Built in 1897 for the Old Dominion line, the ship ran aground in the Rockaway Shoals when the Captain missed the entrance to New York Harbor. Despite severe weather, the passengers were all taken to safety, but strangely, the crew refused to leave without their luggage, which could not fit in the life boat. They stayed onboard for nine days, until the ship split in half and the passengers had to be rescued.
All it takes is a dollar and a dream…
Before subways connected Coney Island to Manhattan, ferries were one of the most popular ways to get there. The bell is believed to have sat at the end of the pier, announcing the ferries as they arrived and departed. Another find by Gene Ritter, of the amazing Cultural Research Divers.
Dreamland was one of the earliest and grandest amusement parks in the world before it burned down on May 27, 1911. The Dreamland Pier, at W. 5th St. and Surf Avenue, was an elaborate creation that served as an extension of the decadent park. When the 1911 fire broke out, the pier collapsed and sunk into the water without a trace. In 1988, Bensonhurst resident and professional diver Gene Ritter discovered the pier in a single solo dive.
As reported by Gothamist, this barnacle-encrusted Citi Bike might have been in the Hudson for nearly six months before it was returned to a dock. Who? What? Why? How?
When the Army Corps of Engineers dredged up this surprising haul, they guessed it was pitched off the side of a circus ship after it died. Or maybe it escaped the circus (go giraffe, go!), only to meet its fate in the Atlantic (stop giraffe, stop!).
