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The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of
Manhattan Island Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
facing
New York Harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in ...
. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to the south, and the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
to the west. The park contains attractions such as an early 19th-century fort named Castle Clinton; multiple monuments; and the SeaGlass Carousel. The surrounding area, known as South Ferry, contains multiple ferry terminals, including the Staten Island Ferry's Whitehall Terminal; a boat launch to the Statue of Liberty National Monument (which includes
Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...
and
Liberty Island Liberty Island is a federally owned island in Upper New York Bay in the United States. Its most notable feature is the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''), a large statue by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi that was dedicated i ...
); and a boat launch to Governors Island. The park and surrounding area is named for the artillery batteries that were built in the late 17th century to protect the settlement behind them. By the 1820s, the Battery had become an entertainment destination, with the conversion of Castle Clinton into a theater venue. During the mid-19th century, the modern-day Battery Park was constructed and Castle Clinton was converted into an immigration and customs center. The Battery was commonly known as the landing point for immigrants to New York City until 1892, when the immigration center was relocated to
Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...
. Castle Clinton then hosted the New York Aquarium from 1896 to 1941. By the 20th century, the quality of Battery Park had started to decline, and several new structures were proposed within the park, many of which were not built. In 1940, the entirety of Battery Park was closed for twelve years due to the construction of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel and the Battery Park Underpass. The park reopened in 1952 after a renovation, but then subsequently went into decline. The Battery Conservancy, founded in 1994 by Warrie Price, underwrote and funded the restoration and improvement of the once-dilapidated park. In 2015, the Conservancy restored the park's historical name, "the Battery".


History


Site

The area was originally occupied by the
Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...
Native Americans. Dutch settlers populated the area as part of the settlement of
New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
in the early 17th century. The Dutch referred to the southern tip of Manhattan as "Capske Hook" or "Capsie Hoek", the term coming from the Lenape word "Kapsee", meaning "rocky ledge". Capske Hook was originally a narrow, hilly ledge that extended northward to Broadway, which at the time was a Lenape trail. Schreyers Hook (cf. Amsterdam's Schreierstoren) was just adjacent. In 1625–1626, the Dutch built Fort Amsterdam atop of a hill at the site of the present Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House. However, the fort was largely ineffective, despite several attempts at reconstruction. The British took over the settlement in 1664 and renamed the defenses Fort James. An
artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to f ...
was installed at the fort in 1683 by Governor
Thomas Dongan Thomas Dongan, (pronounced "Dungan") 2nd Earl of Limerick (1634 – 14 December 1715), was a member of the Irish Parliament, Royalist military officer during the English Civil War, and Governor of the Province of New York. He is noted for ...
, the first of a series of batteries put in around
King William's War King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand Alli ...
which gave the area its name, including also at Whitehall in 1693 and at Oyster Pasty in 1695. The history of the various "batteries" is confused as the British sometimes used the names interchangeably. The fortification would later be renamed several times more, before the British settled on the name of " Fort George" by 1714. The Battery did not fire any additional shots until 1776, during the
New York and New Jersey campaign The New York and New Jersey campaign in 1776 and the winter months of 1777 was a series of American Revolutionary War battles for control of the Port of New York and the state of New Jersey, fought between British forces under General Sir Willi ...
of the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, when American troops commandeered the fort and fired on British ships in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent them from sailing up the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
. Following the British landing at Kip's Bay on September 15, 1776, the Americans had abandoned the fort, and the British took Lower Manhattan. At the end of the war in 1783, the Battery was the center of Evacuation Day celebrations commemorating the departure of the last British troops in the United States; the event was later commemorated with the erection of a flagstaff. By 1788, Fort George had been demolished, and debris from the fort was used to expand the Battery. The fort itself became the site of Government House, an executive mansion intended for U.S. president
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
, though never actually used for that purpose. In 1808–1811, just prior to the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...
, the West Battery was erected on a small artificial offshore island nearby, to replace the earlier batteries in the area. At the time, the shore at the Battery was a relatively flat edge. The West Battery was never used, and following the war, the artillery battery was renamed Castle Clinton. When Battery Park's landmass was created, it encircled and incorporated the island.History of The Battery
, The Battery Conservancy. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
About were added to the park area in 1824. Meanwhile, Castle Clinton was turned over to the city government, which turned the structure into an entertainment venue. It subsequently served various purposes, including as an
immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...
and
customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
center as well as an
aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
.


