Battery Park City, Manhattan
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Battery Park City is a mainly residential
planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
and
neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
on the west side of the southern tip of the island of
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
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 ...
. It is bounded by 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 N ...
on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north and south, and the
West Side Highway The Joe DiMaggio Highway, commonly called the West Side Highway and formerly the Miller Highway, is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A), running from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern t ...
on the east. The neighborhood is named for the Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, located directly to the south. More than one-third of the development is parkland. The land upon which it is built was created by
land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...
on the Hudson River using over of soil and rock excavated during the construction of the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
, the
New York City Water Tunnel New York City Water Tunnel No. 3 is a water-supply tunnel forming part of the New York City water supply system. It is being built by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to provide New York City with a third connection to its ...
, and certain other construction projects, as well as from sand dredged from
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 t ...
off
Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
. The neighborhood includes Brookfield Place (formerly the World Financial Center), along with numerous buildings designed for housing, commercial, and retail. Battery Park City is part of Manhattan Community District 1. It is patrolled by the 1st Precinct of the
New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
.


Geography

Battery Park City is bounded on the east by
West Street The Joe DiMaggio Highway, commonly called the West Side Highway and formerly the Miller Highway, is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A), running from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern t ...
, which separates the area from the
Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
of
Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
. To the west, north, and south, the area is surrounded by 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 N ...
. The development consists of roughly five major sections. Traveling north to south, the first neighborhood has high-rise residential buildings, the
Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...
, a
Regal Entertainment Group Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens i ...
movie theater, and the Battery Park City branch of the
New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
. It is also the site of the 463-suite Conrad New York luxury hotel, which contains restaurants and bars such as the Loopy Doopy Rooftop Bar, ATRIO Wine Bar Restaurant, Mexican-themed El Vez, and two
Danny Meyer Daniel Meyer (born March 14, 1958) is a New York City restaurateur and the Founder & Executive Chairman of the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG). Background and early career Meyer was born and raised in a reform Jewish family in St. Louis, M ...
-branded restaurants (Blue Smoke and
Shake Shack Shake Shack is an American fast casual restaurant chain based in New York City. It started out as a hot dog cart inside Madison Square Park in 2001, and its popularity steadily grew. In 2004, it received a permit to open a permanent kiosk with ...
); the hotel has a ballroom and a conference center. Other restaurants located in that hotel, as well as a DSW store and a New York Sports Club branch, were closed in 2009 after the takeover of the property by
Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
. Former undeveloped lots in the area have been developed into high-rise buildings; for example,
Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
built a new headquarters at
200 West Street 200 West Street is the global headquarters of the Goldman Sachs investment banking firm in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The building is a , 44-story building located on West Street, between Vesey and Murr ...
. Nearby is Brookfield Place, a complex of several commercial buildings formerly known as the World Financial Center. Current residential neighborhoods of Battery Park City are divided into northern and southern sections, separated by Brookfield Place. The northern section consists entirely of large, 20–45-story buildings, all various shades of orange brick. The southern section, extending down from the Winter Garden, which is located in Brookfield Place, contains residential apartment buildings such as Gateway Plaza and the Rector Place apartment buildings. In this section lies the majority of Battery Park City's residential areas, in three sections: Gateway Plaza, a high-rise building complex; the "Rector Place Residential Neighborhood"; and the" Battery Place Residential Neighborhood". These subsections contain most of the area's residential buildings, along with
park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
space,
supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
s,
restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
s, and
movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...
s. Construction of residential buildings began north of the World Financial Center in the late 1990s, and completion of the final lots took place in early 2011. Additionally, a park restoration was completed in 2013.


