New York Skyports Inc. Seaplane Base | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | New York City | ||||||||||
| Operator | Torrell Miller | ||||||||||
| Serves | New York City | ||||||||||
| Location | New York City, United States | ||||||||||
| Hub for |
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| Elevation AMSL | 0 ft / 0 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°44′06″N73°58′22″W / 40.7351°N 73.9728°W /40.7351; -73.9728 | ||||||||||
| Website | docknyc.com/skyport | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
 Interactive map of New York Skyports Inc. Seaplane Base | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||
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| Source: Airnav:[1] | |||||||||||
New York Skyports Inc. Seaplane base (IATA:NYS,FAALID:6N7) is aseaplane base in theEast River VFR corridor inNew York City, located at the foot ofEast 23rd Street betweenWaterside Plaza andStuyvesant Cove Park. The seaplane base opened in 1939 and was later incorporated into the Skyport Marina that was completed in 1962. It is the only seaplane base in New York City.[2]
The establishment of a new seaplane base at East 23rd Street was initially promoted in the mid-1930s by mayorFiorello LaGuardia, who wanted to renovate an abandoned pier on theEast River that had been previously used as a terminal for ferries operating toGreenpoint, Brooklyn.[3][4]
One of the original objectives of the new seaplane base was to provide a faster airmail link to Manhattan. At that time, Mayor LaGuardia had been advocating the designation ofFloyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn as the eastern terminus of air mail instead ofNewark Airport in New Jersey, but Newark Airport held an advantage because it had a shorter travel time for trucks carrying mail to and from Manhattan. A seaplane link between Floyd Bennett Field and East 23rd Street was proposed as a solution to cut the travel time between the Brooklyn and Manhattan. The new seaplane base would also be close to theMadison Square Station Post Office on East 23rd Street, which was connected bypneumatic mail tubes to theGeneral Post Office across from Pennsylvania Station.[5]
In addition to serving as an air mail link, the seaplane base was also planned to serve as a passenger link by ferrying air passengers between Manhattan and Floyd Bennett Field. It also aligned with Mayor LaGuardia's plans to develop aviation facilities closer to the center of the city.[6][7]
Work on the new seaplane base began in March 1936.[5] The facility was planned to accommodate eight planes loading or unloading at a time and included ramps that allowed seaplanes to taxi out of the water to the terminal or parking areas, a dock for flying boats, and a turntable. The design of the terminal building included a waiting room on the ground floor, a restaurant, observation lounge, and administration offices on the second floor, and a pilots' lounge and bedrooms on the third floor. A tower above the building would house facilities for radio, weather, and air traffic control.[8]
The city had originally planned to close its two other East River seaplane bases—theDowntown Skyport at Wall Street and theMidtown Skyport at East 31st Street—to consolidate all operations to the new seaplane base at East 23rd Street, but ended up deciding to keep all three facilities in place.[7][9]
Although construction work on the seaplane base at East 23rd Street had started in 1936, the facility did not open until 1939.[10][11] TheBrooklyn Times-Union speculated that construction was initially rushed because due to the receipt of a bid from an airline to operate a seaplane service between New York andBoston that summer.[5] By March 1936, two airlines had bid for the use of the 23rd Street Skyport for regular service to Boston.[9] In May 1936, engineers from theDock Department estimated that the new seaplane base could open that August and noted that it did not need to be fully completed for the first passengers because initial volumes were expected to be light and there had been no further developments in the proposed airline service to Boston. They said that full facilities such as a glass-enclosed terminal would be completed later.[7]
On October 31, 1936, Keystone Airlines began providing seaplane service to Bainbridge Street Wharf on theDelaware River inPhiladelphia, but operated out of the Midtown Skyport.[12] It was the first airline to provide intercity service from the seaplane base at East 31st Street.[13] In December 1936, the Twenty-third Street Association held a luncheon and passed a resolution calling for a hearing with the city asking why the seaplane base at East 23rd Street had not been further advanced. A speaker at the luncheon from Keystone Airlines said that the present terminal at the Midtown Skyport was inadequate.[14] Keystone Airlines operated service on the seaplane route between New York and Philadelphia from 1936 to 1940.[15]
Construction of the new seaplane base at East 23rd Street resumed by 1938, which was then planned to replace the Midtown Skyport at East 31st Street.[16] The improvements to the seaplane base were made using $500,000 ofWorks Progress Administration funds.[17] The seaplane base at East 31st Street closed by 1941, when the segment of theEast River Drive between East 23rd and East 34th streets was completed, as terminal building for the Midtown Skyport was located in the path of the new highway.[11][18][19]
The seaplane base at East 23rd Street later became part of the Skyport Marina, a $1,400,000 multipurpose waterfront facility designed by Praeger, Kavanagh & Waterbury that opened on April 18, 1962 and included a four-level parking garage with space for 500 cars on a pier extending 360 feet (110 m) into the river and a marina with berths for 37 pleasure craft.[20] The facility was leased toGulf Oil Corporation, which relocated and modernized its autoservice station near the end of East 23rd Street as part of the pier redevelopment project.[21] Gulf Oil had been operating the seaplane base at East 23rd Street since 1940.[22]