Creation

By the 1840s, members of the city's elite were publicly calling for the construction of a new large park in Manhattan. Proponents said that the park would serve three purposes: abetting good health, improving the behavior of the "disorderly classes", and showcasing the refinement of the city's elite. At the time, Manhattan's seventeen squares comprised a combined of land, the largest of which was the park at the Battery. Two sites were considered for a large park:
Jones's Wood Jones's Wood was a block of farmland on the island of Manhattan overlooking the East River. The site was formerly occupied by the wealthy Schermerhorn and Jones families. Today, the site of Jones's Wood is part of Lenox Hill, in the present-day Upp ...
, and the present site of
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
. An alternate suggestion was to enlarge the existing Battery Park, a move endorsed by most of the public. However, the expansion of Battery Park was opposed by wealthy merchants who deemed the proposed enlargement to be dangerous to maritime traffic, and they obtained the opinion of a
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
lieutenant who agreed with them. As a compromise, New York City's aldermen also voted to expand Battery Park to . Ultimately, the plans for the large park would result in the construction of Central Park. The relatively modern Battery Park was mostly created by
landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the wast ...
as part of
Lower Manhattan expansion The expansion of the land area of Lower Manhattan in New York City by land reclamation has, over time, greatly altered Manhattan Island's shorelines on the Hudson and East rivers; as well as those of the Upper New York Bay. The extension of th ...
starting from 1855, using earth from street-widening projects in Lower Manhattan which united Castle Garden's island with the "mainland" of Manhattan. The original shoreline is roughly the modern-day park's eastern boundary at State Street. On State Street, the former harbor front and the northern boundary of the park, a single Federal mansion, the
James Watson House The James Watson House, at 7 State Street between Pearl and Water Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1793 and extended in 1806, and is now the rectory of the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton. I ...
, survives as part of the Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. By 1870, there were plans to improve Battery Park and Bowling Green, which were seen as having degraded substantially due to overuse. Paths were to be laid through both parks, intersecting with a plaza to be built outside Castle Clinton. City Pier A, located immediately north of Castle Clinton, was commissioned in 1886 and completed two years after. The building originally housed the New York City Board of Dock Commissioners and subsequently was used as a fireboat station until 1992.


Elevated and subway lines

Several elevated railroad lines or "els" were being built to Battery Park by the late 19th century, but they were controversial for several reasons. Because the els were originally pulled by steam trains until 1902, this caused substantial pollution at Battery Park. The
New York Elevated Railroad Company New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
opened the Battery Place elevated station at Battery Place, on the park's northern end, in 1872. This was followed by the opening of the two-track South Ferry elevated station at the park's southern end in 1877. New York Elevated Railroad agreed to beautify Battery Park as a condition of being allowed to construct the station, but the elevated station's construction soon prompted opposition among people who wanted the elevated tracks removed. A larger four-track station was built nearby in 1879, serving the
Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ea ...
,
Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...
, Sixth, and
Ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...
Avenue Lines. In 1883, the state legislature established a committee to examine the process through which permission had been granted to construct the elevated station. The following year, New York Elevated proposed to extend the platforms of the Battery Place station over Battery Park because the platforms were too short to accommodate four-car trains. Another plan, which would have created elevated track loops over Battery Park, was rejected in 1887 as being unlawful. Other unsuccessful plans to build elevated tracks over Battery Park were proposed in 1889 and 1891. By 1900, the els were considered a nuisance, and there were calls to destroy the segments of elevated tracks that ran directly over the park, though this did not come to pass for another fifty years. In 1903, a state assemblyman proposed a bill that would give the elevated railroad companies the exclusive rights to build a rail terminal at Battery Park, precluding the construction of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s underground subway. The bill was not passed. By that time, the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, the Joralemon Street Tunnel to
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, and the South Ferry subway terminal were being built directly under the park. The South Ferry station opened in 1905, while the Joralemon Street Tunnel opened in 1908. Another early method of transportation was by
streetcars A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ar ...
, which stopped at Battery Place and traveled up both sides of Manhattan Island. These streetcar lines terminated at South Ferry and included what are now the bus routes. The streetcars were eliminated by 1936, though only some were replaced by buses.


