Battery Park

Battery Park

Battery Park is a 25-acre (10 hectare) public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years to protect the settlement behind them. At the north end of the park is Castle Clinton, the often re-purposed last remnant of the defensive works that inspired the name of the park; Pier A, formerly a fireboat station; andHope Garden, a memorial to AIDS victims. At the other end is Battery Gardens restaurant, next to the United States Coast Guard Battery Building. Along the waterfront, Statue Cruises offers ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The park is also the site of the East Coast Memorial which commemorates U.S. servicemen who died in coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean during World War II, and several other memorials.

For more than 200 years, Battery Park has been an invaluable part of New York City’s history. In 1855, Castle Garden, situated inside the Park, became the world’s first immigrant depot. Decades before Ellis Island was built or the Statue of Liberty gazed down at incoming boats, millions of newcomers arrived at Battery Park from Europe and elsewhere. Its beautiful waterfront and flower gardens make Battery Park a lovely place to wander. For those who'd like a longer stroll, the park’s location at the southern tip of Manhattan makes it a classic starting point for walking tours through the city.

Many 9/11 family members opposed that plan, saying it would be more appropriate to return the sphere to its original location beside the Twin Towers, on what is now the 9/11 Memorial. An online petition demanding the sphere's return to the World Trade Center site gathered more than 7,000 signatures, but Port Authority officials have not warmed to the idea.Koenig's bronze sphere was installed in Battery Park during an emotional ceremony on March 11, 2002, the six-month anniversary of the attacks, and an eternal flame was lit on Sept. 11, 2002 in memory of the nearly 3,000 people who were killed. The sphere became a symbol of hope and resilience after surviving amid so much destruction.