History


Site and formation

Throughout the 19th century and early-20th century, the area adjoining today's Battery Park City was known as
Little Syria Little Syria ( ar, سوريا الصغيرة) was a diverse neighborhood that existed in the New York City borough of Manhattan from the late 1880s until the 1940s., pp.76-77; Two other sections of New York were singled out as particularly Syrian i ...
with Lebanese, Greeks, Armenians, and other ethnic groups. In 1929, the land was the proposed site of a $50,000,000 residential development that would have served workers in the Wall Street area. The
Battery Tower A battery tower was a defensive tower built into the outermost defences of many castles, usually in the 16th century or later, after the advent of firearms. Its name is derived from the word battery, a group of several cannon. These, usually r ...
project was left unfinished after workers digging the foundation ran into forty feet of old bulkheads, sunken docks, and ships. Construction was halted and never restarted. By the late-1950s, the once-prosperous port area of downtown Manhattan was occupied by a number of dilapidated shipping piers, casualties of the rise of
container shipping Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pro ...
which drove sea traffic to
Port Elizabeth, New Jersey Port Elizabeth is an unincorporated community located within Maurice River Township in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP code 08348. As of the 2000 United States Census, the popu ...
. The initial proposal to reclaim this area through
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 waste ...
was offered in the early-1960s by private firms and supported by the mayor, part of a long history 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 ...
. That plan became complicated when Governor
Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
announced his desire to redevelop a part of the area as a separate project. The various groups reached a compromise, and in 1966 the governor unveiled the proposal for what would become Battery Park City. The creation of architect
Wallace K. Harrison Wallace Kirkman Harrison (September 28, 1895 – December 2, 1981) was an American architect. Harrison started his professional career with the firm of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray, participating in the construction of Rockefeller Center. He is ...
, the proposal called for a 'comprehensive community' consisting of housing, social infrastructure and light industry. The landscaping of the park space and later the Winter Garden was designed by
M. Paul Friedberg M. Paul Friedberg, FASLA, (born 1931) is an American landscape architect. Biography M. Paul Friedberg was born in New York City where he attended Cornell University. In 1954 he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. He said that "after n ...
. In 1968, the
New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...
created the
Battery Park City Authority Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the nort ...
(BPCA) to oversee development. Rockefeller named
Charles J. Urstadt Charles Jordan Urstadt (October 27, 1928 – March 3, 2020) was an American real estate executive and investor. He was an important figure for the development of Battery Park City in Manhattan and for the elimination of rent control in New York ...
as the first chairman of the authority's board that year. He then served as the chief executive officer from 1973 to 1978. Urstadt later served as the authority's vice chair from 1996 to 2010. The
New York State Urban Development Corporation Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). T ...
and ten other public agencies were also involved in the development project. For the next several years, the BPCA made slow progress. In April 1969, it unveiled a master plan for the area, which was approved in October. In early-1972, the BPCA issued $200 million in bonds to fund construction efforts, with
Harry B. Helmsley Harry Brakmann Helmsley (March 4, 1909 – January 4, 1997) was an American real estate billionaire whose company, Helmsley-Spear, became one of the country's biggest property holders, owning the Empire State Building and many of New York's mos ...
designated as the developer. That same year, the city approved plans to alter the number of apartments designated for lower, middle and upper income renters. Urstadt said the changes were needed to make the financing for the project viable. In addition to the change in the mix of units, the city approved adding nine acres, which extended the northern boundary from Reade Street to Duane Street. Landfill material from
construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
of the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
and other buildings in Lower Manhattan was used to add fill for the southern portion. Cellular
cofferdam A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for construction or re ...
s were constructed to retain the material. After removal of the piers, wooden piles and overburden of silt, the northern portion (north of, and including the marina) was filled with sand dredged from areas adjacent to
Ambrose Channel Ambrose Channel is the only shipping channel in and out of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The channel is considered to be part of Lower New York Bay and is located several miles off the coasts of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and Breezy Point, ...
in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as stone from the construction of Water Tunnel #3. By 1976, the landfill was completed. Seating stands for viewing the American Bicentennial "Operation Sail" flotilla parade were set up on the completed landfill in July 1976. Construction efforts ground to a halt in 1977, as a result of the city's fiscal crisis. That year, the presidential administration of Jimmy Carter approved mortgage insurance for 1,600 of the development's proposed units. In 1979, the title to the landfill was transferred from the city to the Battery Park City Authority, which financially restructured itself and created a new, more viable master plan, designed by Alex Cooper of
Cooper, Robertson & Partners Cooper Robertson is an international architecture and urban design firm, headquartered in New York City, founded by Alex Cooper and Jaquelin T. Robertson. History Cooper Robertson was founded in 1979 by Alex Cooper under the name Alexander C ...
and Stanton Eckstut. By that time, only two of the proposed development's buildings had been built, and the $200 million bond issue was supposed to have been paid off the next year. The design of BPC to some degree reflects the values of vibrant city neighborhoods championed by
Jane Jacobs Jane Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book '' The Death and Life of Great American Cities ...
. The
Urban Land Institute The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a nonprofit research and education organization with regional offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London. ULI advocates progressive development, conducting research, and education in topics such as s ...
(ULI) awarded the Battery Park City Master Plan its 2010 Heritage Award, for having "facilitated the private development of 9.3 million square feet of commercial space, 7.2 million square feet of residential space, and nearly 36 acres of open space in lower Manhattan, becoming a model for successful large-scale planning efforts and marking a positive shift away from the urban renewal mindset of the time."


