Tour the historic lightship Ambrose
Though the South Street Seaport Museum’s indoor spaces remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we invite visitors to enjoy our virtual programs and events, shop at our online store, or sign up to our mailing list to stay up to date on our upcoming programs.
Ambrose is the first vessel to join the Seaport Museum’s fleet and the very first lightship to guard the only shipping channel in and out of the ports of New York and New Jersey— the Ambrose channel. As part of the Seaport Museum’s general admission, visitors can tour the multiple decks of this National Historic Landmark and see the living and working spaces once inhabited by sailors stationed on Ambrose.
Ambrose is permanently moored at Pier 16 and does not sail the harbor. Access to Ambrose requires walking up an angled gangway.
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South Street Seaport Museum
By subway: Take the A, C, 2, 3, J, Z, 4, or 5 train to Fulton Street.
By bus: Take the M-15 SBS or M-15 to Fulton Street.
By water: The NYC Ferry, and New York Waterway provide service to Pier 11. The Staten Island Ferry provides services to Whitehall Terminal.
Parking: Parking lots can be found at Front and John Streets, as well as 294 Pearl Street.
About the Lightship Ambrose
Lightship LV-87, also known as Ambrose, was built in 1907 as a floating lighthouse to guide ships safely from the Atlantic Ocean into the broad mouth of lower New York Bay between Coney Island, New York, and Sandy Hook, New Jersey–an area filled with sand bars and shoals perilous to approaching vessels. South Street Seaport Museum’s Ambrose occupied her original station from her launching in 1908 until 1932. In 1921 Ambrose became the first lightship to be fitted with a radio beacon, greatly assisting navigation of the channel in poor visibility. In her role as navigational aid, she was also witness to the largest period of immigration in U.S. history, seeing some six million immigrants pass her station. After her half-century career, she was donated to the newly-formed South Street Seaport Museum by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1968.