A piece of NYC "archeology" vanishes - 72nd Street

One of the few remaining recognizable components of NYC West 72nd Street yard in Manhattan was demolished and removed this week: the old burned-out hulk of a warehouse on piers in the river, at the approximate foot of 63rd Street. I think in official harbor parlance this had been "North River Pier 98."

The remains of the 69th Street transfer bridge are still untouched (I think "North River Pier 104") and even have a historical site plaque atttached! Although it arouses some curiosity from the folks who live on this neighborhood, few of them have any idea what it was

Thank you for posting this sad news. My life more or less corresponds to the downfall of the New York Central's Westside freight line! I remember my father taking me when I was a small boy in the (early, I think) 1950s to look at the then-busy yard: looking out over the guardrail where West 72nd Street connects to the West Side highway, and I remember seeing the roofs of freight trains through the grills in Riverside Park. ... Long period when I didn't follow railroading very closely and didn't always live in New York ... In about 1976-1977, returned to New York a confirmed railfan, looking for ANYTHING. There was often a switch engine (Penn Central black, not Conrail blue) parked in the largely empty yard, visible from the end of West 71st Street, and I at least once saw the last daily Northbound freight coming out of the Riverside Park tunnel just south of 125th Street: a single blue U25B was handling it. Then abandonment...
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I'm truly glad that Amtrak is using the line and that there are once again trains under Riverside Park. (But an occasional freight would be much more interesting to look at!)