More than three years after Hurricane Sandy swept through Lower Manhattan, devastating many of the buildings in and around the island's waterfront-hugging neighborhoods, one of those structures is finally bouncing back. The Seaport Museum announced that it will hold its first exhibition since Sandy happened in 2012; the show, "Street of Ships: The Port and Its People" (which opens March 17) is a deep dive into the history of the Seaport (once called "the street of ships," hence the title), as well as a celebration of the museum's progress thus far.
The exhibit, which will be staged in the museum's front lobby (work continues on the rest of the institution), will feature artifacts from the museum's extensive collection of maritime ephemera; it'll also provide more insight into the restoration of the Wavertree, an iron sailing ship that's currently being restored in Staten Island. Once that process is complete, the ship will dock near the Seaport as part of the museum's collection, and will be open for tours and educational events.
In a statement, executive director Jonathan Boulware said, "We're absolutely thrilled to finally be bringing artifacts from the collection forward to the public for the first time since Sandy." In the wake of the storm, the already-troubled museum (which was under the tutelage of the Museum of the City of New York) faced financial troubles, as well as the possibility that the redevelopment of the Seaport would boot it from its longtime home. But a FEMA grant, plus assurances from the Howard Hughes Corporation, have laid those fears to rest.
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