20th century

By the 20th century, the quality of Battery Park had started to decline, and several new structures were being proposed within the park itself, though most plans faced opposition and were not built. For instance, in 1901, a large memorial arch to honor
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
sailors was proposed within the park. Another monument, to steamboat operator
Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steambo ...
, was proposed in September 1905 by Gustav H. Schwab. There was also a bill to construct a playground in the park, which was vetoed in 1903. Opposition to structures in Battery Park was such that even the construction of the IRT subway under Battery Park was opposed by the Manhattan parks commissioner. Other proposals included a 1910 plan to expand the Aquarium within Battery Park and a proposal for an athletic jogging field the following year. Furthermore, during World War I, there was a plan to construct a federal government building on the site, but this was withdrawn after the U.S. government found new premises following opposition to the project. Proposals to redesign Battery Park continued through the next decade. An expansion of the New York Aquarium within the park was announced in 1921, and a new memorial plaque was unveiled the same year. By 1926, a group called the Battery Park Association had formed a committee to study ways to improve the park. In 1928, it was proposed to remove the els from Battery Park. The following year, an immigrants' memorial was proposed within Battery Park, and the park itself was proposed for reconstruction into a formal vista. In 1937, Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes proposed making Battery Park into a landscaped "front door" for New York City, with a semicircular seawall and a curving plaza. Officials announced a proposal the following year to expand the park by in conjunction with improvements to roads around the park. In 1940, Battery Park was partially closed for the construction of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, and the aquarium was shuttered. Subsequently, several plans to modify Battery Park were proposed. A design competition to rebuild Battery Park was hosted in 1941, and a plan to replace Castle Clinton with a Fort Clinton memorial was also discussed. During the park's closure, its northern end was used to store debris. A second tunnel, the Battery Park Underpass, started construction in 1949. The following year, the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel opened, and the South Ferry elevated station was removed after the closure of the last elevated line leading to the station. After the underpass was completed in 1951, the park was re-landscaped and expanded by , and it reopened on July 15, 1952. In Battery Park's new layout, it contained a landscaped esplanade, a raised waterfront terrace, and an oval lawn with a playground. Various statues, formerly scattered across the park, were rearranged in patterns. The reconstruction of Battery Park had cost roughly $2.38 million. Several memorials opened through the mid-20th century. Peter Minuit Plaza and a Coast Guard memorial were both dedicated in 1955, and the East Coast Memorial was dedicated in 1963. Additionally, a "space needle" with office and commercial space, twice the height of the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from " Empire State", the nickname of the ...
, was proposed for the Battery in the 1960s, while discussions were ongoing on where to put the additional earth created from the construction of the World Trade Center. The building would have been placed partially on landfill adjacent to the Battery. The "needle" was never built, and the earth was used as landfill for the creation of Battery Park City, just to the north of Battery Park. By 1971, Battery Park was so dilapidated that a U.S. representative from Missouri,
Richard Howard Ichord Jr. Richard Howard Ichord Jr. (June 27, 1926 – December 25, 1992) was U.S. representative from Missouri and a significant U.S. anti-Communist political figure. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the last chairman of the House Un-American ...
, called the litter-ridden park "a national disgrace" and proposed that two
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...
employees be hired to clean up the park. Castle Clinton was restored several years later, and reopened in 1975. In 1982, Battery Park and multiple other "historic waterfront sites" were designated by the government of New York State as part of a zone called "Harbor Park". The other sites included South Street Seaport in Manhattan, Liberty and Ellis Islands in New York Harbor, Fulton Ferry in Brooklyn, and Sailors' Snug Harbor in
Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...
, which were to be linked by new ferry routes. The Harbor Park legislation was part of a city proposal to create a larger tourist destination out of these sites, focused chiefly around New York Harbor's history. The "park" was opened in July 1984.