Construction and early development

During the late-1970s and early-1980s, the site hosted Creative Time's landmark Art on the Beach sculpture exhibitions. On September 23, 1979, the landfill was the site of an anti-nuclear rally attended by 200,000 people. Construction began on the first residential building in June 1980. In April 1981, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (now the
Empire State Development Corporation Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). T ...
) issued a request for proposal, ultimately selecting six real-estate companies to develop over 1,800 residential units. The same year, the World Financial Center started construction;
Olympia and York Olympia & York (also spelled as Olympia and York, abbreviated as O&Y) was a major international property development firm based in Toronto, Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes including Canary Wharf in London, the World Fina ...
of
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
was named as the developer for the World Financial Center, who then hired
Cesar Pelli Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * C ...
as the lead architect. By 1985, construction was completed and the World Financial Center (later renamed Brookfield Place New York) saw its first tenants. The newly completed development was lauded by ''The New York Times'' as "a triumph of urban design," with the World Financial Center being deemed "a symbol of change." During early construction, two acres of land in the southern section of the Battery Park landfill was used by artist
Agnes Denes Agnes Denes (Dénes Ágnes; born 1931 in Budapest) is a Hungarian-born American conceptual artist based in New York. She is known for works in a wide range of media—from poetry and philosophical writings to extremely detailed drawings, sculpt ...
to plant wheat in an exhibition titled '' Wheatfield - A Confrontation''. The project was a visual contradiction: a golden field of wheat set among the steel skyscrapers of downtown Manhattan. It was created during a six-month period in the spring, summer, and fall of 1982 when Denes, with the support of the
Public Art Fund Public Art Fund is an independent, non-profit arts organization founded in 1977 by Doris Freedman, Doris C. Freedman. The organization presents contemporary art in New York City's public spaces through a series of highly visible artists' projects, n ...
, planted the field of wheat on rubble-strewn land near
Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
and the
World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground zero#World Trade Center, Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounde ...
. Denes stated that her "decision to plant a wheatfield in Manhattan, instead of designing just another public sculpture, grew out of a long-standing concern and need to call attention to our misplaced priorities and deteriorating human values." Throughout the 1980s, the BPCA oversaw a great deal of construction, including the entire Rector Place neighborhood and the river esplanade. It was during that period that
Amanda Burden Amanda Jay Mortimer Burden ( Mortimer; January 18, 1944) is a principal at Bloomberg Associates, an international consulting service founded by Michael Bloomberg as a philanthropic venture to help city governments improve the quality of life of ...
, later City Planning Department Director in the Bloomberg administration, worked on Battery Park City. During the 1980s, a total of 13 buildings were constructed. The
Vietnam Veterans Plaza Vietnam Veterans Plaza is an American memorial plaza in Manhattan, New York. It honors New York City citizens who served during the 20th-century Vietnam War. Description and history Located in the Financial District in Lower Manhattan, i ...
was established by
Edward I. Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayo ...
in 1985. In the early-1990s, Battery Park City became the new home of the
Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...
. During the 1990s, an additional six buildings were added to the neighborhood. By the turn of the 21st century, Battery Park City was mostly completed, with the exception of some ongoing construction on West Street. Initially, in the 1980s, 23 buildings were built in the area. By the 1990s, 9 more buildings were built, followed by the construction of 11 buildings in the 2000s and 3 buildings in the 2010s. The Battery Park City Authority, wishing to attract more middle-class residents, started providing subsidies in 1998 to households whose annual incomes were $108,000 or less. By the end of the decade, nearly the entire landfill had been developed.


Early 21st century

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 commercia ...
in 2001 had a major impact on Battery Park City. The residents of Lower Manhattan and particularly of Battery Park City were displaced for an extended period of time. Parts of the community were an official crime scene and therefore residents were unable to return to live or even collect property. Many of the displaced residents were not allowed to return to the area for months and none were given government guidance of where to live temporarily on the already-crowded island of Manhattan. With most hotel rooms booked, residents, including young children and the elderly, were forced to fend for themselves. When they were finally allowed to return to Battery Park City, some found that their homes had been looted. Upon residents' return, the air in the area was still filled with toxic smoke from the World Trade Center fires that persisted until December 2001. More than half of the area's residents moved away permanently from the community after the adjacent World Trade Center towers collapsed and spread toxic dust, debris, and smoke. Gateway Plaza's 600 building, Hudson View East, and Parc Place (now Rector Square) were punctured by airplane parts. The Winter Garden and other portions of the World Financial Center were severely damaged. Environmental concerns regarding dust from the Trade Center are a continuing source of concern for many residents, scientists, and elected officials. Since the attacks, the damage has been repaired. Temporarily reduced rents and government subsidies helped restore residential occupancy in the years following the attacks. After September 11, 2001, residents of Battery Park City and
Tribeca Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Stre ...
formed
the TriBattery Pops Tom Goodkind Conductor The TriBattery Pops - Tom Goodkind, Conductor is an all-volunteer community band, and is Lower Manhattan's first such band for over a hundred years. The band's founder and conductor is what songwriter Chris Butler of The Waitresses, once called "a ...
in response to the events of the attacks. The “Pops” have been
Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
-nominated and are the first lower Manhattan all-volunteer community band in a century. Since then, real estate development in the area has continued robustly. Commercial development includes the
200 West Street 200 West Street is the global headquarters of the Goldman Sachs investment banking firm in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The building is a , 44-story building located on West Street, between Vesey and Murr ...
, the
Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
global headquarters, which began construction in 2005 and opened for occupancy in October 2009. 200 West Street is seeking gold-level certification under the
United States Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...
’s
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
(LEED) program by incorporating various water and energy conservation features. Several residential projects are underway, including LEED buildings.


