Located at the southern tip of Manhattan facing New York Harbor, Battery Park with its incredible views, is a great place to take a date or simply just to stroll through when you find yourself looking for something to do. With its extensive paths, greens, benches, and waterfront views Battery Park is a real gem of New York City. Also, along the waterfront you get great views of the ferries departing for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, as well as numerous sailboats of people taking in the open air on the Hudson River.
The easiest way to get to the park, if you’re not already down by Wall Street, is to take the #1 subway (red line) to South Ferry or the #5 subway (green line) to Bowling Green.
Notables in the Park:
-“The Battery” is named for the artillery battery that was stationed there at various times by the Dutch and British in order to protect the settlements behind it.
-Within the park lies Castle Clinton, an American fort built on a small artificial off-shore island immediately prior to the War of 1812. When the park was created, it encircled and incorporated the island. The fort became property of the city after the war and was renamed Castle Garden which before Ellis Island was the arrival point of all immigrants into New York City. Later closed down due to the opening of Ellis Island, the land was leased by the city and it became a popular promenade and beer garden. Later roofed-over, it became one of the premier theatrical venues in the country and holds numerous shows including Shakespeare in the Park every summer.
-Five months after being damaged but not destroyed in the September 11th 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 along Eisenhower Mall in the northern section of the park. There, along with an eternal flame, it serves to memorialize the victims of 9/11.
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