Pier 99 – Hudson River Park

Pier 99 is a Sanitation Department marine transfer station.

Stephen Antonakos – Neon for the 59th Street Marine Transfer Station, Neon Light Installation, 1990
Location: 59th Street Marine Transfer Station, 59th Street and 12th Avenue, Manhattan
Architect: Richard Dattner, P.C.
Design/Sponsor Agency: Department of Sanitation

Even a marine transfer station, where garbage trucks dump their contents onto barges, deserves a grand entrance. On the West Side Highway at West 59th Street, the shed-like marine transfer station now has a neo-classical arch that frames the two plain structures that house the station and offices.

In the tradition of neon light along New York City’s waterfront, Stephen Antonakos has composed an arrangement of colored neon tubes for the renovation of the Marine Transfer Station on the West 59th Street pier. Red light frames every other window along the north facade of the station (a total of 26 windows) and is visible from the Henry Hudson Parkway.

Because the windowpanes, which are made of plastic, are frosted, and because the neon is installed indoors, at night the squares fill with a soft glow. The effect is subdued, stately, and somewhat spiritual, like the halos above votive candles in a dimly lit church.

Working with the architect and the Department of Sanitation, the artist has placed the neon tubes behind the glass, so they are both vandal proof and accessible from the interior of the building for easy maintenance. Neon light also accents the architectural forms of the west facade where the trucks and staff enter the building.

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Pictures of Pier 99

Pier 99
Neon of the 59th Street Marine Transfer Station on Pier 99.

Pier 99
Pier 99 is a Sanitation Department marine transfer station.

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