Conferences, expos, concerts, product launches and corporate parties for up to 5,000 people can be organised at Pier 36, a 70,000 sq ft indoor venue on the East River at 299 South Street in Manhattan, with a 15,000 sq ft deck over the water and a 55,000 sq ft lot for loading and unloading.
Seminars and company events
The venue is built for large formats. Its event list covers business and tech conferences, network upfronts and newsfronts, investor presentations, trade and fashion shows, award shows, non-profit fundraisers, product launches and team-building days. The open hall has a large number of rigging points, handled by certified riggers, and an in-house AV package: seven 6.5 by 11 ft and two 9 by 16 ft Barco LED screens, twenty-two 65-inch flat panels, a concert line-array audio system and lobby lighting. A multi-gig Wi-Fi network is designed for thousands of users at once.
Production teams benefit from the lot: trucks and large vehicles drive straight in from South Street, which shortens build and strike times for expos and staged shows. Past events include ESPN The Party during Super Bowl week, the 2012 unveiling of the Volkswagen Beetle, a Pandora holiday concert in 2015 and the 2016 New York City Bike Expo.
Rooms and capacities
The site gives one capacity figure: 5,000 people. The total footprint is 125,000 sq ft, made of the 70,000 sq ft indoor facility, the 55,000 sq ft parking lot and the 15,000 sq ft deck overlooking the East River. Seated, banquet and theatre capacities are not published, so layouts are agreed with the venue team. A Matterport virtual tour is available online for early site planning.
Catering
Catered events are part of the offer. The site does not name an in-house caterer or a list of approved vendors, so the catering setup is settled during planning.
History and setting
Pier 36 shares its home with Basketball City, the recreational basketball program, and the two together welcome around 700,000 visitors and 1,500 corporate clients a year. The pier also has a dock for ferries and private boats, which lets an organiser bring guests in by water. The setting is the East River waterfront on the Lower East Side.
Getting there
The entrance is on South Street, just off the FDR Drive, which gives direct road access for load-in and coaches. The nearest subway station is East Broadway on the F line. LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports all serve the city.
