Entry No. 40 — the New York City file — filed under: outdoor-weird
Staten Island Boat Graveyard (Witte Marine Scrapyard)
In the Arthur Kill waterway sits a marine scrapyard where the rusting hulks of tugboats, ferries, and cargo ships slowly rot in the tidal mud. Founded in the 1930s by John J. Witte and still family-run, it once held some 400 vessels; today only a fraction remain, tilting at odd angles. It's a genuinely strange, post-industrial graveyard best appreciated from the shoreline at low tide or from a kayak (the yard itself is private and posted no-trespassing).
The story
Forget any romantic notions of ghost fleets or mysterious midnight strandings. The hulks rotting in the tidal mud of the Arthur Kill are the residue of a working industrial enterprise. Founded in the 1930s by John J. Witte and expanding rapidly after World War II, the Witte Marine Scrapyard grew into one of the largest salvage operations on the East Coast. Witte bought up surplus naval craft, worn-out tugboats, and retired harbor ferries to dismantle them for scrap iron, but cutting up a ship is slow work—and the boats arrived far faster than his crew could torch them apart.
At its peak, nearly 400 vessels were crammed into the marshland, waiting for a breakdown that never came. As salvage economics shifted and environmental regulations tightened around marine cutting, dismantling slowed to a crawl, leaving dozens of vessels stranded where they sat. Today, only a fraction of that original fleet remains stuck off Arthur Kill Road, listing at bizarre angles as decades of saltwater, rust, and marsh grass slowly pick apart what's left of the iron.
What it's like
Don't roll up expecting a park entrance, a boardwalk, or a place to leave your car legally without a second thought. The scrapyard itself remains private property, and the no-trespassing signs are serious—the mud will swallow your boots instantly and the jagged, oxidized iron is a tetanus hazard waiting to happen. The play here is to time your trip strictly for low tide, pull over along Arthur Kill Road near Rossville Avenue, and view the hulks from public shoreline. If you want to get closer without catching a summons, launch a kayak into the Arthur Kill and drift past the skeletal superstructures right around sunset when the low light hits the orange rust.
The move: Find a public vantage along the Arthur Kill shore at low tide and watch the sun set behind the rusting ship skeletons.
📍 Before you go The yard is private property with no public access; view only from public shoreline or by kayak, and the wrecks are most visible at low tide. Do not trespass or climb on the muddy, hazardous wreckage.
- 📍 Rossville, Staten Island
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: Arthur Kill Rd near Rossville Ave, Staten Island, NY 10309
Hours: Added 2026-06-23 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Conference House (Billopp Manor) — Pair two centuries of Arthur Kill history by heading four miles south to this 1680 stone manor overlooking the same waterway.
- Heyerdahl Ruins — Keep the Staten Island decay theme going with a trek into the Greenbelt to scout the stone remains of an 1861 homestead.
- Ruined Military Structures of Fort Hancock — If rotting 20th-century iron is your fix, head across the bay to Sandy Hook to explore a century of abandoned coastal defense batteries.
Good to know
Can I walk out to the shipwrecks?
No. The site is private property, actively posted against trespassing, and physically hazardous due to deep, suctioning tidal mud and crumbling, razor-sharp steel. View the yard strictly from public land or from the water.
Why is low tide so important for visiting?
At high tide, the water buries much of the wreckage, leaving only the tops of a few tugboat pilothouses visible. Low tide exposes the mud flats, revealing the full ribcages, hulls, and listing angles of the remaining fleet.
What is the best way to get a close look legally?
Launch a kayak into the Arthur Kill from a nearby public launch point. Viewing the rusting hulls from water level keeps you off private property while putting you right alongside the wreckage.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · Atlas Obscura · forgotten-ny.com · Untapped Cities · freshkillspark.org
last checked: 2026-06-23