Restoration and 21st century

Battery Park City was constructed as a luxury waterfront neighborhood through the 1970s and 1980s. The success of the development resulted in attention and new funding for Battery Park projects, such as $5 million for a garden near Castle Clinton. In 1988, governor Mario Cuomo and mayor Ed Koch announced a $100 million plan to construct two new parks in Battery Park City and rearrange the park at the Battery as part of a new Hudson River waterfront park system. Part of the waterfront park system had been completed previously, but the new proposal would complete the system of parks. Within Battery Park, the Battery Park City Authority would add new entrances and redesign the park to give clearer views of the Hudson River. However, by the 1990s, Battery Park was worn down, and many of the nearby residents and tourists shunned it altogether, except when taking boats to the
Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, ...
and Ellis Island. ''The New York Times'' said of the park, "Some benches are broken, all need repainting. Where grass should be, there is dirt and litter. A sign with a map and guide is so smeared with graffiti it is unreadable. There are potholes on the asphalt where people line up for boats to the Statue of Liberty." The nonprofit Battery Conservancy was created in 1994, and one of its first actions was to create an architectural plan for the park, and renovating it for $30 million. In 1998, the administration of mayor
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 19 ...
announced a $40 million initiative to renovate Battery Park. The restoration project, based on similar successful projects at Bryant and Central Parks, called for the relocation of the Battery's 23 statues, as well as an expansion of Castle Clinton. Much of the funding was to be raised privately, and at the time, this was thought to be a minor obstacle since Battery Park was neither as high-profile as Central Park, nor as worn-down as Bryant Park. One of the first renovation projects to commence was the reconstruction of the park's seawall and promenade at a cost of $5.5 million. Although Battery Park was used as an emergency staging site following the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
in 2001, construction on the upper promenade continued largely uninterrupted, and it opened in December 2001. Five months after being damaged in the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
,
Fritz Koenig Fritz Koenig (20 June 1924 – 22 February 2017) was one of the most important international German sculptors of the 20th century. Koenig's main work and most famous work is ''The Sphere''. The world's largest bronze sculpture of modern ti ...
's ''
The Sphere ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', which once stood at the center of the plaza of the World Trade Center a few blocks away, was reinstalled in a temporary location in the northern section of the park. It was located near the Netherland Monument in the northeast corner of the park before being moved to Liberty Park in the new World Trade Center in late 2017. The Battery Bosque, a new landscaped garden, opened in 2005. Some restoration projects were undertaken in Battery Park in the 2010s, including the addition of a community garden, the renovation of a promenade, and the construction of the SeaGlass Carousel. By June 2012, a third of the park was being cordoned off for these construction projects, though the park itself remained open, serving 10,000 to 15,000 daily visitors. In October of that year, Hurricane Sandy caused severe damage to the area, submerging the park under salt water for several hours. the Battery Conservancy restored the wooded areas within Battery Park, as well as added gardens and green patches to mitigate the effects of future storms. Though the SeaGlass Carousel was left largely intact during Hurricane Sandy, its opening was delayed. Following the storm, the attraction was supposed to open in late 2013, but did not actually open until August 2015. The
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolo ...
restored the park's original, historical title of "The Battery" in 2015. By the following year, the Battery Conservancy had raised $46 million in private funding over its 22-year existence, as well as $92 million in city funding. The conservancy planned to use these funds to make additional improvements to the park. For instance, the Battery Oval was opened in 2016. A environmentally-friendly, flood-resistant playground called the Playscape was proposed in 2016. Work began in March 2020, and the Playscape was completed in December 2021.


Notable attractions

The Battery contains multiple attractions and points of interest. Castle Clinton, a former fort, lies near the northwestern corner of the Battery and serves as the park's main attraction. To its north is the former fireboat station, Pier A, which was converted into a restaurant called Harbor House in 2014 and operated until 2020. Another eatery, the Battery Gardens restaurant, is located next to the United States Coast Guard Battery Building. Located nearby is a garden called the Battery Bosque, which was designed by Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf and is centered around a grove of 140 plane trees. An additional grove of 15 trees was dedicated at the park in 1976 as a gift from the city of
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. This area, located northwest of Castle Clinton, is called Jerusalem Grove. The northeastern corner hosts a lawn called the Battery Oval. The lawn opened in 2016 as part of a major restoration of the park, and contains turf made of Kentucky bluegrass. Along the waterfront,
Statue Cruises Hornblower Cruises & Events NOW City Experiences is a San Francisco-based charter yacht, dining cruise and ferry service company. History The company began in 1974 in Berkeley, California with two ships. In 1980 the original owner, Ward Proesc ...
offers ferries to the
Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, ...
and
Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...
. The southwestern corner of the Battery contains the SeaGlass Carousel, an attraction with
bioluminescent Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some b ...
design that pays homage not only to the carousel's waterfront site, but also to Castle Clinton's former status as an aquarium. The southeastern corner contains Peter Minuit Plaza, an
intermodal passenger transport Intermodal passenger transport, also called mixed-mode commuting, involves using two or more modes of transportation in a journey. Mixed-mode commuting is often used to combine the strengths (and offset the weaknesses) of various transportati ...
hub. The plaza hosts a bus terminal for the buses, an entrance to the Staten Island Ferry's Whitehall Terminal, entrances to the
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October ...
's South Ferry/Whitehall Street station, and taxi stands. The plaza also includes the New Amsterdam Plein and Pavilion, a pavilion gifted by the
Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...
, which displays art, design, and horticulture. The park is also the site of numerous memorials and monuments placed there over the years. , the park saw over five million annual visitors. In 2016, the Battery Conservancy said that the park saw 600,000 visitors a month, which amounted to about 7.2 million visitors per year.


