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162-721: The underpass started construction in 1949 and opened to the public on April 10, 1951. The underpass runs underneath the Battery , connecting the West Side Highway to the South Street Viaduct with two lanes of traffic in each direction. The project was completed shortly after the opening of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel in 1950, and provides direct access between the West Side Highway and FDR Drive. In 2005, during

324-454: A Siamese fighting fish . The operating machinery is under the floor, so there is no post in the center of the ride. Battery Park contains over 20 monuments, many of which are clustered in an area called "Monument Walk". Within the park is Hope Garden, a memorial dedicated to AIDS victims, where The Sphere had been exhibited at times. The garden has also been used as a site for environmental demonstrations due to its fragility and

486-555: A light court above the rotunda, which measures 80 feet (24 m) wide on its north end, 120 feet (37 m) wide on its south end, and 200 feet (61 m) deep. Stairways, made of marble with iron handrails, connect the interior spaces. There are elevators in each corner; the southwestern and southeastern banks contain two elevators each, while the northwestern and northeastern banks have three elevators apiece. The northwestern and northeastern elevators were originally open cages but were replaced with enclosed cabs in 1935. Because

648-405: A ticker tape parade down Broadway, the cornerstone, filled with contemporary souvenirs and artifacts, was placed at the northeast corner of the site. The new Custom House's construction lagged due to government bureaucracy, while work on comparable private buildings nearby proceeded more quickly. The slow construction was attributed to various reasons, such as concurrent jobs being undertaken by

810-527: A 1910 plan to expand the Aquarium within Battery Park and a proposal for an athletic jogging field the following year. Furthermore, during World War I, there was a plan to construct a federal government building on the site, but this was withdrawn after the U.S. government found new premises following opposition to the project. Proposals to redesign Battery Park continued through the next decade. An expansion of

972-465: A community garden, the renovation of a promenade, and the construction of the SeaGlass Carousel . 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. In October of that year, Hurricane Sandy caused severe damage to the area, submerging the park under salt water for several hours.

1134-631: A cost of $ 5.5 million. 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. 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,

1296-407: A formal vista. In 1937, Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes proposed making Battery Park into a landscaped "front door" for New York City, with a semicircular seawall and a curving plaza. Officials announced a proposal the following year to expand the park by 9 acres (3.6 ha) in conjunction with improvements to roads around the park. In 1940, Battery Park was partially closed for the construction of

1458-410: A maple dance floor. The Custom House's trapezoidal site was excavated to an average depth of 25 feet (7.6 m). Two stories were placed beneath the ground level. The first basement was just above sea level and had a 13-foot-high (4.0 m) ceiling, while the second basement had a waterproof asphalt-and-tar floor. When the post office was in operation, mail arrived through the delivery docks and

1620-520: A new custom house on the Wall Street site, even though it was less than half the size of the proposed Bowling Green site. In 1897, Senator Thomas C. Platt and Representative Lemuel E. Quigg , both Republicans, proposed bills in the United States Senate and House of Representatives for building a new custom house at Wall Street, with Platt's bill calling for a five-person commission to oversee

1782-515: A playground. Various statues, formerly scattered across the park, were rearranged in patterns. The reconstruction of Battery Park had cost roughly $ 2.38 million. Several memorials opened through the mid-20th century. Peter Minuit Plaza and a Coast Guard memorial were both dedicated in 1955, and the East Coast Memorial was dedicated in 1963. Additionally, a 2,500-foot-tall (760 m) "space needle" with office and commercial space, twice

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1944-454: A proposal by architect I. M. Pei , who suggested converting the upper floors into office space, keeping the second-floor rotunda open, and converting the first floor to commercial use. The next year, the federal government declared the building "surplus" property, making it available to the city government. Pei's proposal was not carried out, as the GSA found the proposal to be impractical. Instead,

2106-611: A restaurant called Harbor House in 2014 and operated until 2020. Another eatery, the Battery Gardens restaurant, is located next to the United States Coast Guard Battery Building. Located nearby is a 4-acre (1.6 ha) garden called the Battery Bosque, which was designed by Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf and is centered around a grove of 140 plane trees . An additional grove of 15 trees

2268-577: A transverse lobby, a rotunda , and offices. The rotunda includes a skylight and ceiling murals by Reginald Marsh . The George Gustav Heye Center, a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian , operates on the ground and second stories, while the upper stories contain U.S. government offices. The building was proposed in 1889 as a replacement for the previous New York Custom House at 55 Wall Street . Because of various disagreements,

2430-425: A wide-ranging, site-specific decorative program, which would "illustrate the commerce of ancient and modern times, both by land and sea". Sculptures, paintings, and decorations by well-known artists of the time, such as Daniel Chester French , Karl Bitter , Louis Saint-Gaudens , and Albert Jaegers , embellish various portions of the interior and exterior. As of 2024 , U.S. Customs and Border Protection owns

2592-534: Is a 25-acre (10 ha) 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, with Bowling Green to the northeast, 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 early 19th-century fort named Castle Clinton ; multiple monuments; and

2754-422: Is a seven-story steel-framed structure with a stone facade and elaborate interiors. The exterior is decorated with nautical motifs and sculptures by twelve artists. The second through fourth stories contain colonnades with Corinthian columns . The main entrance consists of a grand staircase flanked by Four Continents , a set of four statues by Daniel Chester French . The second-story entrance vestibule leads to

2916-470: Is a woman and is flanked by smaller human figures. In addition, Asia's figure is paired with a tiger, and Africa's figure is paired with a lion. The capitals of each of the 44 columns are decorated with carved heads depicting Hermes , the Greek god of commerce. The windows on the main facade are topped by eight keystones, which contain carved heads with depictions of eight human races. One source described

3078-471: Is normally closed to the public but can be rented for events. The manager's office is next to the collector's office and is decorated with plain plaster walls, topped by a cornice in the Ionic order . The northeastern corner housed the cashier's office, which featured a white-marble countertop with a bronze screen. The southern half of the cashier's room has white-marble walls and was originally where members of

