New York Passenger Ship Terminal

The Manhattan Cruise Terminal, formerly known as the New York Passenger Ship Terminal or Port Authority Passenger Ship Terminal is a terminal for ocean-going passenger ships in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City.HistoryFor decades, the terminal was the only ocean-going passenger terminal in New York Harbor. With an upsurge in cruise ship traffic and the terminal's ability to comfortably handle only three large ships at a time, two new terminals have opened in the harbor — the Cape Liberty Cruise Port opened in 2004 in Bayonne, New Jersey (used by Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises), and the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal (used by the Queen Mary 2 and other ships of the Carnival Corporation cruise brands) opened in 2006 in Brooklyn.The West Side Highway takes a small jog east from the piers to below West 42nd Street because when the terminal was built land had to be taken away from Manhattan to allow for longer piers. The US Army Corps of Engineers, who control the waterfront dimension, would not extend the pierhead line farther into the river, so the city extended the pier by cutting away at the land. The city earlier did this for the Chelsea Piers; however in Chelsea only landfill was taken away. At the Passenger Terminal, actual Manhattan schist was taken away.