The Battery
The Battery (formerly known as Battery Park) is a Template:Convert public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. The park contains attractions such as an old 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 as well as boat launches to the Statue of Liberty National Monument.
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 1890, when the Castle Clinton immigration center was replaced by one on Ellis Island. Castle Clinton then hosted the New York Aquarium from 1896 to 1941.
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 renamed the park to its historic name of "the Battery".
History
Site
The area was originally occupied by the Lenape Native Americans, though Dutch settlers populated the area as part of the settlement of New Amsterdam in the early 17th century.<ref name="Battery Highlights">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Jackson pp. 385-386">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Gilder p. 4">Template:Harvnb</ref> 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".<ref name="Battery Highlights" /><ref name="Gilder p. 4" /><ref name="Steinberg 2015 p. 90"></ref>Template:Rp Capske Hook was originally a narrow, hilly ledge that extended northward to Broadway, which at the time was a Lenape trail.<ref name="Gilder p. 4" /> In 1625–1626, the Dutch built Fort Amsterdam atop of a hill at the site of the present Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House.<ref name="Gilder pp. 5-7">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Davis 1854 p. 23"></ref><ref name="NPS p. 5">Template:Harvnb</ref> However, the fort was largely ineffective, despite several attempts at reconstruction.<ref name="NPS p. 5"/> The British took over the settlement in 1664 and renamed the defenses Fort James.<ref name="Jackson pp. 385-386" /><ref name="NPS p. 6">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Gilder p. 252">Template:Harvnb</ref> An artillery battery was installed at the fort in 1683, from which the Battery got its present name.<ref name="Battery Highlights" /><ref name="Gilder p. 25">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Transformation" /> The fortification would later be renamed several times more, before the British settled on the name of "Fort George" by 1714.<ref name="Steinberg 2015 p. 90" />Template:Rp<ref name="NPS p. 6"/><ref name="Gilder p. 113"/>
The Battery did not fire any additional shots until 1776 during the American Revolutionary War,<ref name="NPS p. 6" /> when American troops commandeered the fort.<ref name="NPS p. 7">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Americans failed to prevent the British from sailing up the Hudson River, though.<ref name="NPS p. 7" /><ref name="Gilder p. 93">Template:Harvnb</ref> Following the British landing at Kip's Bay on September 15, 1776, the Americans had abandoned the fort, and the British took Lower Manhattan.<ref name="NPS p. 7" /><ref name="Gilder p. 88">Template:Harvnb</ref> 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.<ref name="Gilder pp. 102-103">Template:Harvnb</ref>Template:Efn By 1788, Fort George had been demolished, and debris from the fort was used to expand the Battery.<ref name="Battery Highlights" /><ref name="Gilder p. 113">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Jackson p. 472">Template:Harvnb</ref> The fort itself became the site of Government House, an executive mansion intended for U.S. president George Washington, though never actually used for that purpose.<ref name="Stokes 1915-1928"></ref>Template:Rp<ref name="NPS p. 7" />
In 1808–1811, just prior to the War of 1812, the West Battery was erected on a small artificial offshore island nearby, to replace the earlier batteries in the area.<ref name="Steinberg 2015 p. 90" />Template:Rp<ref name="Transformation" /><ref name="Jackson p. 102">Template:Harvnb</ref> At the time, the shore at the Battery was a relatively flat edge.<ref name="Steinberg 2015 p. 90" />Template:Rp The West Battery was never used,<ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref> and following the war, the artillery battery was renamed Castle Clinton.<ref name="Battery Highlights" /> When Battery Park's landmass was created, it encircled and incorporated the island.<ref name="Transformation" /><ref name="tb">History of The Battery, The Battery Conservancy. Retrieved December 1, 2014.</ref> About Template:Convert were added to the park area in 1824.<ref name="Gilder p. 187">Template:Harvnb</ref> Meanwhile, Castle Clinton was turned over to the city government, which turned the structure into an entertainment venue.<ref name="Battery Highlights" /><ref name="Jackson p. 102" /> It subsequently served various purposes, including as an immigration and customs center as well as an aquarium.<ref name="Jackson p. 102" />
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.<ref name="Rosenzweig Blackmar">Template:Cite Central Park History</ref>Template:Rp At the time, Manhattan's seventeen squares comprised a combined Template:Convert of land, the largest of which was the Template:Convert park at the Battery.<ref name="Rosenzweig Blackmar" />Template:Rp Two sites were considered for a large park: Jones's Wood, and the present site of Central Park.<ref name="Rosenzweig Blackmar" />Template:Rp An alternate suggestion was to enlarge the existing Battery Park, a move endorsed by most of the public.<ref name="Rosenzweig Blackmar" />Template:Rp 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 lieutenant who agreed with them.<ref name="Steinberg 2015 p. 90" />Template:Rp As a compromise, New York City's aldermen also voted to expand Battery Park to Template:Convert.<ref name="Rosenzweig Blackmar" />Template:Rp Ultimately, the plans for the large park would result in the construction of Central Park.<ref name="Rosenzweig Blackmar" />Template:Rp
