In the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. the White Star ocean liner RMS Titanic struck an iceberg en route to New York City and sank in the Atlantic Ocean. Survivors were rescued by the Cunard liner Carpathia and brought to their berth at Pier 54 on the rainy evening of April 18.

On that very spot today, a fanciful waterfront development juts out into the Hudson River, a place called Little Island which opened in 2021. This recreational oasis will draw thousands of people, New Yorkers and tourists alike, this spring and summer.

But on the southern side of Little Island, peering out of the water, are dozens of wooden posts – these are the remains of the former Pier 54.

And it was on this pier, on April 18, 1912, that survivors of the Titanic disembarked and touched land.

This is the story of the places that figured into the aftermath and the story of how New York memorialized those lost to the tragedy.

And in the end we return to Little Island and to the ghost of Pier 54, the place where this disaster became reality for most people. Where survivors were greeted with joy and where many hundreds of people faced the reality that their loved ones were never coming home. 

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FURTHER READING:

A short history of New York City’s various Titanic memorials

The doctor, the heiress and the accidental nanny: New York women who survived the Titanic

A haunting look inside the Lusitania

FURTHER LISTENING:

Chelsea Piers: New York City in the Age of the Ocean Liner
The Complicated History of the Waldorf-Astoria
How Chelsea Became A Neighborhood

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