3240-482: Is on the northern elevation, where a wide stairway leads to the second floor. Under the main entrance arch is a carving of the municipal arms of the city of New York. The keystone at the top of the arch depicts the head of Columbia , the female personification of the United States, and was designed by Vicenzo Albani. Andrew O'Connor created a cartouche for the space above the main entrance. The lintel above

3402-470: Is on the northern facade, the only side that does not overlook the Lower Manhattan waterfront. The exterior is decorated throughout with nautical motifs such as dolphins and waves, interspersed with classical icons such as acanthus leaves and urns. The first-floor facade is composed of rusticated blocks and is 20 feet (6.1 m) tall. There are six entrances to the building. The main entrance

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3564-642: Is seven stories high with a stone facade and an interior steel frame. It was designed by Cass Gilbert in the Beaux-Arts style . The design is similar to those of previous custom houses in New York City, namely Ithiel Town 's Federal Hall at 26 Wall Street and Isaiah Rogers 's Merchants' Exchange building at 55 Wall Street . The building's design incorporates Beaux-Arts and City Beautiful planning principles, combining architecture, engineering, and fine arts. Gilbert had written in 1900 about his plans for

3726-451: Is the piano nobile ; the windows on this story are flanked by brackets and capped by enclosed pediments , with carved heads above them (see § Sculptures ). The third- and fourth-story windows, conversely, are less ornately decorated; this was normal for Beaux-Arts buildings, which generally had greater detailing on the more visible lower levels. The lintels above the third-story windows are decorated with wave motifs, while those above

3888-530: The American Institute of Architects ' New York chapter criticized the controversy as "unseemly". Demolition of existing buildings on the site began in February 1900, and demolition contractor Seagrist & Co. had cleared the site by that July. The next month, workers drilled test bores for the new Custom House's foundations. Contracts for the building's foundations and structural steel were delayed because

4050-470: 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. 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

4212-582: The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel , and the aquarium was shuttered. Subsequently, several plans to modify Battery Park were proposed. A design competition to rebuild Battery Park was hosted in 1941, and a plan to replace Castle Clinton with a Fort Clinton memorial was also discussed. During the park's closure, its northern end was used to store debris. A second tunnel, the Battery Park Underpass , started construction in 1949. The following year,

4374-623: The Dutch West India Company to defend their operations in the Hudson Valley . The Dutch colony of New Amsterdam , the precursor to modern-day New York City, was developed around the fort. Bowling Green, immediately to the north, is the oldest park in New York City. The Government House occupied the site in the late 18th century before its demolition in 1815. The houses of several wealthy New Yorkers were subsequently developed at that location. The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

4536-617: The Joralemon Street Tunnel to Brooklyn , and the South Ferry subway terminal were being built directly under the park. The South Ferry station opened in 1905, while the Joralemon Street Tunnel opened in 1908. Another early method of transportation was by streetcars , which stopped at Battery Place and traveled up both sides of Manhattan Island. These streetcar lines terminated at South Ferry and included what are now

4698-784: The M5 , M15 SBS and M20 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. 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. The park is also the site of numerous memorials and monuments placed there over

4860-457: The M7 , M20 , M55 and M103 bus routes. The streetcars were eliminated by 1936, though only some were replaced by buses. 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. For instance, in 1901, a large memorial arch to honor United States Navy sailors

5022-520: The Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company . 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. 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. The structure then housed

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5184-562: 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. 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. Ultimately, Castle Clinton was preserved as part of a National Monument in 1946. The structure

5346-605: 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". Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House (originally the New York Custom House ) is a government building, museum, and former custom house at 1 Bowling Green , near

5508-624: 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 . Following the British landing at Kip's Bay on September 15, 1776, the Americans had abandoned the fort, and the British took Lower Manhattan. At the end of the war in 1783,

5670-615: The Port of New York and New Jersey , while the smaller murals depict notable explorers of the New World and the Port of New York. Several shipping companies bought lunch for Marsh while he was painting the murals; as such, the murals depict these companies' ships. The rotunda can be rented for special events. When the Heye Center opened within the building in 1994, it built several permanent galleries around

5832-457: The SeaGlass Carousel . The surrounding area, known as South Ferry , contains multiple ferry terminals, including the Staten Island Ferry 's Whitehall Terminal ; a boat launch to the Statue of Liberty National Monument (which includes Ellis Island and Liberty Island ); and a boat launch to Governors Island . The park and surrounding area is named for the artillery batteries that were built in

5994-416: The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island . The southwestern corner of the Battery contains the SeaGlass Carousel , an attraction with bioluminescent design that pays homage not only to the carousel's waterfront site, but also to Castle Clinton's former status as an aquarium. The southeastern corner contains Peter Minuit Plaza , an intermodal passenger transport hub. The plaza hosts a bus terminal for

6156-582: The Statue of Liberty National Monument , which includes Castle Clinton, was the most popular national monument in the United States that year. The SeaGlass Carousel was proposed in 2007 and opened in 2015; plans for the ride had been devised by Warrie Price, the founding president of the Battery Park Conservancy. The city and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation each paid half of the $ 16 million cost. The carousel

6318-769: The Tweed Courthouse . Following the Customs Service's relocation to the Custom House, other government agencies with offices in New York City, such as the Weather Bureau , also moved to the Bowling Green Custom House. By 1908, the Custom House was fully occupied by these other agencies, as the Treasury's chief architect had assigned space to other departments without consulting with the collector. The next year,

6480-543: The United States Congress passed an act that would allow site selection for a new custom house and appraiser's warehouse. Soon after, Fryer presented his report to the New York State Chamber of Commerce . The Chamber said in 1889: "We have not seriously considered the removal of the present Custom House proper, since it is well located, and, if found inadequate, can easily be easily be enlarged to meet all

