By the early 20th century, New York City’s Greenwich Village waterfront was a bustling hub of maritime activity. Numerous piers, adorned with Beaux Arts shipping terminals, formed the busiest part of the city’s port, handling both cargo and trans-Atlantic passenger ships. Merchant vessels, steamships, barges, and commuter ferries crowded the Hudson River, creating a vibrant, if transient, atmosphere. This area attracted a diverse population, including thousands of international seamen and over half a million unmarried, temporary workers annually passing through the port.
Alt text: Historic black and white photograph showing a bustling early 20th-century New York City waterfront scene with cargo ships docked at piers, emphasizing the area’s maritime commerce.
Even by World War I, this waterfront area had become a known cruising spot for gay men. The construction of the elevated Miller (West Side) Highway in the 1930s, while physically dividing the area, inadvertently contributed to its clandestine appeal. The concentration of men, coupled with the presence of numerous bars, warehouses, and nighttime isolation, solidified the waterfront as a key center for gay life, a trend that continued strongly after World War II.
However, shifts in the shipping industry and the rise of air travel led to the obsolescence of these large shipping terminals and piers. By the mid-1960s, they were largely abandoned. This abandonment, ironically, allowed the area to further solidify its reputation as a haven for gay men seeking nighttime cruising and sexual encounters. A 1966 guidebook even directed individuals to “Go to the piers…between the trucks…” referencing the parked trucks under the elevated West Side Highway. These trucks, used for daytime commerce but left empty and unlocked at night, became notorious locations for public sex, particularly in the years leading up to and during the early AIDS epidemic.
The Stonewall uprising in June 1969 marked a turning point. Christopher Street, becoming a vital artery of gay life, naturally extended towards the waterfront. The decaying piers, including Pier 45, directly opposite West 10th Street and famously known as Christopher Street Pier, along with Piers 46, 48, and 51, were repurposed in the early 1970s. Gay men claimed these spaces as their own, using them for sunbathing, cruising, and public sexual activity.
Alt text: Vintage photograph capturing a sunny day at Christopher Street Pier in the 1970s, depicting a group of men socializing and sunbathing, reflecting the pier’s emergence as a gay social space.
Reflecting this shift, gay bars began to replace the old waterfront taverns on Christopher Street’s western end and surrounding blocks. In the nearby Weehawken Street Historic District, six out of fourteen buildings housed gay bars from the early 1970s onwards, including the legendary Ramrod. Waterfront hotels, once catering to seamen, found new purposes. The Keller Hotel, for instance, housed the Keller Bar, a renowned gay “leather bar” from 1956 to 1998. The American Seamen’s Friend Society Sailors’ Home and Institute transformed into The Jane Hotel, a transient hotel and theater, which hosted the Off-Broadway premiere of Hedwig and the Angry Inch in 1998.
Many of those places that were seamen’s bars and longshoremen’s bars became gay bars. … And the piers, as they became vacant and decayed, became a kind of urban wilderness [for cruising].
Allan Berube, historian, 2004
Between 1971 and 1983, the deteriorating terminals of Christopher Street Pier became an unexpected canvas for diverse artistic expression. Site-specific installations, photography, murals, and performances flourished within these ruin-like structures. From 1975 to 1986, Black photographer Alvin Baltrop documented the gay cruising scene amidst the decaying architecture. Artist David Wojnarowicz became a frequent visitor from the late 1970s, creating art and photography there. In 1983, Wojnarowicz, with artist Mike Bidlo, organized an “artists’ invasion” of Pier 34, declaring it “the real MoMA” after painting murals. Peter Hujar photographed these murals and captured poignant images of men socializing at Christopher Street Pier, showcasing the community and joy found there. Other artists, including Gordon Matta-Clark, Selly Seccombe, Tava, and Arthur Tress, also contributed to this artistic era, many of whom were LGBT.
Alt text: Photo from the 1980s showcasing the Christopher Street Pier as an urban art space, featuring murals and installations, highlighting its role in artistic expression and queer culture.
The 1980s brought the dual impact of the AIDS epidemic and waterfront redevelopment plans. By the time Christopher Street Pier was demolished in the mid-1980s for renovation, it had become a crucial refuge for marginalized queer youth of color, many of whom were homeless. Transgender activists of color Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, founders of STAR in 1970, established a presence, providing essential support to these young people. In 2005, the intersection of Christopher and Hudson Streets, near the pier, was renamed Sylvia Rivera Way, recognizing their legacy. The 1990 documentary Paris is Burning further highlighted the pier’s significance for LGBT youth. Tragically, in July 1992, Marsha P. Johnson’s body was found in the waters off Christopher Street Pier, a loss that deeply impacted the community.
Waterfront redevelopment in the early 1990s, leading to Hudson River Park, initially overlooked the needs of the queer community. This sparked grassroots activism, including the 1998 “Queer Pier” fight to preserve the pier as a safe space for queer youth. FIERCE, founded in 2000 by primarily LGBTQ youth of color, emerged from this struggle, advocating for the needs of queer youth during the Christopher Street Pier renovation and West Village gentrification.
Christopher Street Pier closed in 2001 and reopened in 2003 as part of Hudson River Park, with new restrictions, including a 1:00 a.m. closing time. FIERCE continues to advocate for extended hours and better services for queer youth in the area.
While physical remnants of its LGBTQ+ history are limited, the waterfront and Christopher Street Pier remain vital public spaces for LGBT individuals, especially queer youth and young adults of color, carrying forward a rich and complex legacy.
Entry by Ken Lustbader, project director (March 2017).
NOTE: Names above in bold indicate LGBT people.