Ownership and maintenance

Battery Park City is owned and managed by the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), a Class A New York State public-benefit corporation created by New York State in 1968 to redevelop outmoded and deteriorated piers, a project that has involved reclaiming the land, replanning the area and facilitating new construction of a mixed commercial and residential community. It has operated under the authority of the
Urban Development Corporation Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). T ...
. Its mission is "to plan, create, coordinate and sustain a balanced community of
commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
,
residential A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...
,
retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
, and
park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
space within its designated 92-acre site on the lower west side of
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
". The authority's board is composed of seven uncompensated members who are appointed by the
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
and who serve six-year terms. B. J. Jones is the president and chief executive officer. The BPCA is invested with substantial powers: it can acquire, hold and dispose of
real property In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or affixe ...
, enter into lease agreements, borrow money and issue
debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
, and manage the project. Like other public benefit corporations, the BPCA is exempt from
property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...
es and has the ability to issue tax exempt bonds. In 2021, the BPCA has operating expenses of $69.1 million as well as an outstanding debt of $875.09 million, and it employed 200 people. Under the 1989 agreement between the BPCA and the City of New York, $600 million was transferred by the BPCA to the city. Charles J. Urstadt, the first chairman and CEO of the BPCA, noted in an August 19, 2007, op-ed piece in the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'' that the aggregate figure of funds transferred to the City of New York is above $1.4 billion, with the BPCA continuing to contribute $200 million a year. The Independent Budget Office of the City of New York also recommended the city take over Battery Park City in a report published in February 2020. The report echoed Urstadt's proposal as a way to increase revenue to the city. An article published by ''The Broadsheet Daily'' described the complex shared ownership structure of Battery Park City between the city and state that was set up by Urstadt. Excess revenue from the area was to be contributed to other housing efforts, typically low-income projects in
the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
and
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
. Much of this funding has historically been diverted to general city expenses, under section 3.d of the 1989 agreement. However, in July 2006, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
, Governor
George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...
, and Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. announced the final approval for the New York City Housing Trust Fund derived from $130 million in Battery Park City revenues. The fund aimed to preserve or create 4,300 units of low- and moderate-income housing by 2009. It also provided seed financing for the New York Acquisition Fund, a $230 million initiative that aims to serve as a catalyst for the construction and preservation of more than 30,000 units of affordable housing citywide by 2016. The Acquisition Fund has since established itself as a model for similar funds in cities and states across the country. By 2018, thirty residential buildings had been built in Battery Park City and no new construction was planned. The Battery Park City Authority's main focus turned to maintenance of existing infrastructure, security and conservancy of the public spaces. The authority was creating over 1,000 free activities per year. Condo owners in Battery Park City pay higher monthly charges than owners of comparable apartments elsewhere in New York City because residents pay their building's common charges in addition to PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes). The PILOT payments replace real estate taxes and the land lease. As a result, residential units have higher monthly costs compared to other neighborhoods. The cumulative effect is lower property values for homeowners. Because none of the properties in Battery Park City own the land they are built on, many banks have refused to write loans when those ground leases are periodically up for renewal. This has been a regular source of anger and frustration for owners in Battery Park City who are looking to sell.


Demographics

For census purposes, the New York City government classifies Battery Park City as part of a larger neighborhood tabulation area called Battery Park City-Lower Manhattan. Based on data from the
2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
, the population of Battery Park City-Lower Manhattan was 39,699, an increase of 19,611 (97.6%) from the 20,088 counted in
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of .Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
Population Division -
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 ...
Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 65.4% (25,965)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 3.2% (1,288)
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.1% (35) Native American, 20.2% (8,016)
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.0% (17)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 0.4% (153) from
other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 3.0% (1,170) from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race were 7.7% (3,055) of the population.Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
Population Division -
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 ...
Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.
The entirety of Community District 1, which comprises Battery Park City and other Lower Manhattan neighborhoods, had 63,383 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 85.8 years. This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are young to middle-aged adults: half (50%) are between the ages of 25–44, while 14% are between 0–17, and 18% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 11% and 7% respectively. As of 2017, the median
household income Household income is a measure of the combined incomes of all people sharing a particular household or place of residence. It includes every form of income, e.g., salaries and wages, retirement income, near cash government transfers like food stamp ...
in Community Districts 1 and 2 (including
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
and
SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...
) was $144,878, though the median income in Battery Park City individually was $126,771. In 2018, an estimated 9% of Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan residents lived in poverty, compared to 14% in all of Manhattan and 20% in all of New York City. One in twenty-five residents (4%) were unemployed, compared to 7% in Manhattan and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 38% in Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 45% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan are considered high-income relative to the rest of the city and not
gentrifying Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...
. , about 10,000 people live in Battery Park City, most of whom are
upper middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term ''lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class strat ...
and
upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...
(54.0% of households have incomes over $100,000). When fully built out, the neighborhood is projected to have 14,000 residents.