The relatively modern Battery Park was mostly created by landfill 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.<ref name="Battery Highlights" /><ref name="Steinberg 2015 p. 90" />Template:Rp On State Street, the former harbor front and the northern boundary of the park, a single Federal mansion, the James Watson House, survives as part of the Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.<ref name="nycland">Template:Cite nycland</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="aia">Template:Cite aia5</ref>Template:Rp
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> City Pier A, located immediately north of Castle Clinton, was commissioned in 1886 and completed two years after.<ref name="nycland" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The building originally housed the New York City Board of Dock Commissioners<ref name="nycland" />Template:Rp and subsequently was used as a fireboat station until 1992.<ref name="Amato 2014">Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref name="Gilder pp. 213-215">Template:Harvnb</ref> The New York Elevated Railroad Company 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
A larger four-track station was built nearby in 1879, serving the Second, Third, Sixth, and Ninth 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Another plan, which would have created elevated track loops over Battery Park, was rejected in 1887 as being unlawful.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Gilder pp. 213-215" /> Other unsuccessful plans to build elevated tracks over Battery Park were proposed in 1889<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and 1891.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> though this did not come to pass for another fifty years.<ref name="NYT1950">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bill was not passed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By that time, the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, the Joralemon Street Tunnel to Brooklyn, and the South Ferry subway terminal were being built directly under the park.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The South Ferry station opened in 1905,<ref name=":14">Template:Cite news</ref> while the Joralemon Street Tunnel opened in 1908.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Another early method of transportation was by streetcars, which stopped at Battery Place and traveled up both sides of Manhattan Island.<ref name="Gilder pp. 213-215" /> These streetcar lines terminated at South Ferry and included what are now the Template:NYC bus link bus routes.Template:Efn The streetcars were eliminated by 1936, though only some were replaced by buses.<ref name="Meyers 2005"></ref>
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.<ref name="Gilder pp. 240-241">Template:Harvnb</ref> For instance, in 1901, a large memorial arch to honor United States Navy soldiers was proposed within the park.<ref name="Gilder pp. 240-241" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Another monument, to steamboat operator Robert Fulton, was proposed in September 1905 by Gustav H. Schwab.<ref name="Gilder pp. 240-241" /> There was also a bill to construct a playground in the park, which was vetoed in 1903.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Other proposals included a 1910 plan to expand the Aquarium into Battery Park,<ref name="Gilder p. 241">Template:Harvnb</ref> and a proposal for an athletic jogging field the following year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Proposals to redesign Battery Park continued through the next decade. An expansion of the New York Aquarium within the park was announced in 1921,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a new memorial plaque was unveiled the same year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 1926, a group called the Battery Park Association had formed a committee to study ways to improve the park.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1928, it was proposed to remove the els from Battery Park.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The following year, an immigrants' memorial was proposed within Battery Park, and the park itself was proposed for reconstruction into a formal vista.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1940, Battery Park was partially closed for the construction of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, and the aquarium was shuttered.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite news</ref> Subsequently, several plans to modify Battery Park were proposed. A design competition to rebuild Battery Park was hosted in 1941,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a plan to replace Castle Clinton with a Fort Clinton memorial was also brought up.<ref name=":7">Template:Cite news</ref> During the park's closure, its northern end was used to store debris.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A second tunnel, the Battery Park Underpass, started construction in 1949.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The following year, the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel opened,<ref name=":23">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":15">Template:Cite news</ref> and the South Ferry elevated station was removed after the closure of the last elevated line leading to the station.<ref name="NYT1950" /> After the underpass was completed in 1951,<ref name=":16">Template:Cite news</ref> the park was re-landscaped and expanded by Template:Convert, and it reopened in 1952.<ref name="Jackson p. 102" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name=":4" />
