As the gateway to New York Harbor, the sculptures in Battery Park reflect the significance of the location. &nbsp;Framed by Castle Clinton, it was the point of arrival for immigrants to the United States. &nbsp;It was an important part of the defense of the city. &nbsp;

 Courtesy Battery Conservancy, Rick Darke

 At park's left is&amp;nbsp;Pier A, at park's right is&amp;nbsp;South Ferry Terminal. On the far right is the&amp;nbsp;East River.  

City Pier A: Clock Tower, the first WW1 Memorial in USA was installed; the Pier was renovated in 2015 &nbsp;

The New York City Fire Department used the pier from 1960 to 1992 as a fireboat station.

The pier underwent a major renovation in 2010 and expects to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.

Pier A is the sole historic pier left in Manhattan. A three-story pier head was added in 1900, an in 1919 a clock was installed in the tower in memorial of the soldiers who died in World War I. The clock was the first WWI memorial in the United States.&nbsp;

Pier A

This building weighs in as one of the largest office buildings in New York at 3.5 million square feet of office space. It sits on a superblock assembled from four adjoining city blocks. Part of the reason for its bloat is that there is a 'privately owned public space' on its podium over what once was Front Street. There have been several owners and at one point it even had a branch of the Whitney Museum on the lower levels. It survived Superstorm Sandy. The storm surge deposited 32 million gallons of water flooding the three basement levels and part of the lobby.

Adding a 'Zoning Bonus' public plaza to the project meant that 55 Water Street would be able to be much larger. It was renovated into what is often described as one of New York's 'hidden parks and garden oases'. It has become considerably less 'hidden' as Lower Manhattan has been transformed into a residential neighborhood.

55 Water Street

Battery Park City, contains nearly 92 acres of permanently protected open space, including beautifully designed and maintained parks and public gardens, playing fields and playgrounds, plazas, and walkways. It was built on a landfill on the Hudson River using 1.2 million cubic yards of dirt and rocks excavated during the construction of the World Trade Center and other construction projects, plus sand dredged from New York Harbor. Named for adjacent Battery Park in 1968, Battery Park City is owned and managed by the Battery Park City Authority, a public-benefit corporation created in 1968 under the authority of the Urban Development Corporation. Gateway City is the only complex predating the 1979 master plan by Cooper Eckstut. Parcels of land are leased to developers, who build in accordance with the Authority's guidelines. These incorporate green provisions mandating state-of-the-art environmentally-friendly building methods to maximize energy efficiency and minimize water usage. Sustainability is a key part in maintaining Battery Park City with an organically managed landscape and the continual implementation of composting and recycling initiatives.

Public Art in Battery Park

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IN THIS PHOTO / THEN AND NOW