In this painting Wyllie illustrates the marine activities of the bustling New York and New Jersey ship yards. The view appears to be taken from the harbour at Staten Island looking up through the Upper Bay towards Manhattan with the Statue of Liberty in the visible distance. Wyllie travelled to America on board the maiden voyage of the Majestic with his wife and son around 1891. A similar painting, entitled On the Hudson and dated to this period, belongs to the National Maritime Collection