Colonial era , 1660: early East River docks along left bottom; protective wall against the British on right. West is at top. (
Castello Plan redraft) The original population of the 16th century New York Harbor, the
Lenape, used the waterways for fishing and travel. In 1524
Giovanni da Verrazzano anchored in what is now called
the Narrows, the
strait between
Staten Island and
Long Island that connects the
Upper and
Lower New York Bay, where he received a canoe party of Lenape. A party of his sailors may have taken on fresh water at a spring called "the watering place" on Staten Island—a monument stands in a tiny park on the corner of Bay Street and Victory Boulevard at the approximate spot—but Verrazzano's descriptions of the geography of the area are a bit ambiguous. It is fairly firmly held by historians that his ship anchored at the approximate location of the modern
Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge's approach viaduct in Brooklyn. He also observed what he believed to be a large freshwater lake to the north (apparently Upper New York Bay). He apparently did not travel north to observe the existence of the Hudson River. In 1609
Henry Hudson entered the harbor and explored a stretch of the river that now bears his name. His journey prompted others to explore the region and engage in trade with the local population. The first permanent European settlement was started on
Governors Island in 1624, and in Brooklyn eight years after that; soon these were connected by ferry operation. The
colonial Dutch Director-General of New Netherland,
Peter Stuyvesant, ordered construction of the first wharf on the
Manhattan bank of the lower
East River sheltered from winds and ice, which was completed late in 1648 and called Schreyers Hook Dock (near what is now Pearl and Broad Streets). This prepared New York as a leading
port for the
British colonies and then within the newly independent
United States. In 1686, the British colonial officials gave the municipality control over the waterfront.
19th century in 1893 In 1835, Lieutenant Thomas Gedney of the Survey of the Coast (renamed the United States Coast Survey in 1836 and the
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878) discovered a new, deeper channel through
the Narrows into New York Harbor. Previously, the passage was complex and shallow enough that loaded ships would wait outside the harbor until high tide, to avoid running into the huge sandbar, which was interrupted in a number of places by channels of fairly shallow depth: at low tide and at high tide. Because of the difficulty of the navigation required, since 1694, New York had required all ships to be guided into the harbor by an experienced pilot. The new channel Gedney discovered was deeper, enough of an added margin that fully laden ships could come into the harbor even at slack tide. Gedney's Channel, as it came to be called, was also shorter than the previous channel, another benefit appreciated by the ship owners and the merchants they sold to. Gedney received the praise of the city, as well as an expensive silver
service. In her 1832 book
Domestic Manners of the Americans,
Fanny Trollope wrote of her impressions upon entering New York Harbor for the first time: I have never seen the
bay of Naples, I can therefore make no comparison, but my imagination is incapable of conceiving any thing of the kind more beautiful than the harbour of New York. Various and lovely are the objects which meet the eye on every side, but the naming them would only be to give a list of words, without conveying the faintest idea of the scene. I doubt if ever the pencil of
Turner could do it justice, bright and glorious as it rose upon us. We seemed to enter the harbour of New York upon waves of liquid gold, and as we darted past the green isles which rise from its bosom, like guardian centinels of the fair city, the setting sun stretched his horizontal beams farther and farther at each moment, as if to point out to us some new glory in the landscape. In 1824 the first American
drydock was completed on the East River. Because of its location and depth, the Port grew rapidly with the introduction of
steamships; and then with the completion in 1825 of the
Erie Canal New York became the most important
transshipping port between Europe and the interior of the United States, as well as
coastwise destinations. By about 1840, more passengers and a greater tonnage of cargo came through the port of New York than all other major harbors in the country combined and by 1900 it was one of the great international ports. The
Morris Canal carried anthracite and freight from
Pennsylvania through
New Jersey to its terminus at the mouth of the Hudson in
Jersey City. Portions in the harbor are now part of
Liberty State Park. In 1870, the city established the
Department of Docks to systematize waterfront development, with
George B. McClellan as the first engineer in chief. By the turn of the 20th century numerous
railroad terminals lined the western banks of the
North River (Hudson River) in
Hudson County, New Jersey, transporting passengers and freight from all over the United States. The freight was ferried across by the competing railroads with small fleets of
towboats, barges, and 323
car floats, specially designed barges with rails so cars could be rolled on. New York subsidized this service which undercut rival ports. Major road improvements allowing for trucking and containerization diminished the need. The harbor saw major federal investment at the end of the century when
Congress passed the
Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. Over $1.2 million of initial funding was appropriated for the dredging of 40-foot-deep (12.2 m) channels at
Bay Ridge,
Red Hook, and
Sandy Hook. The
Statue of Liberty (
Liberty Enlightening the World) stands on
Liberty Island in the harbor, while the nearby main port of entry at
Ellis Island processed 12 million arrivals from 1892 to 1954. The
Statue of Liberty National Monument, encompassing both islands, recalls the period of massive immigration to the United States at the turn of the 20th century While many stayed in the region, others spread across America, with more than 10 million leaving from the nearby
Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal.
20th century Post–World War I After the war, the
1919 New York City Harbor Strike by the
Marine Workers Union shut down the port for weeks. It started on January 9 and was paused on January 13 for arbitration. The strike resumed March 4 after workers rejected the
War Board labor ruling and ended on April 20, 1919 after new terms had been offered by both public and private port employers. Bright city lights made it easier for German
U-boats to spot targets at night, but local officials resisted suggestions that they follow
London's lead and blackout the lights of coastal cities. However, some lights were darkened, including those of the amusement parks in
Coney Island,
Brooklyn, and the
Coney Island Light, and
Sandy Hook Lighthouse. The harbor reached its peak activity in March 1943 during World War II, with 543 ships at anchor awaiting assignment to convoy or berthing (with as many as 426 seagoing vessel already at one of the 750 piers or docks). Eleven hundred
warehouses with nearly of enclosed space served freight along with 575 tugboats and 39 active
shipyards, the largest being
Brooklyn Navy Yard. With a large inventory of heavy equipment, this made New York Harbor the busiest in the world.
Post–World War II Deterrence and investigation of criminal activity, especially relating to organized crime, is the responsibility of the bi-state
Waterfront Commission. The commission was set up in 1953 (a year before the movie
On the Waterfront), to combat labor
racketeering. It is held that the
Gambino crime family controlled the New York waterfront and the
Genovese crime family controlled the New Jersey side. In 1984 the
Teamsters local was put under
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) trusteeship, and in 2005 a similar suit was brought against the
International Longshoremen's Association local. In March 2006, the Port passenger facility was to be transferred to
Dubai Ports World. There was
considerable security controversy over the ownership by a foreign corporation, particularly Arabic, of a U.S. port operation, this in spite of the fact the current operator was the British-based
P&O Ports, and the fact that
Orient Overseas Investment Limited, a company dominated by a Chinese Communist official, has the operating contract for
Howland Hook Marine Terminal. An additional concern is the U.S. Customs "green lane" program, in which trusted shippers have fewer containers inspected, providing easier access for contraband material. ==Water quality==