6. Seamen’s Church Institute

The former Seamen’s Church Institute (CSI) at 241 Water Street in the South Street Seaport was a fitting location for a building that would provide professional, educational and spiritual services to mariners. Built by Polshek Partnership in 1992, the building is a playful interpretation of a boat, complete with a mast, balconies, exterior staircases and nautical doors and windows. However, the organization, which originated in 1834, left this building and relocated to Trinity Place, and to Port Newark Station in the 1960s

Before this, the Seaman’s Church Institute had a headquarters located at 25 South Street in 1913. A twelve story building, it was capable of housing 580 seamen in its dormitories and had its own shipping bureau, restaurant, postal service and chapel for the seamen in New York to use. On the roof was added a Titanic Memorial Lighthouse beaming a “steady green light.”

During World War I, 25 South Street served as the central location for the Seamen’s Church Institute involvement in the war effort. In 1916, a “ship’s bridge”––advertised as the highest navigation bridge in the world––was built on the roof of the building, and the Institute held classes there. By the end of the war, CSI’s Navigational and Marine Engineering School trained more than 15,000 men for service. Take a look at the current Seaman’s Church Institute looks like in Port Newark.

Join us on an upcoming Tour of the Remnants of NYC’s Maritime Past led by Untapped Cities’ Chief Experience Officer, Justin Rivers:

Tour of NYC’s Maritime History