Several memorials opened through the mid-20th century. Peter Minuit Plaza and a Coast Guard memorial were both dedicated in 1955,<ref name=":8">Template:Cite news</ref> and the East Coast Memorial was dedicated in 1963.<ref name=":3" /> Additionally, a Template:Convert "space needle" with office and commercial space, twice the height of the Empire State Building, 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":5"></ref> 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.<ref name=":5" /> By 1971, Battery Park was so dilapidated that a U.S. representative from Missouri, Richard Howard Ichord Jr., called the litter-ridden park "a national disgrace" and proposed that two National Park Service employees be hired to clean up the park.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Castle Clinton was restored several years later, and reopened in 1975.<ref name=":30">Template:Cite news</ref>
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".<ref name="Battery Highlights"/><ref name="Jackson p. 102" /> 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, 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The "park" was opened in July 1984.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Restoration and 21st century
Battery Park City was constructed as a luxury waterfront neighborhood through the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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 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."<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> The nonprofit Battery Conservancy was created in 1994,<ref name="Jackson p. 102" /><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> and one of its first actions was to create an architectural plan for the park, and renovating it for $30 million.<ref name=":0" /> In 1998, the administration of mayor Rudy Giuliani 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although Battery Park was used as an emergency staging site following the September 11 attacks in 2001, construction on the upper promenade continued largely uninterrupted, and it opened in December 2001.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Battery Bosque, a new landscaped garden, opened in 2005.<ref name=":27">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name=":2" /> 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.<ref name=":1" /> 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,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but did not actually open until August 2015.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Dunlap" />
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation restored the park's original, historical title of "The Battery" in 2015.<ref name="Transformation" /> 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.<ref name=":1" /> These projects included the Battery Oval, which opened in 2016,<ref name=":17">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":18">Template:Cite web</ref> as well as a Template:Convert playground called the Playscape, which has been proposed to open in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Notable attractions
The Battery contains multiple attractions and points of interest. Castle Clinton, a former fort,<ref name="Steinberg 2015 p. 90" />Template:Rp<ref name="Transformation" /><ref name="Jackson p. 102" /> lies near the northwestern corner of the Battery and serves as the park's main attraction.<ref name=":19" /> To its north is the former fireboat station, Pier A,<ref name=":19" /> which since 2014 has been used as a restaurant.<ref name="Amato 2014" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Another eatery, the Battery Gardens restaurant,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is located next to the United States Coast Guard Battery Building.<ref name=":19" />
Located nearby is a Template:Convert garden called the Battery Bosque, which was designed by Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf and is centered around a grove of 140 plane trees.<ref name=":27" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> An additional grove of 15 trees was dedicated at the park in 1976 as a gift from the city of Jerusalem.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This area, located northwest of Castle Clinton, is called Jerusalem Grove.<ref name=":10" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The northeastern corner hosts a lawn called the Battery Oval.<ref name=":19">Template:Cite web</ref> The Template:Convert lawn opened in 2016 as part of a major restoration of the park,<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":18" /> and contains turf made of Kentucky bluegrass.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Along the waterfront, Statue Cruises offers ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.