Pier A, Department of Docs

Department of Docks and Police Station, Pier A, seen from the Battery. Photograph by Berenice Abbott (1898–1991) dated May 5, 1936, Federal Art Project Changing New York. Source: Brooklyn Museum Collection. The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States.

Pier A was built from 1884 to 1886 as the headquarters for the New York City Department of Docks and subsequently used by a variety of municipal agencies over the years, including the NYPD's Harbor Department (until 1955) and the FDNY (fire department, from 1960 to 1992).

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The Department of Docks began constructing the pier in July 1884. The pier deck was completed in 1885, the building was finished by the early 1886. The original structure is two stories tall and extends west into the Hudson River. The eastern end of the pier was built in 1900 and expanded to three stories in 1904.

The clock tower, at the southwestern corner of the building, was built before 1900, according to pictorial analysis.

The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and it is the Manhattan’s oldest remaining pier. It was reopened in 2014 after restoration. Today, the building also houses the Pier A Harbor House, a restaurant, and the Long Hall, is open to the public, which includes a visitor center managed by the Downtown Alliance.