Vietnam Veterans Plaza

Vietnam Veterans Plaza occupies a site with a long history of maritime activity. In the seventeenth century, this area was known as Coenties Slip, a protected inlet where Dutch ships docked between voyages. By the mid-nineteenth century, the city filled in the slip to create more land for its growing population. The resulting parcel was named Jeannette Park in 1884, commemorating the flagship of a failed Arctic expedition that ended in tragedy after the ship was crushed by ice.