From The New York Times
August 18, 2002, Sunday
THE CITY WEEKLY DESK
NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: CHELSEA; A Once Rowdy Pier Faces a Quiet Future
By DENNY LEE (NYT) 419 words
Before Westway sank, before the Hudson had a park named after it, there was Pier 63 at West 23rd Street, a desolate patch of waterfront that moonlighted as a maritime lounge. But a fatal shooting there on July 23 has sowed doubts about the pier's future, and prompted concerns about a fading waterfront community.
Since the killing, which involved people attending a reggae party, inspectors from the city and the Coast Guard have raided the pier four times. The pier, which is actually a floating barge, is located behind an old shipping terminal occupied by Basketball City.
Nearly 50 citations have been issued at the pier, for violations ranging from poor security to a missing grease trap at a food stand. Problems were also found with electrical wiring, causing Con Edison to cut off power on July 31. Because of the violations, the city's Department of Buildings revoked its assembly license, in effect closing the pier to all organized events.
Although the sweeps were prompted by the shooting, Capt. Dominic Gentile, the commander of the local 10th Precinct, said a stabbing had occurred on July 5 after a post-fireworks party. There have also been 16 quality-of-life complaints so far this year. ''Party promoters used the barge for whatever they promoted, whether it was reggae night, or hip-hop night, or whatever it might be,'' Captain Gentile said. ''They brought a younger, more boisterous crowd.''
But the pier also has a reputation as a sober haven, a place to watch films, practice yoga or idle by the river's waves.
''It's really quite an amazing place,'' said Councilwoman Christine Quinn, whose district includes the pier. ''The crackdown threatens to stop much of that, while more and more of the piers are becoming privatized.''
Pier 63 Maritime was a forbidding dock 22 years ago when John Krevey, a self-described wharf rat, moved his company, R-2 Electric, into an office at the water's edge. Over the last two decades, he added a rusty barge, a creaky lightship and couches, drawing a community of scrappy boaters and urban longshoremen.
To cover his rent -- he leases the pier from Basketball City -- and maintain the pier for public use, Mr. Krevey began renting the barge and the lightship Frying Pan to party promoters.
DENNY LEE
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Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