Castle Clinton

Castle Clinton was originally called the West Battery, it was built as a fort just prior to the War of 1812. It was renamed Castle Clinton in 1815 after the war, in honor of mayor
DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the seventh governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely re ...
, and became property of the city in 1823. When leased by the city, it became a popular
promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...
and
beer garden A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees. Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain c ...
called Castle Garden. Later roofed over, it became one of the premier theatrical venues in the United States and contributed greatly to the development of New York City as the theater capital of the nation. In the early 1850s alone, the venue hosted such acts as Swedish
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261  Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...
Jenny Lind Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and ...
, European dancing star
Lola Montez Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld (17 February 1821 – 17 January 1861), better known by the stage name Lola Montez (), was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig I ...
, French conductor
Louis-Antoine Jullien Louis George Maurice Adolphe Roche Albert Abel Antonio Alexandre Noë Jean Lucien Daniel Eugène Joseph-le-brun Joseph-Barême Thomas Thomas Thomas-Thomas Pierre Arbon Pierre-Maurel Barthélemi Artus Alphonse Bertrand Dieudonné Emanuel Josué V ...
, and the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company. The migration of the city's elite uptown increased during the mid-19th century, and in 1855, Castle Garden was closed and made into the world's first immigration depot. The immigration center operated until 1890, just before the offshore immigration facility at
Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...
opened. An estimated 7.7 million immigrants passed through the center during its operation. The structure then housed the New York Aquarium from 1896 to 1941, when it was closed as part of Triborough Bridge Authority commissioner
Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
's plans to build the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Moses wanted to create a Fort Clinton memorial on the site, but would only keep Castle Clinton if the federal government agreed to pay for its restoration. Ultimately, Castle Clinton was preserved as part of a
National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spe ...
in 1946. The structure was restored in 1975. Today, Castle Clinton retains its original name and is managed by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...
. It contains a small history exhibit and ticket booths for the ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island; in addition, it occasionally hosts concerts. As the site of the ferry ticket office, it recorded nearly 4.08 million visitors in 2009. According to data from the National Park Service, the Statue of Liberty National Monument, which includes Castle Clinton, was the most popular national monument in the United States that year.


Memorials

Battery Park contains over 20 monuments, many of which are clustered in an area called "Monument Walk".


Hope Garden

Within the park is Hope Garden, a memorial dedicated to
AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...
victims, where ''
The Sphere ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' had been exhibited at times. The garden has also been used as a site for environmental demonstrations due to its fragility and the Battery's status as a
tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural ...
. ''The Sphere'' was later moved to Liberty Park.


Netherland Monument

The Netherland Monument with its flagpole was dedicated on December 6, 1926, as a gift from the Dutch in commemoration of the
purchase of Manhattan Island Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly betwe ...
three centuries prior. It was originally located south of Castle Clinton, but during the 1940–1952 renovation, the flagpole was relocated to the northeast entrance of the Battery, where it still stands. It was renovated and rededicated in 2000.


East Coast Memorial

A World War II war memorial, the East Coast Memorial is one of three war memorials in the United States administered by the
American Battle Monuments Commission The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is an independent agency of the United States government that administers, operates, and maintains permanent U.S. military cemeteries, memorials and monuments primarily outside the United States. ...
; the others are the West Coast Memorial to the Missing of World War II in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
and the Honolulu Memorial. The memorial commemorates U.S. servicemen who died in coastal waters of the western
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
during the
Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...
. A total of 4,609 names are inscribed on both sides of eight 19-foot-tall granite pylons. The pylons are arranged in two rows of four each. Between the two rows stands a bronze statue of an eagle, erected on a black granite pedestal. The eagle faces the
Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, ...
in
New York Harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in ...
. The memorial was designed by the architectural firm of Gehron & Seltzer, while the eagle statue was created by
Albino Manca Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...
, an Italian-born sculptor. The granite slabs were set up in October 1959; the sculpture was installed in February 1963, and the memorial was dedicated by President John F. Kennedy that May.


