In 2005, Bill Robles drew Jay Leno, who appeared as a witness in defense of Michael Jackson, on trial for molesting a teenage boy.

There was a time when there might have been 15 artists in a courtroom, she says. "There were tons of them. Now, even in New York City, there are just a couple left."

Cameras are now allowed in most courtrooms, for one thing. "And then," she says, "number two, there's the changing news business and the budget cuts and that has really impacted the courtroom artists. They'll use a photographer outside the courthouse to take a picture.For a really big trial, everybody shows up. That's the only time." 

Martha Stewart on trial. (By Elizabeth Williams)

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer rang the bell on the lightship Ambrose in honor of "Spring Revival Day" at the South Street Seaport Museum. (Photos: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Jonathan Boulware.

"Why do they come?" he asked. Their answers, he said, would differ, "but what you will find in common is a shared appreciation for something unique in New York. That's not easy to find. What we have here is a real gem. I'm talking about the South Street Seaport Museum, I'm talking about the Street of Ships, I'm talking about the district, more broadly."

Saturday marked the opening of the Street of Ships, which Boulware described as "a profound step forward" after the ravages of Superstorm Sandy, which shuttered the museum's galleries on Fulton Street a year ago. 

"In the very near term, you'll see us active here on Pier 16," he said. Ambrose and Peking would be open for tours. Pioneer would sail the harbor with the public and school groups aboard and Lettie G. Howard would become a teaching vessel for the New York Harbor School. He said there would also be activity in the museum's Water Street shops, Bowne Stationers and Bowne Printers.  

Gideon Finck of Bowne Printers on Pier 16 during Spring Revival Day.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer followed Boulware to the podium.  She was unequivocal in her support for the historic Seaport.

"It's in people's DNA, how important this is," she said, "not just for this area but for the whole city if not the whole country. When you come down Fulton Street and you see these ships, you see something that is so special about our city."

In the current tug of war over how the Seaport should be developed, with the historic district either preserved or plowed under, her words seemed to be a straw in the wind as to how things might turn out.   

"Coming here brings you back to another century," she said, "and there's very little in New York that does that. We need to grow, but we should never, ever forget our history and that's what the museum does and that's what these ships do." 

She also spoke about the surrounding district. "As Borough President I will do everything I can, with all of you - nothing happens in this huge, complicated city unless you're working with different people - to make the Seaport the kind of gritty, exciting, edgy, historic place it is and the center of it all, the museum and the ships."

There were other speeches - from City Council Member Margaret Chin, from Community Board 1 chair Catherine McVay Hughes, who said, "We demand that redevelopment here include the South Street Seaport Museum and its historic ships. It is the heart of our historic seaport," and from Helena Durst, who runs New York Water Taxi and who was the only person to speak about the need for diverse retail in the Seaport.  

Chris Curry, executive vice president of The Howard Hughes Corporation, which has a long-term lease on much of the Seaport, was among those who listened to the speeches. He said nothing.  

Then Boulware said, "We're going to ring the mighty, bronze bell on Ambrose," the lightship launched in 1908 to protect ships entering New York harbor from running aground. "The sound of the bell you are about to hear - a bell that is embossed with the letters USLHE - for US Lighthouse Establishment - the precursor to the Coast Guard - that bell would have sounded in fog at the entrance to the Ambrose Channel," he said.   

He turned toward the ship, where Brewer had already positioned herself. Forcefully, she cranked the bell handle. The sound rang out over the pier, a voice from the past, clanging, again and again, bringing tears to the eyes of many of those who heard.    

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer 

Some of the people who volunteer to help the South Street Seaport Museum. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)