6642-583: The United States Department of the Treasury 's Supervising Architect in February 1888 about the "old, damp, ill-lighted, badly ventilated" quarters at 55 Wall Street. Architecture and Building magazine called the letter "worthy of thoughtful investigation". The 55 Wall Street building's proximity to the Subtreasury was no longer advantageous, as it was easier to use a check or certificate to make payments on revenue. On September 14, 1888,

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6804-572: The Walter Kidde Company planned to build a 50-story skyscraper. In exchange, the Walter Kidde Company would have been required to help preserve the Custom House. When the Customs Service moved out during 1973, the building had 1,375 employees, and the land under the building was estimated to be worth between $ 15 million and $ 20 million (about $ 79–105 million in 2023 ). The General Services Administration (GSA) acquired

6966-549: The War of 1812 , the West Battery was erected on a small artificial offshore island nearby, to replace the earlier batteries in the area. At the time, the shore at the Battery was a relatively flat edge. The West Battery was never used, and following the war, the artillery battery was renamed Castle Clinton . When Battery Park's landmass was created, it encircled and incorporated the island. About 3 acres (1.2 ha) were added to

7128-565: 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. 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, but did not actually open until August 2015. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation restored

7290-510: 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. By 1788, Fort George had been demolished, and debris from the fort was used to expand the Battery. 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. In 1808–1811, just prior to

7452-449: The Battery's status as a tourist attraction . The Sphere was moved to Liberty Park in 2017. The Netherland Monument with its flagpole was dedicated on December 6, 1926, as a gift from the Dutch in commemoration of the purchase of Manhattan Island three centuries prior. It was originally located south of Castle Clinton, but during the 1940–1952 renovation, the flagpole was relocated to

7614-419: The Bowling Green Custom House after the Customs Service relocated. Several lawyers and businessmen had formed the nonprofit Custom House Institute in late 1973. With assistance from several organizations and the city government's Office of Lower Manhattan Development, the institute raised $ 40,000 to conduct a feasibility study of the various plans for the Custom House. In March 1974, the institute recommended

7776-412: The Bowling Green Custom House was not approved until 1899; Gilbert was selected as architect following a competition. The building opened in 1907, and the murals in the rotunda were added in 1938 during a Works Progress Administration project. The United States Customs Service moved out of the building in 1974, and it remained vacant for over a decade until renovations in the late 1980s. The Custom House

7938-492: The Bowling Green site implied that it had been left that way "in order that New York might have a public building worthy of the city and the nation". That September, Treasury secretary William Windom selected Bowling Green as the new site of the custom house and appraiser's warehouse. Almost immediately, Windom was accused of exceeding his authority in selecting the new site. In addition, many local businessmen opposed moving

8100-477: The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel opened, and the South Ferry elevated station was removed after the closure of the last elevated line leading to the station. After the underpass was completed in 1951, the park was re-landscaped and expanded by 2 acres (0.81 ha), and it reopened on July 15, 1952. In Battery Park's new layout, it contained a landscaped esplanade , a raised waterfront terrace, and an oval lawn with

8262-507: The Custom House building the next year. The U.S. government proposed relocating the Customs Service's administrative offices in 1927 to the Appraiser's Stores Building, but shipping companies spoke out against the move. A plaque honoring Richard Nicolls , the first colonial governor of the Province of New York , was dedicated at the Custom House in 1931. Large amounts of dirt had accumulated on

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8424-425: The Custom House building's first floor. Pending further appropriations, the rest of the building would also be built by Peirce. At the time, there was only $ 3 million budgeted toward the Custom House's completion (equal to $ 88 million in 2023 ). The federal government was required to obtain a congressional appropriation before the project could be completed, so federal officials told Peirce to build only

8586-512: The Custom House in 1910. A regional tax office, where companies and residents in Manhattan south of 23rd Street paid taxes, opened at the Bowling Green Custom House in 1914. Various other agencies such as the Life-Saving Service and Secret Service also had offices in the Custom House. Following the U.S. entry into World War I in 1917, "individuals and patriotic societies" objected to

8748-404: The Custom House. Congress approved the appropriation but later reduced it by $ 90,000. Durning asked Congress in 1940 to restore the appropriation, saying that "men [were] falling out of ancient chairs, and [...] our valuable records and current papers stacked on desks and improperly filed in decrepit cabinets and bookshelves". At the time, the building had 1,865 employees, of which 847 worked for

8910-742: The Custom House. The building houses the Smithsonian Institution , the National Archives and Records Administration , the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York , and offices for the United States Department of Transportation . Unlike most custom houses, which face the waterfront, the Alexander Hamilton Custom House faces inland toward Bowling Green. Its main entrance

9072-649: The Customs Service; according to Durning, the New York Custom House handled half of the United States' customs business. The building also housed the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the U.S. Post Office, the Commerce Department, and eight other agencies of the U.S. government. The Custom House's regional tax office began serving additional taxpayers in Staten Island and Midtown Manhattan in 1951. The offices of

9234-634: The Gilbert & Taylor architecture firm in St. Paul, Minnesota . The selection of Gilbert was controversial, drawing opposition from Platt and several groups. Some of the opposition centered around the fact that Gilbert was a "westerner" who had just moved from Minnesota to New York City, and several opponents raised doubts about the jury's competence. Gage certified Gilbert's selection in November 1899. Opposition to his selection decreased significantly afterward after

9396-588: The Government House on the site of Fort Amsterdam in 1799. The customs service relocated numerous times in the 19th century before opening an office at 55 Wall Street in 1862. The Wall Street location had been optimal during the mid-19th century because it was close to the Subtreasury at 26 Wall Street, thereby making it easy to transport gold. The Custom House on Wall Street had become overcrowded by 1887. William J. Fryer Jr., superintendent of repairs of New York City's federal-government buildings, wrote to

9558-548: The House of Representatives approved the installation of a pneumatic-tube system so the post office and custom house could send packages to the appraiser's warehouse. A bronze tablet, marking the historical site of a Native American gathering place, was dedicated at the Custom House's main entrance in 1909. Another tablet was dedicated at the Custom House in 1912, marking the site of the first mass in New York City, which had taken place in 1683. The Consular Bureau opened an office at

