Coenties Slip
New York, NY
Coenties Slip, a component of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation’s Nine Parks Project, has been constructed on the site of a former Lower Manhattan Slip. Construction excavations exposed intact remnants of wooden water pipes that were components of the city’s first water system. The two thirteen-and-a-half foot long hollowed out logs were found joined in place on the south side of the park, approximately 4 feet below the modern street. Unique in their completeness, these water pipes are the only known examples of contiguous, joined wooden pipes—the remnants of the water mains that once could be found under all of Lower Manhattan’s streets—to survive intact, despite the construction of the El in the late 19th century and other intrusions.
Joan H. Geismar, Ph.D., LLC, the archaeological consultant on the Nine Parks Project, identified the pipes and documented their history. It is a history tied to Aaron Burr and others who, in their quest to acquire a bank charter, established The Manhattan Company in 1799. The company, the supplier of water of questionable quality and the forerunner of today’s JPMorgan Chase Bank, was a means to this end.
With the collaboration of Parks, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection— and under the sponsorship of the latter agency-- these unique artifacts have been conserved and are expected to be displayed to the public. A report was prepared for Landmarks review.