6. The Piers Were Designed by Architectural Firm Warren & Wetmore

New Chelsea Piers New York Untapped CitiesPhoto via Library of Congress

Towards the end of the 19th century, the city’s focus shifted on creating new piers on the west side of Manhattan. The architectural firm put in charge of designing Chelsea Piers were non other than Warren & Wetmore, the very firm that was designing Grand Central Terminal at the same time.

The firm’s design of Chelsea Piers saw the removal of the random collection of run-down waterfront structures. In their place would stand a row of grand buildings decorated with pink granite facades. Officially opened in 1910, it took 3o years of talks and eight years of construction to get there.