This is the story about how I ended up swimming in the Hudson . . .
Almost.
Now, there is this trend online called urban exploration. I had been toying with the idea of starting a blog and getting in on it, since there are a lot of abandoned old buildings near where I live. Sadly, my first attempt was my last. I’m sure the local cops are happy about that though. They won’t be getting any calls complaining about a crazy woman trying to pry open the door to the condemned building next door.
So, in case you aren’t in the know, urban exploration is all about photographing and exploring lost urban treasures. It has all the things I love in Internet fringe groups: trespassing, maybe a little breaking and entering, photography and creepy buildings. I was very, very happy to note all the abandoned and condemned structures nearby when I moved a few months ago, and there was one slated for destruction soon, so of course I tried to get near it for a closer look.
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If you drive along the Hudson River on the Jersey side, you’ll see a dilapidated sinking wreck of a boat called the Binghamton. The view from the Edgewater ferry is even more depressing. The boat was a mess before Sandy, but since then has become nothing more than an eyesore that no one knows what to do about. The boat started as a ferry, carrying passengers across the Hudson between Manhattan and Hoboken. In 1971, the Binghamton was permanently moored in Edgewater, and operated as a floating restaurant from 1975 to 2007. Since then it had fallen into disrepair and was awaiting reuse. Then Sandy hit, and now there is no real saving to be done. The boat is half sunk and sitting in the mud and silt at the bottom of the river. It still has a Facebook page though. I kid you not.
It’s kind of sad to see the last steam ferry boat slowly being reclaimed by the river it used to service.
And I really, REALLY wanted to get inside it and take pictures.
I didn’t make it.
I got a few photos of the exterior. I walked up to the dock and fell while trying to climb over the security gate. It was pretty hilarious. I will never wear those boots again, though, as in my attempt to get back up on the dock I landed with one foot on the dock, a hand on the grate, and the other in the river.
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My face was about six inches from the toxicity that is New York Harbor, and there is no shower in the world that can ever make me feel clean again. I have seen people fall in and come out looking like they lost a fight with Clayface. That is not something I ever want to look like.
I really should have checked when the tide was rolling in. Hindsight, yanno?
I can tell you this much: the interior of that boat looks awesome. It’s charred and decaying, and it looks like death. I just don’t have a photo since, uh, I was a tad busy at the time. So here’s a link to some creepy photos from the abandoned Six Flags in Louisiana. Enjoy!