<ref name=":19" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The southwestern corner of the Battery contains the SeaGlass Carousel, an attraction with bioluminescent design<ref name="Dunlap">Template:Cite news</ref> that pays homage not only to the carousel's waterfront site, but also to Castle Clinton's former status as an aquarium.<ref name="Transformation">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Dunlap" /> The southeastern corner contains Peter Minuit Plaza, an intermodal passenger transport hub. The plaza hosts a bus terminal for the Template:NYC bus link buses, an entrance to the Staten Island Ferry's Whitehall Terminal, entrances to the New York City Subway's South Ferry/Whitehall Street station, and taxi stands.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":28">Template:Cite web</ref> The plaza also includes the New Amsterdam Plein and Pavilion, a pavilion gifted by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which displays art, design, and horticulture.<ref name=":28" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The park is also the site of numerous memorials and monuments placed there over the years.<ref name=":20" /><ref name=":21" /> Template:As of, the park saw over five million annual visitors.<ref name="Jackson p. 103">Template:Harvnb</ref> 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.<ref name=":26">Template:Cite web</ref>
Castle Clinton
Castle Clinton was originally called the West Battery, it was built as a fort just prior to the War of 1812.<ref name="Steinberg 2015 p. 90" />Template:Rp<ref name="Transformation" /><ref name="Jackson p. 102" /> It was renamed Castle Clinton in 1815 after the war, in honor of mayor DeWitt Clinton, and became property of the city in 1823.<ref name="Battery Highlights" /> When leased by the city, it became a popular promenade and beer garden 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.<ref name="Jackson p. 102" /> In the early 1850s alone, the venue hosted such acts as Swedish soprano Jenny Lind,<ref name="Gilder p. 188">Template:Harvnb</ref> European dancing star Lola Montez,<ref name="Gilder p. 194">Template:Harvnb</ref> French conductor Louis-Antoine Jullien,<ref name="Gilder p. 194" /> and the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref name="Gilder p. 195">Template:Harvnb</ref>
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.<ref name="Gilder p. 198">Template:Harvnb</ref> The immigration center operated until 1890, just before the offshore immigration facility at Ellis Island opened. An estimated 7.7 million immigrants passed through the center during its operation.<ref name="Jackson p. 102" /><ref name="Gilder p. 198" /> 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's plans to build the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.<ref name="Battery Highlights" /><ref name="tb" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":29">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name=":7" /> Ultimately, Castle Clinton was preserved as part of a National Monument in 1946.<ref name="tb" /><ref name=":29" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The structure was restored in 1975.<ref name="tb" /><ref name=":30" /> Today, Castle Clinton retains its original name and is managed by the National Park Service. 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Memorials
Battery Park contains over 20 monuments,<ref name=":20">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":21">Template:Cite news</ref> many of which are clustered in an area called "Monument Walk".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Sphere, Hope Garden, and flagpole
Five months after being damaged in the September 11 attacks, Fritz Koenig's The Sphere, 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 Netherlands memorial flagpole in the northeast corner of the park<ref name="Jackson p. 103"/> before being moved to Liberty Park in the new World Trade Center in late 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Sphere, standing Template:Convert high, was meant to symbolize world peace through world trade, and was, at its original location, in the center of a ring of fountains to mimic the Masjid al-Haram, Great Mosque of Mecca; The Sphere had stood at the place in the World Trade Center where the Kaaba was in the Masjid al-Haram.<ref name="Mosque of Commerce">Template:Cite news</ref> After 2001, it became a World Trade Center memorial as well; a plaque alongside The Sphere reads as follows:Template:Quote
Template:AnchorWithin the park is Hope Garden, a memorial dedicated to AIDS victims,<ref name="wad">Template:Cite web</ref> where The Sphere had been exhibited at times.<ref name="nyu">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name="green">Template:Cite web</ref>
The Netherlands flagpole was dedicated on December 6, 1926, as a gift from the Dutch in honor of the establishment of New Amsterdam three centuries prior.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
East Coast Memorial
Template:Multiple image 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 others are the West Coast Memorial to the Missing of World War II in San Francisco and the Honolulu Memorial. The memorial commemorates U.S. servicemen who died in coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean during the Battle of the Atlantic. 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 in New York Harbor.<ref>"East Coast Memorial Template:Webarchive," American Battle Monuments Commission website</ref><ref name=":31">Template:Cite web</ref>