9720-460: The Italian-American organization UNICO expressed concern about the statues' condition, although experts said there should be no long-term physical harm. The monuments have since been installed in or around the perimeter of the park, although not necessarily in their previous locations. Prior to the restoration, which cost $ 875,000, some of the monuments had not been restored for 60 years. To

9882-446: The Naval Commander of the Port's office at the northwest corner of the third floor was decorated in dark oak. The Treasury Secretary's office at the northeast corner of the seventh floor was finished in quartered oak and contained Circassian-walnut furniture. The United States Customs Service had been formed in 1789 with the passage of the Tariff Act , which authorized the collection of duties on imported goods. The Port of New York

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10044-426: The New York Aquarium within the park was announced in 1921, and a new memorial plaque was unveiled the same year. By 1926, a group called the Battery Park Association had formed a committee to study ways to improve the park. In 1928, it was proposed to remove the els from Battery Park. The following year, an immigrants' memorial was proposed within Battery Park, and the park itself was proposed for reconstruction into

10206-424: The New York regional offices of the National Archives . The facade and part of the interior are New York City designated landmarks , and the building is listed on both the New York State Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as a National Historic Landmark . It is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District , listed on the NRHP. The Custom House

10368-441: The Northwest office adjacent to the main entrance. Membrane arches divide the lobby into five bays . The floors are decorated in marble mosaic patterns. An entablature runs around the top of the lobby, with galleries on the third story. There are two doorways on the walls, each topped by carved architraves with nautical symbols. The doors from the lobby to the former offices are made of varnished oak and stippled glass. At

10530-422: The Playscape was proposed in 2016. Work began in March 2020, and the Playscape was completed in December 2021. In addition, as part of the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency program, consulting firm Stantec published designs in 2021 for the Battery Coastal Resilience Project, which would build a seawall around Battery Park. The project. which was expected to cost $ 169 million by the end of 2023, would raise

10692-414: The SS Muskogee , all of whom died at sea. The memorial was commissioned by the American Merchant Mariners' Memorial, Inc., chaired by AFL–CIO president Lane Kirkland . The park also contains several other memorials, including: 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

10854-432: The Staten Island Ferry, as well as a " UFO Tugboat Abduction Memorial" from the same sculptor as the ferry "memorial". 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

11016-415: The Statue of Liberty." The nonprofit Battery Conservancy was created in 1994, and one of its first actions was to create an architectural plan for the park, and renovating it for $ 30 million. 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

11178-437: The Taxpayer Assistance Program, which helped residents file their taxes, relocated from the Custom House to Lafayette Street in 1955; the tax office itself relocated to Houston Street the next year. Although the Port of New York remained the United States' busiest port after World War II, it had begun to decline in importance by the 1950s because of several factors. These included increasing cargo-handling and trucking costs;

11340-420: The Treasury retained the disbursements that would have gone to the landowners. The federal government chose an alternate site for the appraiser's warehouse in the West Village of Manhattan, near where much of the city's international shipping activity took place. Architectural writer Donald Reynolds stated that the new custom house was to be as modern as possible, with "an architectural style that embodied

11502-420: The West Side Highway to the FDR Drive . Several New York City Subway tunnels also run under the Battery. The old South Ferry station , opened 1905 as part of the city's first subway line , 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. It closed in 2009 following

11664-535: The appraisers estimated that the site would cost $ 1.96 million (about $ 59 million in 2023 ). Still, in January 1893, there was not enough money to purchase the lots at Bowling Green. The lessees and landowners were supposed to receive $ 2.1 million (equivalent to $ 64 million in 2023), but there was only $ 1.5 million on hand (equivalent to $ 46 million in 2023 ). The 1891 bill had allowed up to $ 2 million for land acquisition and had required that

11826-499: The building over to the federal government on October 1, 1907, after they had completed all major construction. At the time, many of the interior furnishings had not been added, and Congress was reluctant to provide additional funds. The U.S. Customs Service moved its offices to Bowling Green on November 4, 1907. With a proposed final cost of $ 4.5 million (approximately $ 114 million in 2023 ), it would be more expensive than any other public building in New York City except for

11988-431: The building's contractors, money shortages, and lack of supplies. Nonetheless, the building's imminent completion sparked the development of other nearby sites. The Custom House was reportedly 70 percent complete by February 1905, according to Peirce. That September, J. C. Robinson was contracted to furnish the interior of the building, while New-York Steam Fitting was hired to install the mechanical equipment. The facade

12150-468: The building. The easternmost sculptures are of ancient Greece and Rome, while the westernmost sculptures are of the more recent French and British empires. Eight sculptors were commissioned for this work. One of these sculptures, Germania by Albert Jaegers, was modified in 1918 to display Belgian insignia rather than German insignia. Bitter created a cartouche of the United States' coat of arms for

12312-469: The ceiling is occupied by a 140-short-ton (130-metric-ton) oval skylight . The underside of the ceiling bears eight trapezoidal panels, as well as eight long, narrow panels between them. The panels contain fresco-secco murals, which were painted in 1937 by Reginald Marsh and eight assistants as part of the Treasury Relief Art Project . The larger murals portray shipping activity in

12474-477: The ceilings are 17 feet (5.2 m) high. In the early 1990s, a 350-seat auditorium was built on the ground story. About 6,000 square feet (560 m ) of storage space on the ground floor, under the rotunda, was converted into the George Gustav Heye Center 's Diker Pavilion for Native Arts and Cultures in 2006. This pavilion consists of a slightly sloped circular space seating 400 people, surrounding

12636-482: The center of the lobby is a three-bay-wide foyer with a pair of round arches to the north and south, which are supplemented by green Doric-style marble columns with white capitals. The bays of the foyer are separated by marble piers . Three bronze lanterns are suspended from the vaulted ceiling, hanging above a red-marble disc on the floor. Elmer E. Garnsey designed murals for the ceiling. Semicircular staircases, with bronze railings and marble stair treads, flank