Census

Based on the 2020 census, the racial makeup of Northern Battery Park City (10282) was 66% White, 2% Black, 0% Native American, 16% Asian, 0% Islander, 0% from other races, and 5% from two or more races. Hispanic of Latino of any race were 11% of the population. The racial makeup of South Battery Park City (10280) was 69% White, 1% Black, 0% Native, 17% Asian, 0% Islander, 0% from other races, 3% from two or more races, and 11% Hispanic. As of 2020, the population of the area was 16,169.


Cultural heritage

A largely
Arab-American Arab Americans ( ar, عَرَبٌ أَمْرِيكِا or ) are Americans of Arab ancestry. Arab Americans trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants of the countries comprising the Arab World. According to the Arab American Inst ...
neighborhood existed adjacent to what is today southeastern Battery Park City from the late 1880s, pp. 76-77 to the 1940s. "
Little Syria Little Syria ( ar, سوريا الصغيرة) was a diverse neighborhood that existed in the New York City borough of Manhattan from the late 1880s until the 1940s., pp.76-77; Two other sections of New York were singled out as particularly Syrian i ...
" encompassed Washington Street from Battery Park to Rector Street. It declined as a neighborhood as the inhabitants became successful and moved to other areas, especially Atlantic Avenue in
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 disappeared almost entirely when a great deal of lower Washington Street was demolished to make way for entrance ramps to the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, which opened in 1950. The overwhelming majority of the residents were
Arabic-speaking Christians Arab Christians ( ar, ﺍَﻟْﻤَﺴِﻴﺤِﻴُّﻮﻥ ﺍﻟْﻌَﺮَﺏ, translit=al-Masīḥīyyūn al-ʿArab) are ethnic Arabs, Arab nationals, or Arabic-speakers who adhere to Christianity. The number of Arab Christians who l ...
,
Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in the Middle East. The term comes from the common Central Semitic Semitic root, ro ...
and
Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the larges ...
immigrants from present-day
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
who settled in the area in the late 19th century, escaping
religious persecution Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within soc ...
and poverty in their homelands – which were then under control of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
– and answering the call of American
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
to escape their difficulties by traveling to New York City.Dunlap, David W
"When an Arab Enclave Thrived Downtown"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', August 24, 2010. Accessed August 25, 2010.
However, many other ethnic groups had lived in this diverse neighborhood, including Greeks, Turks, Armenians, Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Czechs, and Irish. A long-standing reminder of the ethnic past was the former
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, officially the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine, is a church and shrine in the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is administered by the Greek Orthodox Archdi ...
, which was destroyed 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 commercia ...
. An additional historic church,
St. George's Syrian Catholic Church St. George's Syrian Catholic Church is a former church located at 103 Washington Street between Rector Street and Carlisle Street in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. The church is the last physical reminder of the Syrian Ameri ...
, still stands at 103 Washington Street.


