SeaGlass Carousel at Battery Park (cropped)

The SeaGlass Carousel is a fish-themed carousel in

Battery Park The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to ...

at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The carousel opened to the public on August 20, 2015. The project to build a carousel was created by Warrie Price, founding president of the Battery Park Conservancy. City officials described the carousel's opening as a symbol of recovery in the area, which suffered damage from

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

in 2012. Part of a plan to redevelop the park, it cost $16 million to build; $8 million of this money was paid for by the city and the

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was formed in November 2001, following the September 11 attacks, to plan the reconstruction of Lower Manhattan and distribute nearly $10 billion in federal funds aimed at rebuilding downtown Manhattan. ...

. A ride costs $5 and lasts for three-and-a-half minutes. Design and construction took nearly a decade. The carousel is the work of New York architectural firm WXY and artist

George Tsypin George Tsypin is an American stage designer, sculptor and architect. He was an artistic director, production designer and coauthor of the script for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014. Early life and education Tsypin was ...

. Music for the ride was created by Teddy Zambetti, a composer and music executive for

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sa ...

, who adapted familiar classical themes by

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

, Mozart,

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

, and Saint-Saëns into contemporary styles. The carousel features seating on identifiable species, such as a

Siamese fighting fish The Siamese fighting fish (''Betta splendens''), commonly known as the betta, is a freshwater fish native to Southeast Asia, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is one of 73 species of the genus '' Bet ...

. The carousel is designed to resemble an under-the-sea garden through which visitors ride on fish that appear to be made of

sea glass Sea glass and beach glass are naturally weathered pieces of glass, which often have the appearance of tumbled stones. "Sea glass" is physically and chemically weathered glass found on beaches along bodies of salt water. These weathering proc ...

and shimmer as though they were bioluminescent. The effect refers not only to the carousel's waterfront site, but to nearby

Castle Clinton Castle Clinton (also known as Fort Clinton and Castle Garden) is a circular sandstone fort within Battery Park at the southern end of Manhattan in New York City. Built from 1808 to 1811, it was the first American immigration station, predating ...

, which housed the

New York Aquarium The New York Aquarium is the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States, located on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. It was founded at Castle Garden in Battery Park, Manhattan in 1896, and move ...

from 1896 until 1941. The design is also unusual for placing its operating machinery under the floor, so that there is no post in the center of the ride. A designer from WXY Architecture stated of the carousel, "As far as we know, there’s nothing in the world like this".

References

External links

*{{official, http://www.thebattery.org/seaglass/ Carousels in New York (state) Amusement rides introduced in 2015 2015 establishments in New York City The Battery (Manhattan)