Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a 25-acre public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,348 |
26 Facts About Battery Park
2.
Battery Park and surrounding area is named for the artillery batteries that were built in the late 17th century to protect the settlement behind them.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,349 |
3.
The Battery Park 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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,350 |
4.
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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,351 |
5.
The Battery Conservancy, founded in 1994 by Warrie Price, underwrote and funded the restoration and improvement of the once-dilapidated park.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,352 |
6.
Battery Park did not fire any additional shots until 1776, during the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War, when American troops commandeered the fort and fired on British ships in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent them from sailing up the Hudson River.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,353 |
7.
At the time, the shore at the Battery Park was a relatively flat edge.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,354 |
8.
The West Battery Park was never used, and following the war, the artillery battery was renamed Castle Clinton.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,355 |
9.
When Battery Park's landmass was created, it encircled and incorporated the island.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,356 |
10.
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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,357 |
11.
Relatively modern Battery Park was mostly created by landfill as part of Lower Manhattan expansion starting from 1855, using earth from street-widening projects in Lower Manhattan which united Castle Garden's island with the "mainland" of Manhattan.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,358 |
12.
The New York Elevated Railroad Company opened the Battery Place elevated station at Battery Place, on the park's northern end, in 1872.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,359 |
13.
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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,360 |
14.
In 1940, Battery Park was partially closed for the construction of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, and the aquarium was shuttered.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,361 |
15.
The following year, the Brooklyn-Battery Park Tunnel opened, and the South Ferry elevated station was removed after the closure of the last elevated line leading to the station.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,362 |
16.
The Harbor Battery 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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,363 |
17.
Battery Park City was constructed as a luxury waterfront neighborhood through the 1970s and 1980s.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,364 |
18.
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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,365 |
19.
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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,366 |
20.
Southwestern corner of the Battery Park contains the SeaGlass Carousel, an attraction with bioluminescent design that pays homage not only to the carousel's waterfront site, but to Castle Clinton's former status as an aquarium.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,367 |
21.
Battery Park is the site of numerous memorials and monuments placed there over the years.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,368 |
22.
Castle Clinton was originally called the West Battery Park, it was built as a fort just prior to the War of 1812.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,369 |
23.
Battery Park contains over 20 monuments, many of which are clustered in an area called "Monument Walk".
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,370 |
24.
Battery Park contains the Battery Bikeway, a component piece of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, a system of parks, bikeways, and promenades around Manhattan Island.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,371 |
25.
The Brooklyn–Battery Park Tunnel, opened 1950, carries vehicular traffic to Brooklyn.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,372 |
26.
The Battery Park Underpass, opened 1951, carries vehicular traffic from the West Side Highway to the FDR Drive.
| FactSnippet No. 1,443,373 |