Buildings


Residential

The first residential building in Battery Park City, Gateway Plaza, was completed in 1983. , the population of the area was 13,386. Some of the more prominent residential buildings include: *Millennium Point, a , 38-story
skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
built from 1999 to 2001."Millennium Point"
Emporis.com, 2011.
It occupies the street addresses 25–39 Battery Place.
, in-arch.net, 2011
However, due to 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 commercia ...
which hit the nearby
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
, opening of Millennium Point was delayed until January 2002. The building won the 2001 Silver
Emporis Skyscraper Award The Emporis Skyscraper Award was an award for architectural excellence regarding the design of buildings and their functionality. The award was presented annually by Emporis, a real estate data mining company with headquarters in Hamburg, Germany ...
. The tower section contains 113 luxury condominiums. The wider, lower 12 floors are occupied by a 5-star hotel, The Wagner at the Battery (formerly the
Ritz-Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...
Battery Park). The hotel has 298 rooms, including 44 suites, with the largest suite spanning in area. The
Skyscraper Museum The Skyscraper Museum is an architecture museum located in Battery Park City, Manhattan, New York City and founded in 1996. As the name suggests, the museum focuses on high-rise buildings as "products of technology, objects of design, sites of c ...
occupies a small space on the first floor of the building. A restaurant is located on the 14th floor. *The Solaire, the first
green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
residential building in the United States, as well as the first residential high-rise building in New York City to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. It was designed by
Pelli Clarke Pelli Pelli is the surname of: * Arttu Pelli (born 1996), Finnish ice hockey * César Pelli (1926–2019), Argentine architect * Denis Pelli (born 1954), Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University * Fulvio Pelli (born 1951), Sw ...
and completed in 2003. The Solaire is located at 20 River Terrace. The developer received funding from the
State of New York New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...
, which was somewhat controversial as the developer was only required to agree to set aside 10% of the units as "affordable housing" or "moderate income", rather than the usual 80:20 agreement. When the building opened, rents ranged from roughly $2,500 to $9,001 depending on the size of the unit. The building has been rated
LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
Platinum. The energy conserving building design is 35% more energy-efficient than code requires, resulting in a 67% lower electricity demand during peak hours, resulting in, among other benefits, lower electric bills for residents. Photovoltaic panels convert sunlight to electricity, supplemented by a computerized building management system and environmentally responsible operating and maintenance practices to further reduce the building's environmental impact. Other residential condominiums include: *Battery Pointe, 300 Rector Place *Cove Club, 2 South End Avenue *Hudson Tower, 350 Albany Street *Hudson View East, 250 South End Avenue *Hudson View West, 300 Albany Street *Liberty Court, 200 Rector Place *Liberty Green, 300 North End Avenue *Liberty House, 377 Rector Place *Liberty Luxe, 200 North End Avenue *Liberty Terrace, 380 Rector Place *Liberty View, 99 Battery Place *Millennium Tower Residences, 30 West Street *The Regatta, 21 South End Avenue *Ritz Carlton Residence, 10 West Street *Riverhouse, One Rockefeller Park *The Soundings, 280 Rector Place *The Visionaire, 70 Little West Street *1 Rector Park, 333 Rector Place Other residential apartments include: *212 Warren (formerly 22 River Terrace) *Gateway Plaza, 375 South End Avenue *The Hallmark, 455 North End Avenue *Rector Square, 225 Rector Place *River Watch, 70 Battery Place *The Solaire, 20 River Terrace *South Cove Plaza, 50 Battery Place *Tribeca Bridge Tower, 450 North End Avenue *Tribeca Green, 325 North End Avenue *Tribeca Park, 400 Chambers Street *Tribeca Pointe, River Terrace *The Verdesian, 211 North End Avenue


Office

Battery Park City, which is mainly residential, also has a few office buildings. The seven buildings in the Brookfield Place complex, as well as 200 West Street, are the neighborhood's only office buildings.


Brookfield Place complex

Located in the middle of Battery Park City and overlooking 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 N ...
, Brookfield Place, designed by
César Pelli César Pelli (October 12, 1926 – July 19, 2019) was an Argentine-American architect who designed some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. Two of his most notable buildings are the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur a ...
and owned mostly by
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
-based
Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...
, has been home to offices of various major companies, including
Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...
,
RBC Capital Markets RBC Capital Markets is a global investment bank providing services in banking, finance, and capital markets to corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, and governments globally. Locations span 58 offices in 14 countries across North ...
,
Nomura Group is a Japanese financial holding company and a principal member of the Nomura Group. It, along with its broker-dealer, banking and other financial services subsidiaries, provides investment, financing and related services to individual, instituti ...
,
American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...
and
Brookfield Asset Management Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a Canadian multinational company that is one of the world's largest alternative investment management companies, with over US$725 billion of assets under management in 2022. It focuses on direct contr ...
, among others. Brookfield Place also serves as the United States headquarters for
Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...
, which has its headquarters located in 200 Vesey Street. Brookfield Place also has its own zip code, 10281. Brookfield Place's ground floor and portions of the second floor are occupied by a mall; its center point is a steel-and-glass atrium known as the Winter Garden Atrium, Winter Garden. Outside of the Winter Garden lies a sizeable yacht harbor on the Hudson known as North Cove. The building's original developer was
Olympia and York Olympia & York (also spelled as Olympia and York, abbreviated as O&Y) was a major international property development firm based in Toronto, Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes including Canary Wharf in London, the World Fina ...
of
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Ontario. It used to be named the World Financial Center, but in 2014, the complex was given its current name following the completion of extensive renovations. The World Financial Center complex was built by
Olympia and York Olympia & York (also spelled as Olympia and York, abbreviated as O&Y) was a major international property development firm based in Toronto, Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes including Canary Wharf in London, the World Fina ...
between 1982 and 1988; it was damaged in the September 11 attacks but later repaired. It has six constituent buildings – 200 Liberty Street, 225 Liberty Street, 200 Vesey Street, 250 Vesey Street, the Winter Garden Atrium, and One North End Avenue (a.k.a. the New York Mercantile Exchange building).


200 West Street

200 West Street is the location of the global headquarters of
Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
, an investment banking firm. A , 44-story building located on the west side of West Side Highway, West Street between Vesey Street, Vesey and Murray Streets, it is north of Brookfield Place and the Conrad Hotels, across the street from the Verizon Building, and diagonally opposite the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
. It is distinctive for being the only office building in the northern section of Battery Park City. It started construction in 2005 and opened in 2009.


