…Federal rules do not permit women to board a liner from a cutter because of the danger involved. He concluded: “It so happened that because of the great height of the Queen Mary the Federal rule against women boarding liners from cutters was somewhat justified by the fact that the committee members had to climb a twenty foot rope ladder to reach the lowest open hatch of the liner. I hope you will understand the situation.”

There was not a reply from Mrs. Hilles. 

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The Normandie at Pier 88, 1935. Department of Docks and Ferries photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Take a moment to view the photographs and maps in the Municipal Archives gallery, and explore the Collection Guide to learn more about the City and its maritime history.

The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of the New York City Municipal Ferry System

The ferries are back. New York City is an archipelago of islands and ferries would seem to be an ideal mode of transportation, especially in areas not well-served by mass transit. And, for a while, through the 1920s, the City hosted an extensive network of ferries. Famously, Robert Moses initiated the destruction of the ferry system and subsequent decades saw decline and abandonment of most ferry lines. But now ferries once again ply the waters in an array of routes in and around New York City.

Cars and passengers aboard the Staten Island Municipal Ferry “President Roosevelt,” arriving in Staten Island, June 8, 1924. Department of Bridges, Plant & Structures photograph, NYC Municipal Archives.

In many regards the ferry history of rise, fall and rise again is typical of New York City’s infrastructure and transportation. According to Brian J. Cudahy author of Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor, the trajectory of the municipal ferry system goes something like this. In 1905, the City of New York began a “progressive takeover of the ferry system” when it acquired the ferry route running between Whitehall Street (Manhattan) and Saint George (Staten Island) from the Staten Island Rapid Transit. By 1925, the New York City municipal ferry system had reached its pinnacle as it operated over a dozen routes that provided ferry service to all five boroughs and New Jersey. Twenty years later, only one municipally-operated ferry route remained, the same route that it started with in 1905, what today we call the Staten Island Ferry.

Municipal ferryboat “Bronx” traveling from Saint George (Staten Island) arriving at Whitehall Manhattan), circa 1905. Department of Docks and Ferries photographs, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Department of Docks and Ferries operated the New York City Municipal Ferry system between 1898 and 1918. Its successor agencies, the Department of Docks (1919-1942) and the Department of Marine and Aviation (1942-1977) operated the system. Today’s direct descendant agencies are the New York City Department of Transportation and the Economic Development Corporation which sponsors NYC Ferry service.

Department of Marine and Aviation staff at the office located at Pier A in Manhattan, circa 1955. Department of Marine and Aviation photographs. NYC Municipal Archives.

Our past, present, and future are tied to the waterways that surround New York City. Ferries have been an integral part of transport in the City for a very long time. The Staten Island Ferry route originally ran by the Staten Island Rapid Transit and taken over the City has been in service since 1816. In 1904, the year before the municipal ferry system was established, there were 147 ferryboats in operation on the waters around New York City.

Perspective drawing of the Municipal Ferry Terminal, undated. In the original design, the terminal had two buildings, one with two slips going between Whitehall-Saint George (opened in 1906), and the other for the 39th Street Ferry that went to South Brooklyn (opened in 1909). It is now called the Battery Maritime Building and was listed on National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Construction of the 39th Street Ferry House, 1908. The second ferry route to be acquired by the City was the Whitehall Street-39th Street (Brooklyn) route that it took over from The New York and South Brooklyn Ferry and Transportation Company in 1906. Department of Dock and Ferries photographs. NYC Municipal Archives.

Municipal ferry service initially was established during the administration of Mayor George B. McClellan (in office from 1904-1909) but it really grew during the Hylan Administration (1918-1925) as new ferry routes were established and ferryboats were designed and purchased by the City.  

Even though municipal ferry service in the City underwent a period of growth from 1918 to 1925, it’s decline began shortly after reaching its pinnacle in the mid-1920s. There were two contributing factors—the Stock Market Crash of 1929 that led to the Great Depression; and the construction of tunnels, bridges, and roads for the almighty automobile. The near decade-long economic depression that began in 1929 meant that the City had less revenue and therefore less money to spend. Funding for the municipal ferry system in New York City was one of the numerous municipal services that were cut. That said, during this same economic depression, public money was used for the construction of automobile infrastructure. Not coincidentally, this infrastructure for automobiles crossed over or tunneled under New York City-area waterways replicating many of the ferry routes.

This pattern of replacing mass transit ferry routes with bridges and tunnels primarily designed for single, privately-owned car commuting would continue into the 1960s, thus contributing to the demise of the municipal ferry system and the rise of the gridlocked highways we are left with today. For example, the City’s Astoria Ferry that ran between East 92nd Street (Manhattan) and Astoria (Queens) operated from 1920-1936 when it was discontinued after the opening of the Triborough Bridge in 1936; the City discontinued the Clason Point (Bronx) to College Point (Queens) route that operated from 1921-1939 after the construction of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge in 1939; and the municipally-operated Rockaway Ferry that ran from Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn to Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaways was in operation from 1925-1937 when it was discontinued following the opening of the Marine Park Bridge.

Clason Point Ferry House in disrepair, 1951. This Municipal Ferry route was in operation from 1921-1939. It ran between Clason Point in the Bronx and College Point in Queens. Department of Marine and Aviation photographs. NYC Municipal Archives.

Although it is sometimes hard to remember when you’re deep underground on the subway or hustling between skyscrapers in Midtown, New York is a maritime city. It has approximately 520 miles of coastline, more than Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Boston combined. Thirty-nine of the New York City Community Boards have some access to the waterfront. It should not be surprising then that these very waterways have been used for transit for thousands of years. What is surprising, however, is how quickly these natural “roads” fell from favor as a means for transporting people, especially in comparison to cars and other surface transit.

In recent years, the City has reconsidered how it moves people around equitably, and how to deal with the transit deserts in many neighborhoods. And as so many communities are located near waterways, the ferry is once again becoming an integral part of the public transit network. Not to mention that riding the ferry is fun, relaxing, and a great way to experience the amazing city.

View from the Soundview route of the NYC Ferry heading from Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan to Soundview in the Bronx, 2019. Photo by Patricia Glowinski.

The New York City Municipal Archives and Municipal Library hold many primary and secondary sources documenting the New York City Municipal Ferry system and the City agencies that administered it. These include the Department of Docks and Ferries and Department of Docks annual reports and minutes, 1888-1939 (though with gaps of some years); report on the operation of municipal ferries by the City of New York from 1905 to 1915; Department of Ports and Trade pier removal contract files, 1956-1966; Regulations for the governance of municipal ferry employees, 1910; Department of Docks and Ferries photographs; and Over and back: the history of ferryboats in New York Harbor by Brian Cudahy. Archival material documenting the administration of the New York City Municipal Ferry can also found in numerous mayoral records including the records of Mayor George B. McClellan Jr., 1903-1909; Mayor William J. Gaynor, 1909-1913; Mayor Ardolph L. Kline, 1913; Mayor John P. Mitchel, 1869-1917 (bulk 1914-1917); Mayor John F. Hylan, 1912-1925; and the Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, 1864-1954 (bulk 1934-1945).

Commuters on the ferry from Hoboken, N.J., to Barclay Street, circa. 1937. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph, NYC Municipal Archives.