We recently went with some friends on a cruise on the Hudson starting from the Yonkers Pier and going up the river as far as Ossining and back. The purpose of the cruise was to raise money for the museum at Sing Sing prison. The cruise featured a buffet meal; a live band; and dancing.

According to an Daily News article: New Life for Yonkers Pier:

Built in 1901, the pier was one of eight built along the Hudson and East rivers to service the ferry and passenger boats that dotted the shoreline. But by the 1940s, railroad and road transportation had become the favored means of commuter and residential travel. Seven of the piers had been torn down and replaced by sturdier, less ornamental docks that could handle commercial cargo ships. Only the two-story neo-classical Yonkers pier was left standing. The pier, with its large letters announcing the city’s name, remained a favored spot for Yonkers fishermen and strollers but had deteriorated. In recent years, when talk of riverfront rehabilitation heated up in Yonkers and Hudson River ferry travel was revived, the pier became a focal point for the city.

The top part of the the pier now has an excellent restaurant: Xaviars X20 on the Hudson with great food and spectacular view south to the Manhattan skyline and north to the Tappan Zee bridge.