Police and crime

Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan are patrolled by the 1st Precinct of the New York City Police Department, NYPD, located at 16 Ericsson Place. The 1st Precinct ranked 63rd safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. Though the number of crimes is low compared to other NYPD precincts, the residential population is also much lower. , with a non-fatal assault rate of 24 per 100,000 people, Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 152 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole. The 1st Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 86.3% between 1990 and 2018. The 1st precinct reported 2 murders, 15 rapes, 135 robberies, 121 felony assaults, 191 burglaries, 848 grand larcenies, and 68 grand larcenies auto in 2021.


Fire safety

Battery Park City is served by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)'s Engine Co. 10/Ladder Co. 10 fire station, located at 124 Liberty Street.


Health

, preterm births and births to teenage mothers are less common in Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan than in other places citywide. In Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan, there were 77 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 2.2 teenage births per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide), though the teenage birth rate is based on a small sample size. Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan have a low population of residents who are Health insurance coverage in the United States, uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 4%, less than the citywide rate of 12%, though this was based on a small sample size. The concentration of particulates, fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollution, air pollutant, in Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan is , more than the city average. Sixteen percent of Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan residents are Smoking, smokers, which is more than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan, 4% of residents are Obesity, obese, 3% are Diabetes mellitus, diabetic, and 15% have hypertension, high blood pressure, the lowest rates in the city—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively. In addition, 5% of children are obese, the lowest rate in the city, compared to the citywide average of 20%. Ninety-six percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is more than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 88% of residents described their health as "good," "very good," or "excellent," more than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan, there are 6 convenience store, bodegas. The nearest major hospital is Lower Manhattan Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital in the Civic Center area.


Post office and ZIP Codes

Battery Park City is located within two ZIP Codes. The neighborhood north of Brookfield Place is covered by 10282, while much of the neighborhood south of Brookfield Place is covered by 10280. Brookfield Place is part of 10281, and the southernmost tip is part of 10004. The United States Postal Service does not operate any post offices in Battery Park City. The nearest post office is the 90 Church Street, Church Street Station at 90 Church Street in the Financial District.


Education

Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan generally have a higher rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city . The vast majority of residents age 25 and older (84%) have a college education or higher, while 4% have less than a high school education and 12% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 64% of Manhattan residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher. The percentage of Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan students excelling in math rose from 61% in 2000 to 80% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 66% to 68% during the same time period. Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is lower than the rest of New York City. In Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan, 6% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, less than the citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 96% of high school students in Battery Park City and Lower Manhattan graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.


Schools

The New York City Department of Education operates the following public schools in Battery Park City: *P.S. 89 *I.S. 289 *P.S./I.S. 276 Battery Park City School *
Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...
, which moved into a new waterfront building in Battery Park City in 1992 *P.S. M094 *P226M


Library

Battery Park City has a
New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
branch at 175 North End Avenue, designed by 1100 Architect and completed in 2010. A , two-story library on the street level of a high-rise residential building, it utilizes several sustainable design features, earning it Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, LEED Gold certification. Sustainability was a driving factor in the design of the library including use of an energy-efficient lighting system, maximization of natural lighting, and use of recycled materials. 1100 Architect, in collaboration with Atelier Ten, an international team of environmental design consultants and building services engineers, designed the library's energy-efficient lighting system. The open plan layout and large use of glass allow for ample natural daylight year-round and low-energy LED light illuminates communal spaces. Recycled materials are incorporated into the design including carpet made from re-purposed truck tires, floors made from reclaimed window frame wood, and furniture made from FSC-certified plywood and recycled steel. Design features include a seemingly "floating" origami-style ceiling made up of triangular panels hung at varying angles and a padded reading nook fitted into the library's terrazzo-finished steel and concrete staircase. The interior uses an easy-to-navigate layout with its three distinct spatial areas of entry area, first floor space, and mezzanine visually unified through the ceiling. The building also won the ''Interior Design'', Best of Year Merit Award in 2011, followed by ''The National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association'', Port Morris Tile and Marble Corporation Craftsmanship Award in 2011 and the ''Contract'', Public Space Interiors Award in 2012.


