Photo Flash: South Street Seaport Museum Celebrates 'Opening Day at Pier 16'

On April 25, Council Member Margaret Chin and other local officials joined the South Street Seaport Museum to kick off a new season of programming on the institution's historic vessels. The all-day event drew several thousand visitors to the Seaport and more than doubled active membership for the South Street Seaport Museum. Opening Day at Pier 16 included a range of free and family-friendly activities and tours. Scroll down for photos!

The day included arts & crafts, a Seaport scavenger hunt, historic ships, tours, and live music! At Pier 16, hands-on educational programs included learning about sailors' navigation, observations of some of the creatures that make New York Harbor a living estuary habitat, and conduction of a buoyancy test of boats made out of clay.

Attendees watched the "uprigging" of the schooner Lettie G. Howard in preparation for the spring season. The public observed and asked questions about the process of rigging a traditionally rigged fishing schooner built in 1893.

At the 12 Fulton St. Visitors Center, children of all ages - and adults! ­- painted a mural of images related to Opening Day at the Seaport on the new Seaport Storywall.

Opening Day featured live musical performances on Pier 16 including The Lobbyists, performers in the upcoming concert/play Seawife, presented by Naked Angels in partnership with South Street Seaport Museum (coming to Melville Gallery on Water Street in June 2015).

The Seaport Museum offered a special deal for opening day: new membership for $1!

South Street Seaport Museum is a non-profit cultural institution preserving and promoting the historic district of South Street Seaport in New York City. Founded on May 22, 1967, the South Street Seaport Museum (SSSM) is dedicated to telling the vital story of the foundation of New York and its link to its great natural harbor.

The Museum preserves and interprets the history of New York City as a place where goods, labor and cultures are exchanged through work, commerce, and the interaction of diverse communities. Designated by Congress as America's National Maritime Museum in 1998, SSSM is located in a 12 square-block historic district on the East River in Lower Manhattan, the site of the original port of New York City.

The Museum's campus is comprised of key historic locations such as Schermerhorn Row, our working trade centers on Water Street, and on the "Street of Ships" at Pier 16. These exhibitions and educational facilities are located in the South Street Seaport in New York City's largest concentration of restored early nineteenth century commercial buildings. The Museum houses exhibition galleries, working nineteenth century print shops, a maritime library, a maritime craft center, and the largest privately-owned fleet of historic ships in the country.