The starfish and sea creatures at the Seaport

I haven’t uncovered much about the history of this red-brick building on Beekman and Front Streets at the South Street Seaport.

But I love the whimsical decorative touches put in by whoever built it.

Instead of using regular tie-rod washers, the builder chose washers shaped like starfish. And rather than plain window arches, terra-cotta fish figures were added.

It’s an homage of sorts to the sea creatures fished by vessels that once docked at New York’s seaport, before it was remade into a mall.

Farther uptown, there’s another building decorated with ocean-dwelling critters.