American Merchant Mariners' Memorial

The American Merchant Mariners' Memorial sculpture, located in the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
west of the park, is sited on a stone breakwater just south of Pier A and connected to the pier by a dock. It was designed by the sculptor Marisol Escobar and dedicated in 1991. The bronze sculpture depicts four merchant seamen with their sinking vessel after it had been attacked by German submarine ''U-123'' during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. One of the seamen is in the water, and is covered by the sea with each high tide. The sculpture is loosely based on a real photograph by the U-boat's commander, of crewmen of the SS ''Muskogee'', all of whom died at sea. The memorial was commissioned by the American Merchant Mariners' Memorial, Inc., chaired by
AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
president
Lane Kirkland Joseph Lane Kirkland (March 12, 1922 – August 14, 1999) was an American labor union leader who served as President of the AFL–CIO from 1979 to 1995. Life and career Kirkland was born in Camden, South Carolina, the son of Louise Beardsley ( ...
.


Other memorials

The park also contains several other memorials, including: * ''The Immigrants'' (1983, rededicated 2005) – Located south of Castle Clinton, this statue by Luis Sanguino depicts multiple types of immigrants that would have passed through Castle Clinton in the late 19th century. * ''Korean War Memorial'' (1991) – Located at Battery Place just northeast of Castle Clinton and designed by Mac Adams, it is a black granite obelisk dedicated to veterans of the
Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...
. It was intended as one of the United States' first Korean War memorials. *
John Ericsson John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American inventor. He was active in England and the United States. Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive ''Novelty'', which co ...
statue (1903) – Located near the center of the park, the statue was designed by
Jonathan Scott Hartley Jonathan Scott Hartley (September 23, 1845 – December 6, 1912) was an American sculptor. Biography Jonathan Scott Hartley was born in Albany, New York on September 23, 1845. He was educated at The Albany Academy, and married Helen Inness in ...
. It commemorates Ericsson, a designer and innovator of
ironclad warship An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...
s, and depicts him holding a model of the . * ''Walloon Settlers Memorial'' (1924) – Located at Battery Place, the memorial was designed by Henry Bacon. The monument is a
stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek language, Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ...
dedicated to Jessé de Forest for his contributions to the founding of New York City, and marked the 300th anniversary of the settlers' migration. * ''
Giovanni da Verrazzano Giovanni da Verrazzano ( , , often misspelled Verrazano in English; 1485–1528) was an Italian ( Florentine) explorer of North America, in the service of King Francis I of France. He is renowned as the first European to explore the Atlanti ...
'' (1909) – Located at Battery Place, the memorial was designed by Ettore Ximenes. It is a statue of Verrazzano, the first European to sail into
New York Harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in ...
, on a pedestal. * ''World War II Coast Guard Memorial'' (1955) – Located at the extreme southeast end of Battery Park, this memorial was designed by Norman M. Thomas and depicts three figures on a pedestal. * ''Wireless Operators Memorial'' (1915, rededicated 1952) – Located near the center of the park, the monument consists of a cenotaph commemorating wireless telegraph operators who went down with their ships. *''River That Flows Two Ways'' (2000) – Located on the Admiral Dewey Promenade as part of the waterfront railing, this piece of public art was designed by Wopo Holup. Temporary monuments have also been installed in the Battery, such as the '' Staten Island Ferry Disaster Memorial Museum'', a 2016 piece memorializing a fake octopus attack on the Staten Island Ferry, as well as a "
UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are ide ...
Tugboat Abduction Memorial" from the same sculptor as the ferry "memorial". At least ten monuments, including the Verrazzano, Coast Guard and Wireless memorials, were stored in the park behind a temporary fence from the mid-2000s until 2016. Controversy over the statues' integrity arose in 2015 after renovations took longer than expected. Representatives of NYC Park Advocates and the Italian-American organization
UNICO is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Sanrio's manga magazine ' from November 1976 to March 1979 and collected in two volumes. A pilot film for a potential television series was produce ...
expressed concern about the statues' condition, although experts said there should be no long-term physical harm. The monuments have since been installed in or around the perimeter of the park, although not necessarily in their previous locations. Prior to the restoration, which cost $875,000, some of the monuments had not been restored for 60 years.


