Things to Do at South Street Seaport: What's Worth Your Afternoon
By 17John Hotel ·
Quick answer
The best things to do at South Street Seaport are the South Street Seaport Museum's two historic ships at Pier 16, the 1885 tall ship Wavertree and the 1908 lightship Ambrose, plus the Maritime City exhibition at 213 Water Street and the letterpress shop Bowne & Co. at 211 Water Street. The museum is open Friday through Sunday, 11am to 5pm, which catches a lot of people out. Evenings are cheaper than you'd expect: Seaport Cinema screens films for free on the Heineken Riverdeck, and Seaport Square hosts open-air markets. We're on John Street, a short walk inland, so you can do the whole thing on foot and come back to a kitchen.
The Lower Manhattan waterfront, a short walk east of us. · Photo by Far Chinberdiev on Unsplash
The Seaport is the part of our neighborhood that doesn't look like the rest of it. Cobbles instead of plazas, low brick buildings instead of towers, and two nineteenth and early twentieth century ships tied up at the end of the street. We're on John Street, a short walk inland from the water, and the Seaport is where we send people who've already done One World Observatory and want a couple of slower hours.
Here's the thing most guides leave out: the South Street Seaport Museum, which is the real reason to come down, is open Friday through Sunday only, 11am to 5pm. If you're here midweek, plan on the waterfront, the plaza and dinner instead, and save the ships for a weekend morning.
We've kept this list to places we can tell you something concrete about, and we've noted what's free. A few of the good things down here are seasonal, so we've put the dates in. Everything below is walkable from our door, and you can be back with your shoes off in twenty minutes.
The ships at Pier 16: Wavertree and Ambrose
· Short walk east from our door on John Street · General admission ticket
This is the one to prioritise. The 1885 tall ship Wavertree and the 1908 lightship Ambrose are permanently moored at Pier 16, and a general admission ticket to the South Street Seaport Museum brings you aboard both, plus the exhibitions in the first-floor Schermerhorn Row galleries at 12 Fulton Street. Go at 11am when the museum opens, because it's only open Friday through Sunday until 5pm and a weekend afternoon is the busiest the piers get. An hour is enough for the ships if you're not a maritime obsessive, two if you are.
Maritime City at 213 Water Street
· Short walk from our door · Included in museum general admission
Three floors, all indoors, inside the old A.A. Thomson & Co. building. This is what we recommend when the forecast turns and you still want to do something in the neighborhood rather than get on a train. It's part of the museum's general admission, so if you've bought a ticket for the ships you've already paid for it. Same Friday to Sunday, 11am to 5pm window as the rest of the museum campus, which is worth knowing before you walk over.
Bowne & Co., Stationers, 211 Water Street
· Short walk from our door · Free to walk in
A nineteenth century style print shop and gift emporium, still part of the museum campus, where the presses are the point. If you want to take something home from Lower Manhattan that isn't a foam Statue of Liberty crown, buy something printed here. It takes ten minutes to look around, so pair it with the ships rather than making a trip of it on its own.
Seaport Cinema on the Heineken Riverdeck
· Short walk east, on the water · Free
Free film screenings on the deck over the East River, presented by Heineken, with the films starting at sunset. Seating is first come, first served and it's free, so the calculation is simple: show up well before the light goes if you want to sit down. Check theseaport.nyc for what's playing on the night you're here, because the lineup changes through the season.
Mister Dips
· Short walk east, in the Seaport · Cheap
Soft serve, dipped, with rotating specials. Right now it's a Cookie Monster dairy dip, Double Stuf ice cream with a chocolate cookie crisp shell, and it's a limited run. We mention it because it's the thing that gets small children the rest of the way home after a long walk, and because a dipped cone by the water is a fair end to an afternoon.
Oktoberfest at Watermark
· Short walk east, on the water · Bar prices
Watermark runs its Oktoberfest from September 10 through October 31, which makes it the reliable evening answer down here in the autumn. It's a big waterfront bar, so it works better for a group of six than for a quiet conversation. If you want quiet, our rooftop is a nicer spot in the evening and the beer is whatever you carried up.
Seaport Square markets
· Short walk east · Free to browse
The open plaza in the middle of the Seaport is where the neighborhood's weekend events land. Alfargo's Marketplace is back September 12 and 13 with more than 40 independent vendors doing vintage, menswear and accessories. Taste of the Seaport returns on Saturday, September 26, from 12pm to 4pm, with Lower Manhattan restaurants pouring and plating in the square, and the money going to two local public schools, PS 397 and PS 343. Both are worth timing a walk around.
