Against the backdrop of the New York City skyline, local power pop heroes Fountains of Wayne played a summer show on the deck of one of the largest sailing vessels ever built. At sunset, one hundred lucky Artists Den guests boarded the century-old ship, docked under the lights of lower Manhattan in the South Street Seaport, for a night of the band’s addictive rock & roll.
PEKING
Rig: Four-masted barque
Material: Wood decks, rest steel
Length: 377 ft.
Breadth: 47 ft.
Gross Tonnage: 3100
Net Tonnage: 2883
Depth: 26 ft. 3 in.
Main Mast Height: 170 ft.
Sail Area: 44,132 sq. ft.
Max Speed: 16.5 knots (19 mph)
The four-masted barque Peking represents the final chapter in the evolution of merchant vessels powered only by wind. Launched in Hamburg, Germany in 1911, she was used to carry manufactured goods to South America and to return via Cape Horn with nitrate. In 1932, she was retired and moored in England's Medway River where she served for over 40 years as a boys' school under the name Arethusa. In 1975, Peking was acquired by the museum and towed to her current home at Pier 16. With a steel hull as long as a football field, and masts as tall as an 18-story building, Peking is one of the largest sailing vessels ever built and the largest preserved by a museum. Starting in the summer of 1996, visitors could see Peking's wire rope rigging fully restored to its original condition–the product of a twelve-year long restoration, the most ambitious project of its kind ever undertaken by a museum. In addition, visitors can go below decks to tour restored living quarters, to view an exhibition of vintage photos of the ship during her active career, and to see the film, Peking at Sea, hair-raising footage of one of Peking's voyages around storm-tossed Cape Horn, narrated by Capt. Irving Johnson who took part in that trip.
SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM
In the 1700’s the Schermerhorns, a family of shipmasters and chandlers, purchased much of the area that is today’s Seaport District. After several generations of family business operations, the District’s first innovative real estate venture was conceived. In 1810, Peter Schermerhorn began construction of a block-long series of conjoined buildings now known as Schermerhorn Row. This structure was intended to serve as leased spaces for merchants of differing but compatible trades. With both goods and patrons coming to his shops, hotels, and restaurants from the waterfront and the downtown inland areas, Schermerhorn’s project was a great financial
success for many decades.
Around the turn of the 20th century, with modernization and the growth of the city, the Seaport underwent further changes that ultimately led to its neglect and disrepair. In the 1960’s, much of the area was targeted for demolition and slated to be the site of an urban renewal project. In the wake of the destruction of the old Pennsylvania Station, a concerned group of citizens banded together to preserve the Seaport.
In April 1967, these concerned citizens obtained a charter from the New York State Board of Regents creating the South Street Seaport Museum. Its first goal was to save eleven blocks of historic buildings south of the Brooklyn Bridge and north of Maiden Lane from the developer’s wrecking ball. Most of these buildings, dating from the 19th century and earlier, were in a dilapidated and unoccupied state. To save these architecturally and historically significant buildings, the Museum’s founders, in conjunction with several prominent real estate developers, purchased the majority of these buildings.
Successful in achieving this first objective, the Museum’s organizers then sought to interpret the area surrounding the Fulton Fish Market as a Seaport. They did this by reintroducing important historic vessels to the area and establishing a maritime museum and research library. The Museum’s purpose was to tell the story of New York and the Seaport through the interpretation of its buildings, streets, ships, and salty history. These elements were used to set the Seaport apart from the modern city while reconnecting the metropolis with its genesis as a great world port.
Throughout the late 1970’s, the Museum’s Trustees actively courted commercial developers to come in and sublease ground floor stores. The goal was to provide a maritime marketplace with modern comforts in a historic setting similar to Baltimore’s Harbor Place and Boston’s Quincy Market. In 1980, the Museum found a partner in the Rouse Company. The Museum undertook a $268 million project to restore and revive the Seaport. Much of the funding came from private sources, the City of New York and the Museum. The Museum organized the funding of the entire project, itself contributing over $20 million. The Rouse Company, for its part, invested $90 million in the development. Aside from revenue, the overall goal of the project was to gentrify the area and to popularize it as a place of entertainment, learning, restaurants, and shopping.
These and subsequent development plans have had one goal: to use the uniquely historic nature of the area and its waterfront to bring in residents and visitors to support commerce; commerce to support culture; culture to attract a community. Today the Museum furthers its mission in the District through its exhibits and programs.