Surroundings


Around the park

To the northwest of the park lies Battery Park City, a planned community built on landfill in the 1970s and 1980s, which includes Robert F. Wagner Park and the Battery Park City Promenade. Battery Park City, proposed in 1966, was named after the park. Battery Park contains the Battery Bikeway, a component piece of the
Manhattan Waterfront Greenway The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway is a waterfront greenway for walking or cycling, long, around the island of Manhattan, in New York City. The largest portions are operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is separ ...
, a system of parks, bikeways, and
promenades An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...
around Manhattan Island. The bicycle path was completed in late 2015 and consists of terracotta pavings near the waterfront, adjacent to a pedestrian walkway. The bikeway contains three connections to other parts of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway: * A bike path originates on the northern side of the Battery and runs parallel to the West Side Highway to its west. North of Battery Park City, the bikeway continues into Hudson River Park, which extends up the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
shoreline. * Another bike path exits the Battery from the northwest and runs directly on the shore of the Hudson River through Battery Park City. * At the Battery's southeast end, the bikeway continues as the East River Greenway, which runs next to
FDR Drive The Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, commonly called the FDR Drive for short, is a limited-access parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It starts near South and Broad Streets, just north of the Battery Par ...
. Across State Street to the northeast is
Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...
, as well as the old U.S. Customs House, now used as a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian and the district U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Peter Minuit Plaza abuts the southeast end of the park, directly in front of the Staten Island Ferry's Whitehall Terminal at South Ferry.


Under the park

Two road tunnels and several rail tunnels run under Battery Park. The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, opened 1950, carries vehicular traffic to
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. The Battery Park Underpass, opened 1951, carries vehicular traffic from the West Side Highway to the
FDR Drive The Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, commonly called the FDR Drive for short, is a limited-access parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It starts near South and Broad Streets, just north of the Battery Par ...
. Several
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October ...
tunnels also run under the Battery. The old South Ferry station, opened 1905 as part of the city's first subway line, the former Interborough Rapid Transit Company's Broadway–Seventh Avenue and Lexington Avenue Lines have a balloon loop to enable trains to turn around and switch between the two lines. It closed in 2009 following the opening of a replacement subway station. The replacement station, South Ferry on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (), opened in 2009, created a new free connection with the
BMT Broadway Line The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan. , it is served by four services, all colored : the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks during weekdays (the N and Q train ...
's
Whitehall Street station The South Ferry/Whitehall Street station is a New York City Subway station complex in the Financial District neighborhood of Manhattan, under Battery Park. The complex is shared by the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and the BMT Broadw ...
(), comprising the
South Ferry/Whitehall Street station The South Ferry/Whitehall Street station is a New York City Subway station complex in the Financial District neighborhood of Manhattan, under Battery Park. The complex is shared by the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and the BMT Broadw ...
complex. The new station sustained severe damage following Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 and the old loop station was temporarily reactivated between April 2013 and June 2017, when the new station reopened. The
Bowling Green station The Bowling Green station is a station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at Broadway and Battery Place (at Bowling Green), in the Financial District of Manhattan. It is served by the 4 train at all times a ...
, which opened in 1905 as part of the original subway, serves the at the northeast corner of the park. Its original entrance, or "
Control House A head house or headhouse may be an enclosed building attached to an open-sided shed, or the aboveground part of a subway station. Markets In the 18th and early 19th centuries, head houses were often civic buildings such as town halls or courtho ...
", is a
New York City designated landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
. Tracks leading south of the station go to both the old South Ferry station and to the Joralemon Street Tunnel, which skirts the park before traveling under the
East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...
.


Discovery of wall

In late 2005, New York City authorities announced that builders working on the new station had found the remains of a stone wall from the British colonial era, during the late 17th or 18th century. After archeological analysis, the wall was widely reported to be the oldest man-made structure still in place in Manhattan. Four walls and over 250,000 individual artifacts were found, and a portion of one wall was placed on temporary display inside Castle Clinton. Another, long portion of the wall was embedded permanently into the entrance to the newly constructed station, at the same depth below street level as originally discovered. Robert Tierney, chairman of the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
, said that the wall was probably built to protect the park's original artillery batteries. The remains were described as "an important remnant of the history of New York City".


See also

* Zelda (turkey), resident bird of the park


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * *


External links


NYC Parks

The Battery Conservancy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battery (Manhattan), The The Battery (Manhattan) Financial District, Manhattan New York State Heritage Areas Parks in Manhattan