12798-477: The city in 1823. 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. In the early 1850s alone, the venue hosted such acts as Swedish soprano Jenny Lind , European dancing star Lola Montez , French conductor Louis-Antoine Jullien , and

12960-476: The competition under the terms of the Tarsney Act; according to The New York Times , the federal government took "great care" in selecting the architects who were to be invited. Federal supervising architect James Knox Taylor stipulated that any plan include a ground-level basement and up to six stories, as well as a southward-facing light court above the third story. A committee of three men, including Taylor,

13122-454: 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 restored the park's historical name, "the Battery". The area

13284-530: The custom house, and a judge ruled in 1891 that the federal government could not take the Bowling Green site by eminent domain as it had proposed to do. Both houses of the U.S. Congress passed a bill to acquire land for a new custom house in New York City, and to sell the old building, in March 1891. The federal government appointed three commissioners to appraise the cost of acquiring land at Bowling Green; in July 1892,

13446-540: The decline of local railroads; the rapid growth of the southern and southwestern United States and the development of ports in these regions; and the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in Canada, which allowed ships to deliver cargo directly to the Upper Midwest . As early as 1964, the U.S. Customs Service was considering moving to the World Trade Center , which was under construction . The building's other tenants at

13608-412: The district U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Peter Minuit Plaza abuts the southeast end of the park, directly in front of the Staten Island Ferry 's Whitehall Terminal at South Ferry . Two road tunnels and several rail tunnels run under Battery Park. The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel , opened 1950, carries vehicular traffic to Brooklyn . The Battery Park Underpass , opened 1951, carries vehicular traffic from

13770-463: 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. 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

13932-542: The early 1970s, the facade was extremely dirty, and the front steps had been shuttered for several years because of security concerns. The Customs Service leased space at Six World Trade Center from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1970. That year, the New York City Planning Commission considered transferring the site's unused air rights across the street to 1 Broadway, where

14094-537: The elevated tracks removed. 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. The following year, New York Elevated proposed to extend the platforms of the Battery Place station over Battery Park because

14256-698: The facade over the years, and workers steam-cleaned the facade and refurbished the interior in 1934. During the Great Depression , in April 1937, collector Harry M. Durning commissioned Reginald Marsh to paint murals in the main rotunda as part of the Treasury Relief Art Project , with funds and assistance from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Marsh accepted the commission for $ 1,560 (equivalent to $ 33,063 in 2023), less than five percent of what he would have normally charged. The ceiling of

14418-485: The federal government had received several bids, whose estimated completion dates differed significantly. Isaac A. Hopper was contracted to excavate the site that December. The collector of the Port of New York, George R. Bidwell , claimed the contract should have been awarded to the next highest bidder, Charles T. Wills, who like Bidwell was a Republican. The site was excavated to a depth of 25 feet (7.6 m), and some 2.2 million cubic feet (62,000 m ) of dirt

14580-471: The federal government to sell the old building for the required price of $ 4 million (about $ 121 million in 2023 ). The new New York Custom House was only the fourth building to be built under the Tarsney Act. Republican Party officials wished to have complete control over spending for the new custom house building. Originally, the Chamber of Commerce and many business interests advocated for erecting

14742-460: The first story. Peirce was authorized to complete the remaining stories in November 1902, after another $ 1.5 million (equal to $ 44 million in 2023 ) was allocated. Under the terms of the contract, Pierce was to procure Fox Island granite and would be paid $ 2.2 million (equal to $ 64 million in 2023 ). The cornerstone of the building was laid on October 7, 1902, in a ceremony attended by Treasury secretary Leslie M. Shaw . After

14904-591: 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 . 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. City Pier A , located immediately north of Castle Clinton,

15066-482: The former office spaces in the front and rear, the transverse lobby, and the rotunda. Gilbert planned the Custom House's interior so "all entrances, corridors, stairways and passages [were] arranged on the most direct and simple axial lines". The second-floor space, including the former offices, is almost entirely occupied by the Heye Center of the National Museum of the American Indian. The transverse lobby spans

15228-474: The fourth floor depict shells. The center portion of the Bridge Street facade reaches only to the third story. The fifth-story facade consists of a full-story entablature with a frieze and short rectangular windows. The sixth story is directly above it, while the seventh story consists of a red-slate mansard roof with dormer windows and copper cresting. The mansard roof is extremely steep, allowing

15390-588: The government of New York State as part of a zone called "Harbor Park". 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. The "park"

15552-535: 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. The "needle" was never built, and the earth was used as landfill for the creation of Battery Park City , just to

15714-421: The immigration center was relocated to Ellis Island in the middle of the harbor. Castle Clinton (sometimes called, Castle Garden) then hosted the New York Aquarium from 1896 to 1941. By the 20th century, the quality of Battery Park had started to decline, and several new structures were proposed within the park, many of which were not built. In 1940, the entirety of Battery Park was closed for twelve years due to

15876-598: The keystones as representing "Caucasian, Hindu, Latin, Celt and Mongol, Italian, African, Eskimo, and even the Coureur de Bois ". Above the main cornice are a group of standing sculptures that personify seafaring nations. There are twelve such statues, which depict commercial hubs through both ancient and modern history. Each sculpture is 11 feet (3.4 m) tall and weighs 20 short tons (18 metric tons). These sculptures are arranged in chronological sequence from east to west, or from left to right as seen from directly in front of

16038-456: The late 17th century to protect the fort and settlement behind them. By the 1820s, the Battery had become an entertainment destination and promenade , with the conversion of Castle Clinton into a theater venue. During the mid-19th century, the modern-day Battery Park was laid out 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 1892, when