Transportation

Currently, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority provides bus service to the area. , the bus lines service parts of Battery Park City, with the nearby at Battery Park. Additionally, the Downtown Alliance provides a free bus service that runs along North End Avenue and South End Avenue, connecting the various residential complexes with subway stations on the other side of
West Street The Joe DiMaggio Highway, commonly called the West Side Highway and formerly the Miller Highway, is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A), running from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern t ...
. There is currently no New York City Subway access in Battery Park City proper; however, the West Street pedestrian bridges, as well as crosswalks across West Street, connect Battery Park City to subway stations and the Port Authority Trans-Hudson, PATH station in the nearby
Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
. The West Concourse, a tunnel from Brookfield Place passing under West Street, also provides access from Battery Park City to the World Trade Center (PATH station), World Trade Center PATH station, the WTC Cortlandt station, and the Fulton Street station (New York City Subway). The Battery Park City Ferry Terminal is at the foot of Vesey Street opposite the New York Mercantile Exchange and provides ferry transportation to various points in New Jersey via NY Waterway and Liberty Water Taxi routes. NYC Ferry's St. George route, to West Midtown Ferry Terminal and St. George Terminal, stops at Battery Park City Ferry Terminal. The West Thames Street Bridge, one of the West Street pedestrian bridges connecting Battery Park City to the Financial District, was completed in 2019, replacing the older Rector Street Bridge. On June 11, 2021, it was dedicated as the Robert F. Douglass Bridge. Its namesake, who died in 2016, was an early advocate for lower Manhattan as a senior advisor to Governor Nelson Rockefeller and later as a founding member and chairman of the Downtown Alliance and board member of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.


Parks and open spaces

More than one-third of the neighborhood is parkland. Some large open spaces and parks include: * Teardrop Park sits midblock, near the corner of Warren Street and River Terrace. Before construction, the site was empty and flat; part of the neighborhood's development plan, the park was designed in anticipation of four high residential towers on its west and east. Although a New York City public park, maintenance is overseen by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy and the park was designed for the Battery Park City Authority. The park opened on September 30, 2004. There is also a southern extension to this park. * Washington Street Plaza, a Pedestrian zone, pedestrian plaza on Washington Street between Carlisle and Albany Streets, opened on May 23, 2013. In addition, there are: *Community Ballfields, North End Avenue between Murray and Warren Streets *The Esplanade, along 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 N ...
from Stuyvesant High School to Battery Park *Monsignor Kowsky Plaza, east of the Esplanade *Nelson A. Rockefeller State Park, north end of Battery Park City west of River Terrace *North Cove, on the river between Liberty Street and Vesey Street. *Oval Lawn, east of the Esplanade *Rector Park, South End Avenue at Rector Place *Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park, north of Battery Park off Battery Place *South Cove, on the Esplanade, between First and Third Places *West Thames Park, West Street between Albany and West Thames Streets *World Financial Center Plaza, within Brookfield Place


Museums and memorials

* Irish Hunger Memorial, located on a site at Vesey Street and North End Avenue. It is dedicated to raising awareness of the Great Irish Famine. Construction began in March 2001, and the memorial was completed and dedicated on July 16, 2002. * Museum of Jewish Heritage, a memorial to those who were murdered in the Holocaust *
Skyscraper Museum The Skyscraper Museum is an architecture museum located in Battery Park City, Manhattan, New York City and founded in 1996. As the name suggests, the museum focuses on high-rise buildings as "products of technology, objects of design, sites of c ...
, an architecture museum in Millennium Point *Hurricane Maria Memorial honors the victims of Hurricane Maria, which struck Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. *Mother Cabrini Memorial, dedicated on October 12, 2020, honors the patroness of immigrants. *9/11 Memorial at South Cove, created and dedicated on September 9, 2015. *NYC Police Memorial is located at Liberty Street and South End Avenue, and was dedicated on October 20, 1997.


Notable residents

Notable residents include: *Tyra Banks (born 1973), TV personalityMarino, Vivian
"Tyra Banks’s Mansion in the Sky Is on the Market"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', March 31, 2017. Accessed June 23, 2017. "The supermodel and TV personality Tyra Banks has decided to sell her Battery Park City home, a mansion-sized duplex facing the Hudson River, complete with dressing room and hair salon, a personal gym and separate staff and guest quarters.Ms. Banks bought her Riverhouse apartment, at 2 River Terrace, in 2009 and used it as a primary residence for about four years."
*Leonardo DiCaprio, actor, resident of 1 Rockefeller Park *Sacha Baron Cohen, actor and comedian, former resident of 1 Rockefeller Park *Isla Fisher, actress, former resident of 1 Rockefeller Park *Dave Gahan, musician, resident of 1 Rockefeller Park *Kris Humphries, basketball player, resident of Liberty Luxe


See also

* Hudson River Park, Hudson River Park Trust * Javits Center, New York Convention Center Operating Corporation * Lower Manhattan Development Corporation * Municipal Assistance Corporation, Municipal Assistance Corporation for the City of NY * Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation * United Nations Development Corporation


References

Notes Further reading * Gordon, David L.A. (1997) ''Battery Park City: Politics and Planning on the New York Waterfront'', Gordon and Breach Publishers *Charles J. Urstadt, Urstadt, Charles J.; Gene Brown (2005).
Battery Park City: The Early Years.
' Bloomington.


External links

* (Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority) {{Authority control Battery Park City, Neighborhoods in Manhattan Housing in New York City Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified buildings Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in the United States New Urbanism communities