In the early 1970s, residents of the nearbyStuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village apartment complexes began urging the city to shut down the seaplane base over noise concerns.[23] The city'sMarine and Aviation Department issued directives in 1972 requiring seaplanes to taxi out as least 500 feet (150 m) from the shoreline before beginning their takeoff run to reduce the noise the aircraft were causing in waterfront areas.[24]
Local residents continued in their efforts to close the seaplane base and by 1974 gained the support ofEd Koch, who was serving as the representative ofNew York's 18th congressional district, and Ethan Eldon, the Commissioner of the city's Department of Air Resources. At that time, the Marine and Aviation Department was requiring seaplanes to taxi out at least 1,000 feet (300 m) from the shore for takeoffs and limited noise levels to 88 decibels (dB), but the department anticipated that noise levels would further decrease if theFederal Aviation Administration approved a three-bladed propeller.[23][25] Later that year, an agreement was reached between local residents and the Marine and Aviation Department to reduce the noise limit to 80 dB and also require aircraft using the seaplane base to have noise-reducing propellers.[26] Initial tests were conducted on a seaplane in the East River using a three-bladed propeller developed by DeVore Aviation Corporation in January 1975, but the results of the noise measurements did not impress city officials.[27] Later that year, the Marine and Aviation Department claimed that noise levels at the seaplane base had been reduced by 30 percent, but the results were disputed and contradicted separate noise measurements that had been collected by the Department of Air Resources.[28][29]
In 1976, Seaplane Shuttle Transportation, which at the time was an airline beginning operations between theWall Street Seaplane Base andPenn's Landing on the Delaware River in Philadelphia, tried to establish a new seaplane terminal atEast 34th Street to provide more convenient service for business travelers destined toMidtown Manhattan.[30][31] The application for the new terminal failed to advance and Seaplane Shuttle Transportation ended all of its flights in 1977, citing the lack of a landing site in Midtown Manhattan as one of the reasons contributing to the company's decision to discontinue operations.[32] Had the seaplane base at East 34th Street been approved, a stipulation added to the proposed application would have terminated the city's lease with the seaplane base operator at East 23rd Street when it was set to expire in 1978.[30]
The seaplane base was shut down for a six-month period in the beginning of 1983, when the city refused to renew its permit over noise complaints and concerns over safety with increased helicopter traffic due to new flights from theEast 34th Street Heliport and theEast 60th Street Heliport toJohn F. Kennedy International Airport. The temporary closure forced all seaplane operations in Manhattan to be accommodated by the Wall Street Seaplane Base. After failed attempts at negotiations between New York Skyports and the city, the issue was taken to court and a justice of State Supreme Court ordered the city to renew the permit.[33][34]
Seaplane tours were offered from Skyport Marina by Sea Air NY beginning in January 1999, but only operated for a couple of months before commercial air tours were banned from using the city-owned pier over noise concerns.[35][36]
In August 2021,Tailwind Air began providing scheduled service from the seaplane base at East 23rd Street toBoston Harbor. It took more than five years for the airline to arrange the service and obtain the permits needed to operate the route, which was planned to operate seasonally from March through November.[37][38]
Tailwind Air expanded its intercity operations by providing scheduled seaplane service between Manhattan andWashington, D.C., in October 2022. The airline had originally intended to fly toCollege Park Airport in Maryland, but delayed the launch of service by a month and opted to use a private terminal atDulles International Airport for its initial service while theTransportation Security Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration evaluated security concerns for the proposed commercial flights within theNational Capital Region restricted airspace.[39][40]
In October 2022, theNew York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) announced that the city was selected as a recipient for a $5 million federal grant from theUnited States Maritime Administration to develop micro-distribution facilities that would receive waterborne freight deliveries and facilitatelast-mile deliveries by greener forms of transportation such asebikes. One of the six landing sites proposed in the application was a new barge alongside the Skyport Marina. The city subsequently issued arequest for proposal for engineering firms to design the micro-distribution facilities at the six sites.[41][42][43]
In 2024, NYCEDC filed a permit with theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers to rehabilitate the Skyport Marina. The proposed work would include replacing the existing 30-foot-wide (9.1 m) by 40-foot-long (12 m) seaplane float at the east end of the marina with a new 30-foot-wide (9.1 m) by 90-foot-long (27 m) seaplane float that could accommodate two seaplanes.[44]
There are noinstrument approaches for this airport. Pilots must receive special training and be approved by a member of the North East Seaplanes Pilot's Association and are not permitted to fly over theQueensboro Bridge.[1]
Most operations at the seaplane base occur between May and September, when flights are made for weekend getaways toFire Island andthe Hamptons, although seaplanes can land throughout the year provided that there is no ice in the river.[45][46]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Blade | Seasonal:East Hampton,Sag Harbor[47] |
| Tailwind Air | Seasonal charter:Boston Harbor,[48][49]Bridgeport,[50]Newport,[51]Provincetown,Shelter Island[49] |