16200-464: The lobby are topped by bronze transom grilles that depict a caravel or sailing ship. There are two additional stairs at the rear, or southern, end of the building. The collector's office is at the northwestern corner of the second floor. The office contains elaborate hardwood floors and oak wainscoting designed by Tiffany Studios ; the wainscoting measures 10 feet (3.0 m) high. Garnsey painted ten oil paintings, which are installed above

16362-415: The lobby. The stairs do not have any metal support structures and are composed entirely of flat, hard-burned clay tiles. Under each stair are timbrel vaults , which connect each landing. The stairs rise to the seventh floor, which contains a skylight that is meant to evoke the design of a ship's cabin. Only the western stair between the first and second floors is open to the public. The elevator doors in

16524-569: The main elevation on Bowling Green is 200 feet (60 m) wide; and the rear elevation on Bridge Street is 290 feet (88 m) wide. As of 2023 , a concrete retaining wall measuring 16 feet (4.9 m) deep was being built around the building. Nearby buildings include the International Mercantile Marine Company Building and the Bowling Green Offices Building to the northwest, 26 Broadway to

16686-512: The main entrance, quarried in Maine, weighed 50 short tons (45 metric tons) and measured 30 by 8 feet (9.1 by 2.4 m). The second through fourth stories contain engaged columns in the Corinthian style; some of these columns are paired while the others are single. There are 44 columns in total: twelve each on the north, east, and west elevations and eight on the south elevation. The second story

16848-403: 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

17010-441: The north of Battery Park. 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. Castle Clinton was restored several years later, and reopened in 1975. In 1982, Battery Park and multiple other "historic waterfront sites" were designated by

17172-829: The northeast entrance of the Battery, where it still stands. It was renovated and rededicated in 2000. 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

17334-523: The northeast, 2 Broadway to the east, and One Battery Park Plaza to the south. There are entrances to two New York City Subway stations immediately outside the Custom House. An entrance to the Whitehall Street station is adjacent to the eastern side of the building, while an entrance to the Bowling Green station is to the north. The building occupies the site of Fort Amsterdam , constructed by

17496-414: The northern end of the second floor from west to east. Generally, the more important offices were positioned north of the lobby, while divisions dealing in more routine work were relegated to the south. Following the conversion of the second floor into the Heye Center, the former back offices have been occupied by various exhibition galleries; the cashier's office houses the museum store; and a café occupies

17658-646: The northwest of the park lies Battery Park City , a planned community built on landfill in the 1970s and 1980s, which includes Robert F. Wagner Park and the Battery Park City Promenade. Battery Park City, proposed in 1966, was named after the park. Battery Park contains the Battery Bikeway, a component piece of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway , a system of parks, bikeways , and promenades around Manhattan Island. The bicycle path

17820-403: The old loop station was temporarily reactivated between April 2013 and June 2017, when the new station reopened. The Bowling Green station , which opened in 1905 as part of the original subway, serves the 4 and ​ 5 trains at the northeast corner of the park. Its original entrance, or " Control House ", is a New York City designated landmark . Tracks leading south of

17982-405: 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. Robert Tierney, chairman of

18144-660: The opening of a replacement subway station. The replacement station, South Ferry on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line ( 1 train), opened in 2009, created a new free connection with the BMT Broadway Line 's Whitehall Street station ( N , ​ R , and ​ W trains), comprising the South Ferry/Whitehall Street station complex. The new station sustained severe damage following Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 and

18306-417: The original appropriation was limited in scope, decorative elements in the initial construction were limited to several important rooms, including the rotundas, hallways, lobby, and collector 's office. The walls of these spaces are clad with marble in multiple hues, and there are nautical motifs in numerous locations. The second-floor ceiling is generally 23 feet (7.0 m) tall. This floor consists of

18468-408: The park area in 1824. Meanwhile, Castle Clinton was turned over to the city government, which turned the structure into an entertainment venue. It subsequently served various purposes, including as an immigration and customs center as well as an aquarium . 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

18630-533: 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. However, by the 1990s, Battery Park was worn down, and many of

18792-459: 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. At the time, Manhattan's seventeen squares comprised a combined 165 acres (67 ha) of land, the largest of which was the 10-acre (4.0 ha) park at the Battery. Two sites were considered for a large park: Jones's Wood , and the present site of Central Park . An alternate suggestion

18954-503: The park's original, historical title of "The Battery" in 2015. 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. For instance, the Battery Oval was opened in 2016. A 1.4-acre (0.57 ha) environmentally-friendly, flood-resistant playground called

19116-542: The park, though this did not come to pass for another fifty years. 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. The bill was not passed. By that time, the IRT Lexington Avenue Line ,

19278-476: 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 German submarine U-123 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 by the U-boat's commander, of crewmen of

19440-450: The plans for the large park would result in the construction of Central Park. The 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. The original shoreline is roughly the modern-day park's eastern boundary at State Street. On State Street,

19602-418: The platforms were too short to accommodate four-car trains. Another plan, which would have created elevated track loops over Battery Park, was rejected in 1887 as being unlawful. Other unsuccessful plans to build elevated tracks over Battery Park were proposed in 1889 and 1891. By 1900, the els were considered a nuisance, and there were calls to destroy the segments of elevated tracks that ran directly over

19764-645: The presence of Germany from the Custom House's sculptures, since Germany was one of the Central Powers against which the United States was fighting. Federal officials determined that it was not feasible to remove the Germania statue, which weighed 5 short tons (4.5 long tons; 4.5 t). Instead, in September 1918, Gilbert was directed to remove the German insignia on the entablature's Germania statue and replace them with Belgian insignia. The U.S. Passport Agency moved to

19926-502: The previous building be sold for at least $ 4 million. Members of Congress voted against a bill in March 1893 to appropriate an additional $ 800,000 for the site. Because of a lack of funding, the planned custom house at Bowling Green was abandoned at the end of that month. The project did not proceed further until January 1897, when bills for the acquisition of the Bowling Green site were introduced in both houses of Congress. Federal legislators proposed further appropriations, but

