The Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (Netherlands Dock and Shipyard Corporation) had been long derelict before it was taken over by an artists’ community known as Stichting Kinetisch Noord, who have spruced up the dilapidated buildings and strewn the streets with recycled sculpture and heavy-duty graffiti. Among this urban jungle, studios and galleries have sprung up as well as a theater, forming a cutting-edge cultural center that is growing in reputation as the Westergasfabriek becomes more mainstream. Here, too, is the Amstel Botel, the city’s only floating hotel. The elegant old triple-masted schooner Pollux is moored up alongside the Botel, and Greenpeace’s retired environmental warrior of the seas, Sirius, is berthed across the dock from the Botel. The Pannenkoekenboot (Pancake boat) sorties from here to prowl the harbor laden with pancake-munching kids.