Coenties Slip

Coordinates: 40°42′13″N 74°00′38″W / 40.70366°N 74.01063°W

The Slip in 1893

Coenties Slip, originally an artificial inlet in the East River for the loading and unloading of ships that was land-filled in 1835, is a historic street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, in the heart of the Financial District. It runs southeast from Pearl Street to South Street, a distance of three blocks (585.6 Feet). The one block portion between Pearl Street and Water Street carries vehicle traffic, and the remaining section is a pedestrian street. New Amsterdam's City Hall once stood at Coenties Alley north of Pearl Street, just to the north of Coenties Slip.^[1]

Although surrounded by skyscrapers, a row of buildings from the 19th century still stands along the block that is open to vehicles, and these buildings are in active use by small businesses. The construction of these high rise buildings resulted in the removal of the blocks between Water Street and Front Street, and between Front Street and South Street. Part of 55 Water Street and part of the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial are built on land that was once part of Coenties Slip. Both Coenties Slip and Coenties Alley are named after Conraet Ten Eyck and his wife Antje.^[2]

In 2003, Gerard Wolfe reported the pronunciation of Coenties to be /ˈkoʊ.əntiːz/ KOH-ən-teez.^[3] Earlier reports include /ˈkwɪnsiːz/ KWIN-seez (1896),^[4] /ˈkwɛntʃᵻz/ KWEN-chiz (1917),^[5] and /ˈkwɪntʃiːz/ KWIN-cheez (1908).^[6]

Alley

Coenties Alley, formerly City Hall Lane, is an historic pedestrian walkway in Lower Manhattan, New York City, in the heart of the Financial District. It runs south from William Street to Pearl Street, and is the cut-off for Stone Street's discontinuity. ^[1] New Amsterdam's first City Hall once stood at Coenties Alley and Pearl Street. Although surrounded by skyscrapers, a row of buildings from the 19th century are still standing and in active use by small businesses. The alley south leads to Coenties Slip.

References

Notes

1. "Quality of Life Improvements". Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
2. "The Alleys of Lower Manhattan". Forgotten NY. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
3. Wolfe, Gerard R. New York, 15 walking tours: an architectural guide to the metropolis (2003), p. 60.
4. Earle, Alice Morse, "The Stadt Huys of New Amsterdam," Half Moon Series, Vol 1, No 1 (1896), p. 4.
5. Miller, Alice Duer, "The Happiest Time of Their Lives," The Century [Magazine], Vol. 95, No. 1, November 1917, p. 23.
6. Phyfe, William Henry Pinkney, Twelve thousand words often mispronounced (1908), p. 562.

External links

• Media related to Coenties Slip at Wikimedia Commons