20088-425: The process. The bills died at the end of the 54th United States Congress in March 1897. During the 55th Congress in February 1898, legislation for the acquisition of the Bowling Green site was again proposed in the U.S. House and Senate, providing $ 5 million (about $ 156 million in 2023 ) for land acquisition and construction. The U.S. House and Senate passed the Bowling Green bills in early 1899. At

20250-463: The public conducted their transactions. The northern half, where the cashiers themselves worked, has plaster walls. The ornate plasterwork ceiling is decorated to resemble Renaissance "boxed beams", while the marble floor has a geometric border. The former cashier's office has been incorporated into the Heye Center's museum store. The elliptical rotunda, within the building's interior courtyard, measures 85 by 135 feet (26 by 41 m) and rises to

20412-589: The reconstruction of NY 9A , the western end of the Battery Park Underpass was extended to the north by about 25 feet (7.6 m) to provide a U-turn lane and amenities for pedestrians and bicyclists. During Hurricane Sandy , the tunnel was filled with seawater and required major repairs. There have been three proposals to extend the tunnel north on the FDR Drive side. The Battery (Manhattan) The Battery , formerly known as Battery Park ,

20574-402: 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. One of the first renovation projects to commence was the reconstruction of the park's seawall and promenade at

20736-471: The roof. A barrel-vaulted entrance vestibule, supported by marble columns and decorated with multicolored mosaics, is just inside the entrance. Behind bronze gates is a passageway to the Great Hall. At the center of the building is a double-height rotunda , rising to the third story. On and above the third story, the building is arranged as a hollow quadrilateral, surrounding the rotunda. This creates

20898-483: The rotunda had been undecorated white plaster when the building was erected. The installation of the murals was delayed for several months because of what Marsh described as red tape ; the murals were completed by February 1938. The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce also relocated from the building in late 1937. U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt requested in May 1939 that Congress appropriate $ 190,000 to renovate

21060-578: The rotunda. The ground story is 20 feet (6.1 m) tall. It originally had six entrances: two on the front and two each on State and Whitehall Streets. The Bowling Green post office, operated by the United States Postal Service , was formerly near the building's south end. The post office was located around a west–east corridor accessed by both State and Whitehall Streets. There are also two ramps for delivery vehicles. The floor surface, wainscoting, and pilasters are made of marble, and

21222-414: The salary of the collector was tied to the custom house's revenue, the New York Custom House's collector earned more than the U.S. president, and the position was extremely powerful. The New York Custom House had occupied several sites in Lower Manhattan before the Alexander Hamilton Custom House was built. The first such house was established in 1790 at South William Street . The custom house moved to

21384-505: The seventh-story attic to be designed as a full floor of usable space. Twelve sculptors were hired to create the figural groups on the exterior. The major work flanking the front steps, the Four Continents , was contracted to Daniel Chester French, who designed the sculptures with associate Adolph A. Weinman . French received the commission for all four sculptures after Augustus Saint-Gaudens declined an invitation to design two of

21546-407: The shoreline by up to 5 feet (1.5 m) to protect the park from sea level rise . Work on the seawall began in early 2024. The Battery contains multiple attractions and points of interest. Castle Clinton , a former fort, lies near the northwestern corner of the Battery and serves as the park's main attraction. To its north is the former fireboat station, Pier A , which was converted into

21708-423: The southern end of Manhattan in New York City , New York, United States. Designed by Cass Gilbert in the Beaux-Arts style , it was erected from 1902 to 1907 by the government of the United States as a headquarters for the Port of New York 's duty collection operations. The building contains the George Gustav Heye Center museum, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York , and

21870-470: 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 . In late 2005, New York City authorities announced that builders working on the new station had found the remains of a stone wall from the British colonial era, during the late 17th or 18th century. After archeological analysis, the wall was widely reported to be

22032-570: The statues. The work was made of marble and sculpted by the Piccirilli Brothers ; each sculptural group cost $ 13,500 (equivalent to $ 322,392 in 2023 ). The sculptures were produced at the Piccirilli Brothers' studio in the Bronx . From east to west, the statues depict larger-than-life-size personifications of Asia, America, Europe, and Africa. The primary figure of each group

22194-541: The third story. The walls and floors are composed of geometric marble tiles in several hues. The ceiling is self-supporting, without any interior metal structure; it uses the Guastavino tile arch system created by Spanish architect Rafael Guastavino . It consists of numerous layers of fireproof tiles, each of which measures 6 by 12 inches (15 cm × 30 cm) across and 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. The tiles and layers are bonded using Portland cement. The center of

22356-507: The time included the United States Coast Guard , whose Third District Search and Rescue Command was headquartered on the sixth floor. As a money-saving measure, in 1965, the Custom House began using a computerized system to record ships' arrivals. The Public Buildings Service , an agency of the federal government, conducted a study of the Custom House in 1967, finding that the building needed at least $ 8 million in renovations. By

22518-425: The time was a Lenape trail. Schreyers Hook (cf. Amsterdam's Schreierstoren ) was just adjacent. In 1625–1626, the Dutch built Fort Amsterdam atop of a hill at the site of the present Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House . However, the fort was largely ineffective, despite several attempts at reconstruction. The British took over the settlement in 1664 and renamed the defenses Fort James. An artillery battery

22680-472: The time, most of the structures on the site were three-story houses used by steamship offices; by April, agreements had been made with most of the sixteen landowners. The federal government disbursed $ 2.2 million (about $ 68 million in 2023 ) to landowners at the Bowling Green site that July. The next month, the old Custom House was sold for $ 3.21 million (about $ 99 million in 2023 ). Twenty firms were invited in May 1899 to submit designs to

22842-471: The tradition of the customs service, the federal government, and the United States with the latest building technology". The Tarsney Act , passed in 1893, permitted the Supervising Architect to host a competition to hire private architects to design federal-government buildings. The act did not take effect until Treasury secretary Lyman J. Gage took office in 1897. Furthermore, it was difficult for

