Luxury Liner Row
The largest luxury ships in New York harbor have (since about 1936) docked at the New York Passenger Ship Terminal, on the Hudson River between West 44th and West 57th streets, The nickname “luxury liner row” has been cited in print since at least 1954.
Many large luxury liners now use the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. The nickname “luxury liner row” is mostly of historical interest.
Wikipedia: New York Passenger Ship Terminal
The New York Passenger Ship Terminal (also known as the Luxury Liner Row or Manhattan Cruise Terminal or New York Cruise Terminal) is terminal for ocean going passenger ships on Manhattan’s west side.
The terminal consists of North River Piers 88, 90, 92 and 94 on the Hudson River between West 46th and West 54th Street. (As a general rule, pier numbers in Manhattan can be determined by adding 40 to the corresponding cross-street.)
Ships now dock at Piers 88, 90 and 92. Pier 94 on the north side is now used for exhibition space. Pier 86, once used by United States Lines, is now home to the USS Intrepid. In 2003, the terminal handled 900,000 passengers. The city is forecasting that 1.5 million will use the terminal by 2017.
23 June 1954, New York (NY) Times, “City Would Build Italian Line Dock,” pg. 53:
New York City has offered to construct a new pier and terminal for the Italian Line along “luxury liner” row in the West Fifities.
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It would be called Pier 94 and would be just to the north of the modern terminals serving the American Export Lines, United States Lines, French Line and the Cunard Line.
12 February 1955, Nashua (NH) Telegraph, pg. 4, col. 5:
Off “Luxury Liner Row” at midtown Manhattan, where the largest ships dock, a 48-foot depth is maintained.
OCLC WorldCat record
Luxury liner row : passenger ships at New York
Author: William H Miller
Publisher: New York : Quadrant Press, ©1981.
Edition/Format: Book : English
Google Books
Great Cruise Ships and Ocean Liners from 1954 to 1986:
A photographic survey
By William H. Miller
New York, NY: Dover Publications
1988
Pg. 3:
“LUXURY LINER ROW.” New York was the most important terminal port for the Atlantic liner trade. The great passenger ship piers along Manhattan’s West Side, extending from West 44th to West 57th Streets, were familiarly known as ” Luxury Liner Row.”
Google Books
Picture history of the Cunard line, 1840-1990
By Frank O. Braynard and William H. Miller
New York, NY: Dover Publications
1991
Pg. 36:
Until the mid-thirties, Cunard’s main passenger terminal at New York was at the Chelsea Docks, Piers 53, 54 and 56, located between West 13 and West 15 Streets. But in 1936, the giant Queen Mary, a ship that was far too large for these piers, was assigned farther uptown to specially built Pier 90, at West 50 Street. Most Cunarders eventually moved to those docks. The new piers became known as “Luxury Liner Row.” Smaller Cunard passenger ships did, however, continue to berth at the Chelsea Docks until the end of the early 1950s.
New York (NY) Times
Sailing Away
By JOHN MAXTONE-GRAHAM
Published: March 12, 2006
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The three piers, christened “luxury liner row,” resumed their role as Manhattan’s only working passenger docks, accommodating fleets of restored and repainted ocean liners that were cashing in on America’s postwar wanderlust and leading countless East Siders to admit, without a trace of self-consciousness, “We only travel to the West Side to sail to Europe.”
Google Books
Title Luxury Liner Row in the 50s And 60s
Author William H. Miller
Publisher Amberley Publishing, 2011
ISBN 1445605554, 9781445605555
The Millrace
The High Line and the Cunard Line
This entry was written by Ken MacLeod, posted on August 4, 2011 at 9:45 am
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I combined my vocation and avocation during a recent trip to New York City, visiting the Hudson River piers of midtown Manhattan, aptly nicknamed “Luxury Liner Row” in their heyday.