Pier 63 was the name for a former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad railroad barge on the Hudson River in New York City, on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan. It was originally located near 23rd Street, adjacent to Chelsea Piers and Hudson River Park. It had been purchased from a used car salesman in Staten Island by John Krevey in October 1996 and delivered by a tugboat.
This barge formerly carried railroad boxcars across the Hudson River before the advent of containerized freight or tunnels beneath the river. The land side of Pier 63 was formerly used as a freight transfer station for the Baltimore and Ohio railroad where freight was moved from the boxcars on the barges to local conveyance.
In the spring of 2007 the barge was relocated from 23rd Street to Pier 66a at 26th Street, on the Hudson River, and was renamed Pier 66 Maritime. The barge currently has an Erie Lackawanna caboose on display.[1]
Two historical boats are primarily located here: the lightvessel Frying Pan and the fireboat John J. Harvey. Other historical and traveling ships also visit here, including the Anne, a two-masted schooner captained by the adventurer Reid Stowe.
Manhattan Kayak Company is also on the pier where there are storage facilities for kayaks, as well as a dock to launch.
New York Water Taxi once had a stop on the Pier.
John Krevey, who ran Pier 66 Maritime, died 4 February 2011, at age 62, while on a vacation with his son in Santo Domingo. Krevey was one of the earliest members of Friends of Hudson River Park, the civic group advocating for the 5-mile-long waterfront park. He was a member of the Friends’ board of directors until 2010.[2]