The memorial was designed by the architectural firm of Gehron & Seltzer, while the eagle statue was created by Albino Manca, 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.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":31" />
American Merchant Mariners' Memorial
The American Merchant Mariners' Memorial sculpture, located in the Hudson River 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 a U-boat during World War II. 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 of crewmen of the SS Muskogee that was taken by the commander of an attacking submarine, all of whom died at sea.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":9">Template:Cite web</ref> The memorial was commissioned by the American Merchant Mariners' Memorial, Inc., chaired by AFL–CIO president Lane Kirkland.<ref name=":9" />
Other memorials
Template:Multiple image Template:Multiple image 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Korean War Memorial (1991<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>) – 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.<ref name=":13">Template:Cite web</ref> It was intended as one of the United States' first Korean War memorials.<ref name=":13" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- John Ericsson statue (1903) – Located near the center of the park, the statue was designed by Jonathan Scott Hartley. It commemorates Ericsson, a designer and innovator of ironclad warships, and depicts him holding a model of the Template:USS.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Walloon Settlers Memorial (1924) – Located at Battery Place, the memorial was designed by Henry Bacon. The monument is a stele dedicated to Jessé de Forest for his contributions to the founding of New York City.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Giovanni da Verrazzano (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, on a pedestal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- World War II Coast Guard Memorial (1955<ref name=":8" />) – Located at the extreme southeast end of Battery Park, this memorial was designed by Norman M. Thomas and depicts three figures on a pedestal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Wireless Operators Memorial (1915,<ref name=":11">Template:Cite web</ref> rededicated 1952<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>) – Located near the center of the park, the monument consists of a cenotaph commemorating wireless telegraph operators who went down with their ships.<ref name=":11" />
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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as a "UFO Tugboat Abduction Memorial" from the same sculptor as the ferry "memorial".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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 expressed concern about the statues' condition, although experts said there should be no long-term physical harm.
Under the park
The Battery is surrounded by several pieces of transportation infrastructure:
- The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, opened 1950,<ref name=":23" /><ref name=":15" /> carries vehicular traffic to Brooklyn.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The Battery Park Underpass, opened 1951, carries vehicular traffic from the West Side Highway to the FDR Drive.<ref name=":16" />
- At the New York City Subway's old South Ferry station, opened 1905,<ref name=":14" /> 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.<ref name=":123">Template:NYCS const</ref> It closed in 2009 following the opening of a replacement subway station,<ref name=":25">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":62">Template:Cite news</ref> but was temporarily placed back into operation between April 2013<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref name=":42">Template:Cite news</ref> and June 2017.<ref name=abcny-sf/>
- The South Ferry subway station on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (Template:NYCS trains), opened 2009, created a new free connection with the BMT Broadway Line's Whitehall Street station (Template:NYCS trains), which was formerly a separate station.<ref name=":25" /><ref name=":62" /> The two stations comprise the South Ferry/Whitehall Street subway complex.<ref name=":24" /><ref>New and Old Downtown: Wall Street and South Ferry. Forgotten NY. Retrieved June 11, 2014.</ref> The new Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station was closed and sustained severe damage following Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.<ref name=":42" /> The new station did not reopen until 2017, during which time the old loop station was used.<ref name="abcny-sf">Template:Cite web</ref>
- The Bowling Green subway station, opened 1905<ref name=":14"/> and serving the Template:NYCS trains, is at the northeast corner of the park.<ref name=":24" /> Its original entrance, or "Control House", is an official city-designated landmark. 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.<ref name=":123" />
Discovery of wall
In late 2005, New York City authorities announced that builders working on the new South Ferry station had found a Template:Convert remnant of a stone wall dating to at least the 18th century.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="amny 201002263">Template:Cite web</ref>
Robert Tierney, chairman of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, 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".
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