23004-464: The wainscoting. Each painting has a gold frame and depicts a Dutch or English port in the New World . The office also included a stone fireplace mantel with a plaque referencing Fort Amsterdam and the Government House. The coffered plaster ceiling has molded decorations, including a motif of the collector's monogram. Fourteen lighting fixtures, covered in gold leaf, hang from the ceiling. The room

23166-483: The wants of the Government for an indefinite time to come." Fryer recommended Bowling Green as his first preference for a new custom house, followed by a site immediately south, along State Street north of Battery Park . The U.S. House and Senate both passed a bill in March 1889, appropriating $ 750,000 (equivalent to $ 23,040,829 in 2023 ) for a new custom house in the vicinity of Bowling Green. One supporter of

23328-603: 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 . The memorial was designed by the architectural firm of Gehron & Seltzer, while

23490-486: The years. As of 2010 , the park saw over five million annual visitors. 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. Castle Clinton was originally called the West Battery, it was built as a fort just prior to the War of 1812. It was renamed Castle Clinton in 1815 after the war, in honor of mayor DeWitt Clinton , and became property of

23652-467: Was appointed to look over the submissions. By September 1899, there were two finalists: architecture firm Carrere & Hastings and architect Cass Gilbert. Carrere & Hastings's design had called for a Beaux-Arts structure with decorative trim, while Gilbert's design included more French Renaissance Revival elements with copious statuary. After a plan for the two finalists to collaborate failed, Taylor picked Gilbert, who had been his partner at

23814-578: Was commissioned in 1886 and completed two years after. The building originally housed the New York City Board of Dock Commissioners and subsequently was used as a fireboat station until 1992. 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. The New York Elevated Railroad Company opened

23976-498: Was completed in late 2015 and consists of terracotta pavings near the waterfront, adjacent to a 20-foot (6.1 m) pedestrian walkway. The bikeway contains three connections to other parts of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway: Across State Street to the northeast is Bowling Green , as well as the old U.S. Customs House , now used as a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian and

24138-426: Was dedicated at the park in 1976 as a gift from the city of Jerusalem . This area, located northwest of Castle Clinton, is called Jerusalem Grove. The northeastern corner hosts a lawn called the Battery Oval. The 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m ) lawn opened in 2016 as part of a major restoration of the park, and contains turf made of Kentucky bluegrass . Along the waterfront, Statue Cruises offers ferries to

24300-446: Was designed by architectural firm WXY and artist George Tsypin . Music for the ride was created by Teddy Zambetti, a composer and music executive for SiriusXM . A ride lasts for three-and-a-half minutes. The carousel is designed to resemble an under-the-sea garden through which visitors ride on fish that appear to be made of sea glass and shimmer as though they were bioluminescent . The carousel features seating on species such as

24462-421: Was finished by the following January. The building's first tenant was a United States Post Office Department station, which opened on the Bridge Street side of the building's ground floor in July 1906. The same year, an additional $ 465,000 was allocated for the building's completion (equivalent to $ 12 million in 2023 ). By September 1907, the Custom House was ready to open. The general contractors turned

24624-495: Was installed at the fort in 1683 by Governor Thomas Dongan , the first of a series of batteries put in around King William's War , which gave the area its name. Other batteries were installed at Whitehall and at Oyster Pasty; the British sometimes used the same name to refer to all of these batteries. Fort Amsterdam would be renamed several times before the British settled on the name of " Fort George " by 1714. The Battery did not fire any additional shots until 1776, during

24786-481: Was opened in July 1984. Battery Park City was constructed as a luxury waterfront neighborhood through the 1970s and 1980s. 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. 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

24948-538: Was originally occupied by the Lenape Native Americans. Dutch settlers populated the area as part of the settlement of New Amsterdam in the early 17th century. 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". Capske Hook was originally a narrow, hilly ledge that extended northward to Broadway , which at

25110-464: Was proposed within the park. Another monument, to steamboat operator Robert Fulton , was proposed in September 1905 by Gustav H. Schwab. There was also a bill to construct a playground in the park, which was vetoed in 1903. 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. Other proposals included

25272-466: Was reinstalled in a temporary location in the northern section of the park. It was located near the Netherland Monument in the northeast corner of the park before being moved to Liberty Park in the new World Trade Center in late 2017. The Battery Bosque, a new landscaped garden, opened in 2005. Some restoration projects were undertaken in Battery Park in the 2010s, including the addition of

25434-466: Was removed. The New-York Tribune called the site "the biggest hole that was ever made in this city over which to erect a building". The federal government also requested bids for the building's facade. The government was not allowed to request material from a specific quarry, so multiple contractors submitted bids for numerous types of marble, limestone, and granite. In December 1901, the federal government accepted contractor John Peirce's bid to erect

25596-533: Was renamed in 1990 to commemorate Alexander Hamilton , one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and its first Secretary of the Treasury . The Heye Center opened in 1994. The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House occupies a trapezoidal plot bounded by Bowling Green to the north, Whitehall Street to the east, Bridge Street to the south, and State Street to the west. The Whitehall Street and State Street elevations are 300 feet (90 m) wide;

25758-593: Was restored in 1975. 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. 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,

25920-423: Was sorted in the basement. The upper stories contain office space. The outer portion of the fifth story was initially used for document storage; the windows are small apertures within the entablature, making that story unsuitable for office use. The ceilings of the upper stories are between 12 and 16 feet (3.7 and 4.9 m) tall. Some of the offices on the upper stories were ornately decorated. In particular,

26082-451: Was the primary port of entry for goods reaching the United States in the 19th century and, as such, the New York Custom House was the country's most profitable custom house. Import taxes were a major revenue stream for the federal government before a national income tax was implemented in 1913 with the passage of the 16th Amendment . The New York Custom House had supplied two-thirds of the federal government's revenue at one point. Because

26244-435: Was to enlarge the existing Battery Park, a move endorsed by most of the public. 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. As a compromise, New York City's aldermen also voted to expand Battery Park to 24 acres (9.7 ha). Ultimately,

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