Named for Dewitt Clinton, an early 19th century New York governor, the Clinton section of the waterfront holds a significant place in the history of New York City. Its piers were built in the mid 19th century to serve the industries that developed around the railroads that used barges to transport freight from their yards in
New Jersey, and in the late 19th century, slaughterhouses occupied this area.

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, transatlantic ocean liners like the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth berthed at Pier 88, and, in 1956, the Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria, heading towards its usual spot at this pier, collided with the Stockholm off the Nantucket coast and never reached its destination.

Then there is the Normandie. When it launched in 1932, this French ocean liner was the largest and fastest in the world and the epitome of luxury. During World War II, the ship was seized by United States authorities at New York, and in 1942, while being converted to a troopship, it caught fire at Pier 88 and capsized.